FREE Educational Companies subscriptions and resources for the coronavirus (covid-19) School closures

If you are a provider with FREE resources and wish to be added to this please email me on info@makingenglishfuncom.wpcomstaging.com , to make it easier for me! please write a one or two line description of what you provide and a link please.

However I am a member of quite a few Facebook groups and there have been more and more educational companies offering to either give free resources, or a months free subscriptions. So I will highlight the ones I am aware of here, with a BRIEF DESCRIPTION of what they do, (there are so many) it has to be brief as there are quite a few, and i expect a few more to appear in the coming weeks as more and more countries start to have to close kindergartens, schools and universities. I hope they help, there is also a list on Amazing Teaching Resources and on my page that is updated regularly but for those who cant access google or Facebook i will try to keep it up to date here.

A little randomly, but if you are at still at school i made a wash your hands poster (6 of them actually) for younger students it has the instructions as well if needed. Who knows it might help.

Finally, I had to put this together fairly quickly! SO if you spot anything that has changed or i got wrong drop me a message on the bottom right, or email me on the form at the bottom of the page cheers all, and stay safe!

Here are the companies so far. They are a mixed page across most core subjects, there are also an impressive number of software options from screen recording to live conferencing options there as well.

Updated 2nd August

Accessibyte: Educational apps for blind and visually impaired students of all ages, 45 days free but will extend if needed.

Activity Learn: Online platform that allows teachers to upload their pdfs, google docs etc and send them on to students to complete. Free Access.

Active History – History resources for 11-18 years olds, free month trial on request. ( first history resource i have seen offered so far

Adobe Connect: Web conferencing platform and sharing free from this week for new users. (no need for downloads) we are providing free 90-day access for Adobe Connect, until July 1^st, 2020. Individuals and business who aren’t customers can now use Adobe Connect rooms with up-to 25 participants for free for up to 90 days if they sign-up for a trial license between now and July 1st. 

Age of Learning: reading and games for Pre school to Primary. FIll in a form in the U.S. and access this page for the rest of the world (its coming)

AlephBeta: A Torah resource site now offering free subscriptions. It has podcasts, videos et al

Amaze: Adolescent sexual health education ( taking the stigma out of it) . Videos and resources to help It is also always free

ACS.org: The American Chemistry Organisation has free articles and biographies for high schoolers etc. Its always free.

Arcademics – Loads of free games for maths, language learning and some geography online games ! IT IS A GREAT SITE!

Bark: Free education on online safety for families.

beEd: Educational Platform software for schools ( Finnish Company) 6 month free subscription for affected schools

BeeLine: A chrome plugin to help students ( and anyone) read easier onscreen. Maybe useful considering how much students will be looking at screens now. Free until September

BetterChinese: Mandarin language learning programmes for preschool to advanced. Now free access for schools and others because of CovVid-19.

BlocksCad: Computer Aided Design Software for schools. Now free premium options for all affected schools till end of the school year. Fill in the form required.

Chalk Academy: Free Chinese resources for young learners

Classroom Cereal: Grammar Practice and short stories Free and printable.

Classtime: Classtime supports teachers to make home-based learning engaging and effective for students of all ages: Free access to premium features during the outbreak

Data Classroom: Graphs creation App and statistical analysis, that has comparisons on the Spanish Flu, and Corona Virus to help explain. 90 day trial and can request more if this isn’t over.

Difusion Campus: Resources for Spanish teachers free sign up.

Digital Learning Academy: 32 Full STEAM courses with lessons, resources and activities. Teachers have access for free, but have to email george@digitalmediaacademy.org  to request.

EDUPrintables: These guys have found 19 worldwide museum offering virtual tours, these could be great for the kids stuck in the house!

ESL Library: 1000’s of lessons and resources for ESL teachers: All standard members will be upgraded to Plus during the outbreak and all the Pandemic material and CoronaVirus Support is now free.

EveryDae: Free S.A.T Maths TEST preparation site usually 19 USD a month and now free!!! use the code HOMEPREP and this link

Flash Academy: EAL Support and Free resources! This free pack is suitable for all schools to support EAL pupils learning from home due to the Coronavirus. It covers topics from Story Telling and Literacy to Geography and UK culture, providing up to 4 weeks of work.

Fluency and Fitness: Exercise and brain game videos! Free Subscription for parents during the school closures

Fluent Key: They turn real life videos into interactive games. Languages include , Chinese Spanish, English and French. One month free with the code STAYSAFE

Gamiapp: platform to create or make learning games : Always free

Geo Polaris: Geography text book lessons and assessments: Contact them by email

Gimkit: Gimkit is a quiz learning game for students and teachers, created and maintained by students. … As they complete quizzes, students earn money to reinvest in Gimkit upgrades that align with their strengths. They will extend the number free kits you can make during the outbreak and will also allow you to keep all additional kits made.

