| page.title=Education FAQ |
| meta.tags="gpfe, edu" |
| page.metaDescription=Answers to frequent questions about Google Play for Education. |
| page.image=/distribute/images/gpfe-faq.jpg |
| |
| @jd:body |
| |
| <div id="qv-wrapper"> |
| <div id="qv"> |
| <h2> |
| Topics |
| </h2> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li> |
| <a href="#business-model-and-monetization">Business Model and |
| Monetization</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#free-trials">Free Trials</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#discovery">Discovery</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#app-review-process">App Review Process</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#app-features">App Features</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#marketing-and-roi">Marketing and ROI</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#devices">Devices</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#accounts">Accounts</a> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="#related-resources">Related Resources</a> |
| </li> |
| </ol> |
| </div> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| This page provides answers to common questions that you might have about |
| Google Play for Education. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="business-model-and-monetization"> |
| Business Model and Monetization |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What is Google Play for Education?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Google Play for Education is a new online destination designed for schools. |
| Teachers can discover educational apps, books, and videos to meet the needs |
| of a single student, a classroom, or a whole district. Educators can browse |
| apps by grade, subject, keyword, or standard including Common Core State |
| Standards. Purchasing is done using a PO with no credit card required. Apps |
| are distributed to tablets instantly through the cloud. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Is Google Play for Education primarily for students or |
| educators?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The store on Google Play for Education is for educators, but its content is |
| for both educators and students. Teachers and administrators have the ability |
| to make purchases and control who within their school has access to the |
| purchase flows. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="figure"> |
| <img src="{@docRoot}distribute/images/gpfe-faq.jpg" style= |
| "width:480px;margin:1em 0em 1.5em 1.5em;"> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Will Google Play for Education support subscription |
| purchases?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Currently, Google Play for Education supports one-time purchases. We’re |
| investigating additional purchase mechanisms to enable more flexible pricing |
| models for developers and schools. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Why is it recommended that in-app purchase features are |
| removed?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| In-app Billing is currently not supported with Google Play for Education, and |
| a student device will block the Google Play transaction if a student attempts |
| to make an in-app purchase. To avoid confusing students, we recommend not |
| including any in-app purchase buttons and other UI in your apps. We’re |
| investigating additional purchase mechanisms to enable more flexible pricing |
| models for developers and schools. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Is Google Play for Education restricted so only its users can |
| purchase from the Google Play for Education? Or will anyone be able to |
| purchase from it?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Currently, only schools that are signed up for Google Play for Education can |
| make purchases on it. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Can I set different prices for my apps in Google Play for Education |
| and Google Play?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| You set a single price for each app that applies to both Google Play and |
| Google Play for Education. You can’t set a different price for a given app |
| (based on a single package name) in Google Play for Education. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="free-trials"> |
| Free Trials |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Can I offer free trials through Google Play for Education?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Google Play for Education doesn't currently support free trials. If you want, |
| you can offer a free version of your app with limited functionality in Google |
| Play for Education, but that app would need to be separate from your paid app |
| and be reviewed separately for educational content. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Can I offer a free trial through Google Play's "In-app Subscriptions |
| with Free Trials" feature?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Google Play for Education doesn’t currently support In-app Billing or In-app |
| Subscriptions with free trials. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="discovery"> |
| Discovery |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What are the categories in Google Play for Education?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Google Play for Education includes categories for all grade levels from |
| Kindergarten to 12 and the following subjects: English Language Arts, World |
| Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Elective, Open Education |
| Resources (OER), and Tools. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>I created an app specifically for Google Play for Education and don’t |
| want it to show up in Google Play. Is this possible?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Currently, it’s not possible to publish an app on Google Play for Education |
| and make it unavailable on Google Play. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>If my app offers content for every level of education, how will it |
| fit the Common Core State Standard filters?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If your app applies to multiple levels of education, then the app will show |
| up in filtered results for multiple levels. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="app-review-process"> |
| App Review Process |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>How are apps being reviewed? By whom and against what |
| criteria?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Apps are being reviewed by a third-party network of educators. These |
| educators assign the appropriate subject, grade, and Common Core State |
| Standards metadata, as well as evaluating whether the app meets the Google |
| Play for Education <a href= |
