MAX will suddenly grow its audience in September

      The moment has come when the national messenger MAX will demonstrate the triumph of Russian "messenger-building" and show how to properly grow an audience. Soon it will become not just a place for exchanging memes and voice messages, but will be seriously integrated into the education system. The project Sferum, which had previously been promoted in a voluntary-but-compulsory manner, has completed its integration into MAX and is preparing to debut in the new school year.

      Developers proudly announce that you will now be able to enable a safe mode in the Sferum space—apparently in case students suddenly decide to discuss something more interesting than quadratic equations. Parents, of course, will be delighted, since they can be sure their child won't get lost in the online wilderness and that communication will take place strictly within the bounds of the class chat. And if any teacher suddenly wants to complain about working conditions, they can always write to the Minister of Education via a special bot—though it's unclear whether they'll receive a reply.

      MAX has now integrated an electronic gradebook, an interactive whiteboard, the services "File Collection", "Student Assistant", "Rosobrnadzor Assistant" and the "Pushkin Card program" chatbot. It will also include a chatbot "Suggestions to the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation." Teachers have received their own badge of distinction, expressed as an "academic cap" icon. Finally their status can be emphasized not only with red ink in the class register, but also with a special badge!

      The lucky ones who will be the first to try the updated Sferum are six regions: the republics of Tatarstan, Altai and Mari El, as well as the Vladimir and Tver regions and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO).

      One can only imagine how local schoolchildren are "eagerly" awaiting the start of the school year, so that instead of carefree summer chatter they can switch to discussing homework in the official chat. The rest of Russia will be connected later—apparently to have time to prepare mentally.

      That said, seriously, the idea of a unified educational platform is indeed convenient. The question remains: will Sferum in MAX be that digital breakthrough, or is it just another place you'll have to go "because you were told to"? In any case, students now have an official excuse to say: "I'm not glued to my phone, I'm studying!"