Educational Software

Educational software resellers perform a valuable service by stocking a huge variety of educational software that they re-sell, often at educational prices, to schools, teachers, and parents.

An educational software reseller will have a much wider variety of educational software than will a bricks-and-mortar store. In a typical office or mega store, you might find one sign pointing you toward educational software. As often as not, though, the software you'll find will be thinly-disguised games with few educational advantages.

Most sales clerks in the standard store can't point out the advantages of one program over another. In fact, they likely have no idea what the program is supposed to teach, or even for what age group it's appropriate unless they read the software box-which you can do yourself.

Software resellers often specialize in a particular type of software, like business applications or educational software. They're aware of what's out there, both for Mac and Windows machines, what operating systems the software will run on, and will have heard reviews from prior purchasers.

They're in a much better position to recommend software appropriate for you or your child. And while they are in business to sell you something, educational software is likely their only business, so they want you to go away happy so you'll return.

It's in the reseller's interest to provide appropriate software and great customer service. Especially if you have a young child, that first sale could be the start of several years' worth of business.

Some resellers focus on just one portion of the educational software market, like primary education or home-school needs. Others, like GradWare, carry a broader range. Many of the resellers, however, require that you prove you are a student, part of the faculty or staff, a school, or a non-profit organization.

For individuals you will usually need to provide a copy of a current piece of identification, sometimes your Student ID card, along with a current or recent class schedule or report card. But that's not too difficult and can pay off in huge savings.

Be sure to check the software you're considering for any differences from the full commercial version. Many times software developers like Microsoft or Apple will release "educational" or "student" versions of their software that are not the same version as the commercial program.

For instance, a student version of a program may only work for a limited time, it may print "educational version" on printouts, or may have a hardware lock. Some educational versions of software can be upgraded to the full version or to a more updated student version, others may not.

With student versions of software it's more critical than ever that you thoroughly read the documentation on the website or software box. While educational software is greatly reduced in price from the full, commercial version, some of it can still be quite expensive. The last thing you want is to find out it won't work AFTER you've opened the box.

If you know the differences and have decided the educational version will work for you, though, you can search the items carried by an educational software reseller and find some fantastic programs at even better prices.