Google announced it will be closing its Play for Education app store, an education initiative it debuted just two years ago.

"Play for Education gives educators a simple entry point into the potentially daunting ecosystem of apps available on Google Play, the official app store for Android devices. The app discovery storefront, full of content for the classroom curated by educators, can also update books and software on every device in a class in real-time,” said EdTech Magazine.

The app store was created in order to take on Apple and promote sales of Android tablets in schools by making it easy for educators to purchase and install apps on classroom tablets through the store.

However, in the two years since Google created the app store, the sales of its flagship notebook device- the Chromebook- have taken off, changing the focus of Google’s education endeavors.

In no time, Chromebook’s ease-of-use and low price have allowed for it to be the number one selling device in K-12 education; Google no longer needs tools like the app store to promote Android tablet sales.

Despite the closing of Play for Education on March 14, EdTech Magazine says the endeavor should not be considered a failure.

"Google’s internal support for educational apps on the app storefront appears to have paid off. A recent Pew Research Center study of more than 1 million apps on the app store revealed that education was the largest sector, comprising 8.6 percent of all apps,” it said.

Google said Play for Education will continue to function for schools using it until the end-of-life dates for attached devices.

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

2/17/2016