Google Play Presents a New Section: Teacher-Approved Apps for Kids
Online education is not a new thing. A great number of people have been having e-classes, attending online courses and using technology to expand their knowledge and go one step further for years now. Until recently this did not apply to kids (at least not on the same scale), however the schools’ temporary closing due to COVID-19 has changed things rapidly, since many kids are currently having lessons online. Realizing the current need for safe and quality apps that will help kids enhance their knowledge and have fun at home, Google has recently announced that their new category of teacher-approved apps will be ready sooner that initially scheduled.
Google’s Teacher Approved program
The program aims to feature apps that are of high quality. For this reason, Google created a team of highly-skilled academics who developed a framework with specific criteria according to which teachers would be able to review apps for kids. Then Google selected a number of specialized teachers across US and further trained them on this framework.
One of the factors teachers have to evaluate is whether the app is appropriate for the age it is supposed to target. For this reason, each teacher will review apps that target the age group they work with. For example, apps designed for kids under 5 will be reviewed by kindergarten teachers. Other factors to be evaluated are the app’s potential to be enriched and its appeal to kids. Characteristics such as design, in-app purchases and ads also play a significant part to decided whether an app will be included in the teacher-approved apps.
Since the reviewers will be teachers, does this mean that Google’s new category will include educational apps only? The answer is no. According to Google’s announcement, every app that has been designed for kids and meets the “Designed for Families” criteria is eligible for review by teachers. Why is that? Well, as Google puts it:
We think teachers are specially positioned to use their expertise in child development to look for content that’s not only age-appropriate, but also reflects current trends in what kids like.
Benefits of the teacher-approved apps section for developers
Apart from the obvious benefits the teacher-approved apps category will have for parents and their kids, Google’s new program will prove to be helpful for developers too, since being approved by teachers will provide the app with extra benefits that are most likely to lead to an increase of user acquisition.
More specifically, if your app gets approved by teachers, it will be assigned a “teacher approved” badge that will be shown on your app’s page and will differentiate it from similar apps that have not been approved. To make it even better, a list of points the reviewers found interesting in your app will be included right under the badge. What is more, you will also stand a chance to be featured in banners or collections on Play Store!
Which apps are getting reviewed
As mentioned before, all apps for kids that are already included in the Designed for Families category are eligible for a review. Luckily, developers do not need to do anything special to have their app reviewed. All apps that meet the requirements are automatically scheduled for a review by Google, so you just have to wait! Unfortunately, developers are not given an option to contact a respective team in order to get informed about their app’s review or get more feedback in case their app does not get approved. However, all apps will be reviewed again every time they get updated, so they will have a chance to work through their app and make sure that the updated version meets the program’s requirements.
