Classnews uses Usenet, the Network News Facility, to allow the people involved with an academic class to communicate with each other electronically. Generally the students and instructor involved with a particular class write electronic articles which are posted to either a public or private newsgroup. Other members of the class can then view these articles and respond by posting follow-up articles. In a typical Classnews newsgroup, several different topics can be discussed over the span of a few days. Members of the class can pose questions, offer personal insight, and argue different points of view.
Instructors can choose to take an active or passive role in the flow of the discussion.
Although articles may be hidden after being read, all articles remain in the newsgroup for the duration of the semester and can be re-displayed when this is desirable. This allows members of the class to follow the progress of a particular topic and the instructor to follow the progress of particular students. Private class newsgroups can only be seen and posted to by the people associated with the class. This includes the instructor, the students, and those user IDs that the instructor has specifically requested to be authorized. This privacy protects the class from any outside interference and is especially useful to classes discussing controversial topics.