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Google Play for Education now accepting developer submissions
Google's getting serious about education. Its Play for Education portal, announced last month at I/O, is creeping ever closer to a full launch, with a call for application submissions starting today. Developers that want to be considered for Google's curated storefront can mark their applications for consideration now via the Play Developer Console. But unlike the wild, wild west of the Play store at-large, where anything goes, not every education-focused app will get the greenlight. In fact, Google's submission process requires all applications marked as suitable for K-12 to first pass through a network of non-affiliated educators for evaluation before then being measured against the Play for Education store's requirements for classroom use. If selected, developer's applications will be made available to the many pilot programs currently underway across the country, with an eventual full-scale rollout when Play for Education officially launches sometime this fall.
Google intros Play for Education, a curated portal for apps and books
Google's making it easy for educators and their students to discover and recommend applications and books with Play for Education. Announced onstage at this year's I/O by Chris Yerga, Google's Android Engineering Director, the new Play storefront organizes content by education type, age and various other criteria to make the content discovery process simple for higher learning institutions. What's more, all of the content that appears within this curated portal bears educators' stamps of approval, so users know that what they're accessing is tried-and-tested for quality. Play for Education also makes use of Google+ groups, so schools and universities can quickly push apps, books and other content out to their students and even bill to one central account. A pilot program for the service has already been underway with six New Jersey schools. Despite Google making the service official today, the actual sign-up window for general access won't be until sometime later this fall. However, developers can start submitting their applications right now.
