Google Play For Education Now Available

Google launches Google Play for Education, offering bulk purchasing and easy distribution of educational apps for Android tablets.

Google has launched Google Play for Education, the search company’s attempt to weaken Apple’s stranglehold on the education tablet market. The service allows schools to bulk purchase Android apps from a curated educational app store and distribute them wirelessly to Android tablets.

Apps are purchased through a browser based store and pushed remotely to tablets. The system appears to be far more considerate of educational requirements than the iPad alternative and, if it’s as reliable as the consumer version, should be quick and simple to use. Apps can be purchased online or via a purchase order, which many schools still use to purchase goods.

Tablets need to be purchased from a Google recommended supplier, or by buying a provisioning license from Google, in the same way that Chromebooks are managed. Once the tablets are activated, the Google Play for Education store is made available to school administrators and teachers. It’s likely that only specific Google recommended devices, such as the Nexus 7 and 10, will be supported.

School devices can be easily provisioned by configuring one to a required setup and then by touching that device against another with NFC enabled. The configuration then wirelessly passed over requiring little effort to set up new devices.

We’ll have more details on Google Play for Education once we have access to the service.