| "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/gpfe-guidelines.html">criteria for classroom |
| use</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>How do I update my apps in Google Play for Education?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| You can update your apps on Google Play for Education in the same manner you |
| do on Google Play. App updates will not be reviewed prior to being made |
| available through Google Play for Education. However, we will periodically |
| review updated apps for quality. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Does the app maturity rating reflect solely on what a user can do |
| within my Android app, or does the web version of my app influence the rating |
| as well?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The maturity rating that you set for an Android app refers only to the |
| content displayed in that app. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="app-features"> |
| App Features |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Do I need separate builds of my phone and tablet apps for Google Play |
| for Education, or is it the exact same app that lives on Google |
| Play?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| We recommend you create one app and use it in both Google Play and Google |
| Play for Education. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What is the best way to get students’ work within apps sent back to |
| their teachers?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Teachers have mentioned that many apps achieve this by email from a third |
| party, which isn’t optimal for schools. As many schools use Google Apps for |
| Education, consider integrating your apps with Google Drive using the |
| <a href="https://developers.google.com/drive/about-sdk">SDK</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>How can developers test the teacher experience in Google Play for |
| Education? Is there a way to get an account to test it?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Currently, we are unable to provide developers with a test account to test |
| the Google Play for Education user experience. We’re investigating ways to |
| allow developers to simulate the environment. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>If I already have an app in the Chrome Apps Pack will I get some help |
| migrating this to Android?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you’d like to reach tablet users in schools we encourage you to build a |
| native app for the optimal user experience. Considerations for building your |
| apps can be found in the <a href= |
| "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/gpfe-guidelines.html">Google Play for |
| Education Guidelines</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="marketing-and-roi"> |
| Marketing and ROI |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What are you doing to promote these apps to educators?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Google Play for Education is an extension of Google Play targeting schools |
| and making the discovery of educational apps easier. It helps your apps gain |
| visibility with the right audiences, without having to knock on school doors. |
| We’re constantly referring to the highest quality apps in our educator |
| outreach. We’ve also developed a series of collections to help educators |
| quickly browse apps for the most common use cases. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>How many installs have similar apps had on Google Play for Education? |
| How much can I expect to make if I do an ROI analysis?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| While we cannot disclose specific numbers, Google Play app listings provide |
| app download ranges for all apps. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What is the seasonality like for the education market? What are the |
| key timing considerations for app developers?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| In the United States, school districts’ budget decisions go through a |
| planning phase in the Spring with budgets being released on July 1. We’ve |
| observed high purchase-volumes in the second quarter of the calendar year, to |
| use up end-of-year budgets. New budget purchases begin in the third quarter |
| of the calendar year. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Is there a way to offer a special deal, such as a discount, only on |
| Google Play for Education and not on Google Play?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| No, this isn’t possible. Pricing, including special offers, must be the same |
| between Google Play for Education and Google Play. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="devices"> |
| Devices |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Which devices are available in the program? Will more be |
| available?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Nexus 7 is available for shipment now, and the Asus Transformer, HP Slate 8 |
| Pro, and Galaxy Tab for Education will be available in early 2014. We look |
| forward to welcoming more Android devices into the Google in Education family |
| soon. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Can the devices be shared among many students?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| No. Currently, this program is for one-to-one use. Each student can login to |
| one specific tablet that is allocated to them. |
| </p> |
| |
| <div class="headerLine"> |
| <h1 id="accounts"> |
| Accounts |
| </h1> |
| |
| <hr> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>Will an app know whether a user is a teacher or student?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| No, the app has no mechanism for knowing if it’s running on a teacher’s |
| device or a student’s device. We recommend developers use their own user |
| database to enable this feature, where logins can be based on Google Account |
| information. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <strong>What log-in method do you recommend for an app on Google Play for |
| Education?</strong> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| One of the key pieces of feedback we’ve heard multiple times from various |
| schools is that they prefer apps that offer Google Single Sign-on, so that |
| teachers and students don’t need to remember multiple log-in credentials. As |
| schools in the program use Google Accounts and Google Apps for Education, |
| offering Google Single Sign-on is ideal. |
| </p> |
| <div class="headerLine"><h1 id="related-resources">Related Resources</h1><hr></div> |
| |
| <div class="resource-widget resource-flow-layout col-13" |
| data-query="collection:distribute/toolsreference/gpfefaq" |
| data-sortOrder="-timestamp" |
| data-cardSizes="6x3,6x3,6x3,9x3,9x3,9x3" |
| data-maxResults="6"></div> |
| |