As educators prepare for a busy summer getting ready for a new school year that will most likely include some online learning, finding good content will be key.
During this spring’s hectic shift into remote learning, companies from around the world stepped up to the plate to offer their product for free (for a limited time in most cases). Many educators, schools, and districts signed up for these temporarily free education apps, but because of the rapid shift to remote learning, it’s rare that everyone actually looked through the terms and conditions before logging in with their school-issued email account.
While these companies are being generous, they are also for-profit and eventually will begin to look for some sort of subscription cost to turn a profit, so free content should be vetted just as a school would vet any paid content.
Below are six questions to ask before you sign up for free education apps:
1. Did I get approval from my administration?
2. Is there something my district has approved that might work as well?
3. Does it integrate with my existing platform?
4. How is student data handled?
5. How long is the free trial?
6. What kind of analytics can I expect?