GoNoodle: Free movement and children fitness videos. Very popular and free all the time.

Teachers Pet: UK based Free resources, activities and worksheets, covers early years through to Keystage 2. Look very nice! I even signed up 🙂 these are Free downloadable packs for Early to KS2 and they have Free month options on there as well!

13th March Update

Just click the name of the company to go to the offer on their website.

2 Simple : Learning Software from the UK, focus on IT, English, and Maths skills. They offer advice on how to use during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

admit hub: To support the higher education community during the Coronavirus outbreak, we are offering free access to the AdmitHub platform so you can provide clear, immediate answers about the outbreak.

Alchemie: Chemistry resources and modeling software. To assist those of you who are moving to an online learning environment, we are making all content in the Mechanisms app free during the next few months.
1) Download the app from the AppStore or Google Play
2) Create an account
3) From the settings page, enter the Course Code: covid19

Book Creator: Make online and PDF books, as simple or as complex as you want. They have now offered the premium option of collaboration ( for distance learning) for free. They also have created a set of resources on how to use Book Creator during this time. I love this resource! You have to start the collaboration trial then fill in the form on their page to access.

BrainPop: Many schools in countries around the world have had to close temporarily due to the coronavirus outbreak. Recognizing the enormous impact this situation has on a school community, we are offering free, unlimited use of BrainPOP to any school, anywhere, that is closed due to the coronavirus during the period of their closure.

Breakout Edu: 35 Fun and Interactive games hosted to help teachers and students during this time. covers general studies, maths , science and English

Buncee : In order to assist schools experiencing closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we’re offering free Buncee Classroom accounts during the period of their closure, so that students can continue communicating and learning wherever they may be. Click here to request your account.

Century tech: CENTURY is offering free support to all schools closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Your students will receive access to thousands of CENTURY’s learning resources in English, maths and science. https://www.century.tech/coronavirus-support/

Circle time: Kids Classes from Home. Watch on-demand or participate live. Learn and bond with your 0-6 year old. Follow and interact with an expert instructor. There is a code on the google doc: homefun1

CiscoWebCx: A remote learning platform offered for free, they have support for teachers and students on how to access.

class dojo: Communication tool, and positive reinforcement in class. Allows parents, students and teachers to engage in the lesson and the learning. Free and great to use!

Classhook: Access the premium content by using the link on the title. Offers Video resources for students across all subjects

Classroom Secrets: Educational games site across multiple grades it is free until April and appears to cover English and maths.

CommonLit Free Digital lessons, books and resources. ( free for teachers) Great online book resource!

Conjuguemos: They have a use without account option that offers games and activities in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin!! and Korea

delta math: Always free Maths website for middle school and up.

deck toys: Interactive Lesson platform, it says they are running a FREE 3-month access to our domain-wide Pro Plan to all schools and institutions in view of COVID-19. I couldn’t find where this was though, Feel free to let me know if you see it.

Discovery Ed: They have created a special channel to assist Educators and parents discuss the CoranaVirus Outbreak in a educational context

Dyslexia Academy: They have set the most popular resources to free during the pandemic

EcoBallet: Offering free access to those schools and institutions that need to hold elections during this Covid-19 outbreak

Edconnect: Video Conferencing software that can be used for lessons, share screen etc

Edmodo: Distance Learning Toolkit. As the COVID-19 virus continues to spread and impact school communities, we want to do what we can to help. Teachers, students, and parents can use Edmodo to communicate and continue education—always for free—even when in-person learning isn’t possible.

Edpuzzle: Video lesson creation, and lessons from other teachers Is your school closed (or getting ready for a potential closure) due to the coronavirus? If the answer is yes, we’d like to help keep you and your colleagues connected with your students during this difficult time.

Ed perfection: Offering free access till May 1st: An online learning platform allowing teachers to assess and assign work to students. Covers all core subjects and has over 1 million students enrolled.

Eduflow: Course creation platform, free for the next four months

Edulastic: Are offering free premium features till July the 1st: Present mode, Co teacher and express grader.

Edu together: Online learning, staff development, and technology platforms

Elemntari : Elementari is a K-12 online platform to read, write, code, share, and remix interactive stories using professional illustrations and sounds. Fill in the form for free access till May 2020.

Emile: Games and Activities for primary ages students, literacy and maths included: Students’ education is being impacted by Coronavirus across the world. Emile is part of the education ecosystem and our mission is to help. So with this in mind we are offering free access to Emile for ANY school affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.

Epic: 35000 plus digital books, quizzes and lessons on thousands of subjects, free trial for a month. ( free for teachers)

Epraise: Homework and message service free for a month often used with Google classrooms

Explain Everything: Online Whiteboard free access for schools affected by corona virus.

FlipGrid: Lesson planning and video creation tool. Here is a way better explanation from seedreadsucceed.

Fluency matters: Free Language software for 21 Days from sign up

Freckle: Differentiated instruction platform, free for K – 8 students.

