With parents scrambling to fill in their kid’s education while in quarantine, Google has announced the introduction of a kids section on its Play Store which will have apps that are signified by a ‘Teacher-Approved’ badge. All the apps found with this badge are vetted by a panel of reviewers, including more than 200 teachers across the U.S., and meet Google’s existing requirements for its “Designed for Families” program.
The program requires apps to meet government regulations revolving around data collection and ad targeting and also limits the types of ads that can be displayed to children if apps are ad-supported. The apps to earn the badge not only have to qualify the program criteria but also be reviewed and be rated highly by teachers. These may be apps teachers suggest for supplemental learning while others might be just be used for fun. Google says it has partnered with academic experts and teachers across the US, including advisors from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Georgetown University, in the App curation and approval process.
Google has also stated that users might not find their favourite apps here as the feature has been launched prematurely due to increased demand from parents in the current lockdown situation. Google, however, is adding new content as quickly as possible and plans to roll out the feature in the US over the next few days, with international availability expected in the upcoming months.
To access these apps, go to the “Kids” tab on the play storeor you can look for the “Teacher Approved” badge on any given app to see if it met with teachers’ approval. Google pass, in addition, will offer subscribers a selection of apps with the “Teachers Approved” badge under the “Apps and games for kids” section.