WordPress.com Introduces Free Student Plan for Educators

Automattic, the company behind the popular website and blog hosting service WordPress.com, has unveiled a new free product designed for teachers and their classes called WordPress.com Education. This innovative suite for classrooms offers a full WordPress.com domain for each student, along with free domain names on the .blog or .art domains and plug-in support.

Source: techcrunch.com

The new Student plan, which was unveiled at the company’s annual WordCamp US conference, is not a stripped-down version of its product. Instead, it includes a range of features and tools that make it an attractive option for educators, including 6 GB of storage, backups, staging sites, and other essential tools. The plan also supports plugins, SFTP/SSH, phpMyAdmin, and Studio Sync, making it a comprehensive solution for students looking to build their skills in website development.

Automattic has made it clear that the Student plan is designed to make WordPress.com more accessible to young people, who often opt for social media profiles over websites when establishing their online presence for the first time. By providing a free plan, the company aims to encourage students to learn more about website development and to train the next generation of website professionals. Moreover, the free plan will allow WordPress.com to make inroads in underfunded schools, where resources are limited.

The Student plan allows teachers to provide students with access to the program for free for the first year, without requiring them to put a credit card down or enter a trial. This means that teachers can use the technology in courses that teach students how to build websites, or for other classroom needs such as group projects that incorporate website-building. The company has also piloted the program with 5,000 students across 27 countries, with impressive results.

According to Automattic, the majority of educators (88.9%) who participated in the pilot program reported that access to the program improved their students’ employability. A further 81.5% said that the program improved students’ entrepreneurial capacity. These results demonstrate the potential of the Student plan to have a positive impact on students’ lives and to prepare them for the digital workforce.

When the first year of use has ended, students can choose to subscribe to the service for $2 per month ($24/year). If they don’t, their work won’t disappear; their site will just drop down to a free WordPress.com site on a free domain. All their web pages, posts, comments, and uploaded media will stay intact, ensuring that students can continue to learn and develop their skills without losing their progress.

By expanding into education, WordPress.com is taking a significant step forward in its mission to empower people to create and share their ideas online. The new Student plan is a testament to the company’s commitment to making website development more accessible and affordable for everyone.

With its comprehensive range of features and tools, the Student plan is set to become an essential resource for educators and students alike. Whether you’re a teacher looking to incorporate website development into your curriculum or a student interested in learning more about website development, the WordPress.com Student plan is definitely worth exploring.