Tuesday 17th April 2012
Free Apps for Teachers
There’s no such thing as a free lunch! You have all heard the expression. However, in the case of Happi Papi’s newly launched free “App Evaluation Program for Schools” we beg to differ. This is actually a free lunch with no strings attached – for teacher anyway.
How Does It Work?
Educators (doesn’t have to be a teacher) affiliated with a school can enroll here on our website to receive a free copy of all our new game releases. The program is completely free and there are no obligations although we do send out a voluntary feedback form after each new app release.
And it gets even better. On top of testing all new Happi Papi apps being released, we have also teamed up with other developers around the world to bring in even more great (and free) apps for program participants to try out.
Why Do We Do It?
Because we love education of course…;-) Well, we actually do but when we noticed last year that our apps had become quite popular with schools we thought we could turn that fact into a win-win situation. By creating the App Evaluation Program for Schools teachers get free apps and Happi Papi get added exposure. Win-win. Consider the following:
Every teacher using and liking one of our apps will expose around 20 students and 5 other teachers (our own estimates) to the app. Some of the initial teacher’s 5 colleagues will most likely use the app with his or her students. Some (hopefully all) of the students will, in turn, ask their parents to get the app for the family iPad. All in all, this will create a quite far reaching ripple effect.
Additional Benefits
In addition to putting our apps in front of many more people we would have had to spend a lot more money to reach in a more traditional way, we also get direct access to a highly motivated sounding board. Teachers know best what type of apps work in the classroom. By asking their feedback (and incorporating it in our apps) we not only build a strong relationship with excellent spokespersons, we also receive tips on how to improve our apps and what apps to develop next.
Another benefit we did not initially foresee is the great contacts we have made with other developers wanting to have their apps tested by our program participants. It all started with us writing about our program on the excellent Moms With Apps forum. Soon emails started coming in from developers around the world wanting to become part of the program. We have already received both translation help and tips about review sites from our new friends. As of now we have limited the number of third party developers to 5. If it all runs smoothly we will take on more developers in the future.
Drawbacks
There is no doubt that we have hit the mother load here. Sales have gone up a little bit, the number of Facebook friends and Twitter followers are also up. We have made new friends in both the educational world and the app development community.
However, in all fairness, a few drawbacks with the program ought to be mentioned as well. First of all, with close to 200 teachers already signed up (and more coming in on a daily basis), it takes a sizable chunk out of every day to administer the program.
Another little hassle is the fact that we have promised every teacher who signs up a free copy of every new game released. It doesn’t take a rocked scientist to figure out that if we have 200 program participants and Apple only gives us 50 promo codes per new app released, we will have a problem… There are ways around this but none of them are optimal and all of them require additional work and expenses on our part.
Conclusion And Call To Action
Even though the program is brand spanking new, we are confident that the benefits of this program will, by far, outweigh the drawbacks.
If you are a teacher (or know a teacher) click here to sign up for for the program.
If you are a developer wanting to have your apps tested by our program participants, send us an email.
And last, but not least, if you are writing for a publication or blog and want to do something for education, please consider mentioning this program on your website.