Geniely: Create Info-graphics and presentations Premium templates now available for free. For everyone. Forever. Genially aims to facilitate remote and distance learning.

Go Guardian: How to use this software for remote learning.

Gynzy: Interactive Whiteboard software, the all-in-one educational software that combines standards-aligned lessons, bite-sized games & activities, and class management tools to unlock the potential of your Interactive Whiteboard.

Hippocampus: Free videos, always free actually to add to your remote learning lessons.

Good to learn: Online Maths and Englihs lessons with a 14 day free trial

Google Classroom et al: Many schools using this and google suite to assign and assess students work ( especially here in Hong Kong.)

Hapara: Access to the Hāpara Instructional Suite to facilitate the transition to online virtual classroom management, free till end of June

Icomputer: At iCompute we recognise the huge impact this situation has on a school community and are offering free access to our online Learn Programming and Computational Thinking resources for any school (anywhere) that is closed due to coronavirus (COVID-19) during the period of closure.

Idea: Free and self directed learning courses, could be useful during this outbreak. You get a certificate from Buckingham palace!

Kahoot: Ag Great interactive quiz app and platform, used before the outbreak, and will be really helpful during it!! Now offering Free premiere content for schools closed due to the coronavirus.

Kami Free until April 30th for school affected by Covid-19.

Kahn Academy: This is a great resource at the best of times, now it has offered advice and support for parents and teachers on how to use the platform during this outbreak.

kids discover online: Cross curricular online platform free access for affected schools with unlimited access.

Kognity: Free access to schools affected, provides digital and interactive books/textbook resources.

Labsland: Remote access to real labs, free access for as long as they can, but summer 2020 at the moment! Instructions on their page.

Learning Apps – Free Learning games and apps

Listen wise: Listening quizzes and podcasts, free access to the premium content for schools affected by Covid-19

Making English Fun: My resources are free all the time anyway, but just in case you came here and didn’t know. Phonics and English games, lessons, worksheets and apps. just look at the menu across the top.

Manga high: Maths resources and games offering  full access to Mangahigh during school closures for any schools who are impacted by COVID-19 so learning doesn’t have to stop

Microsoft: How Microsoft and Microsoft teams can help during the school suspension and classroom absence.

MobyMax Interactive learning software for schools free during the coronavirus. sign up details on their page.

Mozi: Mozi is a research-supported platform that helps instructors create writing prompts across the curriculum with a matching interface for students to construct their essays. When students use Mozi, they create focused, organized, evidence-based writing in any course

Mystery Science: To help all these teachers during school closures, we at Mystery Science just finished going through all our lessons, pulling the easiest ones to do from home, and putting them all up for free on a page to make it easy. No signup required, no student login—we just want to help.

Nearpod: Interactive and student paced lesson creation software. Extending access to affected schools, check their page for details.

Newsela: Advice on preparing for school closure

Otus: Free remote learning platform for K – 12 covering data and assessment analytics

Packback Packback is an AI-supported online discussion platform that enables curiosity-based student discussion. Mainly Higher Education it will be free till the end of semester or academic quarter.

Parlay: Discussion and peer feedback platform, free till end of April

Penpal schools At PenPal Schools we are offering free access to our programming to all teachers and schools affected by the virus.

Prodigy: Curriculum aligned maths platform that is free forever.

Pronto: Remote learning hub video conferencing that is free during this time.

Sciencewerkz 5 free editions of this science resource for middle school.

Screencastify: Screen capture software free for schools affected. https://www.screencastify.com/

Seesaw: Great for communicating and setting work, assessing etc during the closure

Seterra: Geography resources for schools, free memberships for those affected. See details on their page.

Sightreading: A music platform to help with reading music free till June

Slido: Software to help communications during live lessons and conferencing

Smartmusic: SmartMusic is a web-based suite of music education tools that support efficient practice, helping musicians to develop and grow.

Smart Parent Advice -Article on the benefits of free play from a useful blog 🙂

Smarttech Online learning platform covering both student and teacher paced lessons.

Solfeg: Advice and software to help with the teaching of music online.

Storyboard: Storyboard software free till April 15th.

Tailor Ed: Online differentiated multi grade science instruction.

Techsmith: Screen recording and online platform, advice for the cornona virus

Tes Blendspace: The TES website has loads of resources for free download.

Twinkl: Twikl is a huge and worksheet website. They are offering premium subscriptions for those affected by the cornoavirus.

Tynker: Computer coding lessons with free access just file in the form on their page and use a school email address.

Vidcode: Computer Science curriculum and lessons. Free until may 2020.

Voces Digital: Voces is a collection of world language titles covering Spanish levels 1-AP®, French levels 1-3, and ESL levels 1-4, and incorporating grammar, vocabulary, and comprehensible input-based approaches to language learning

Vooks: Online Reading resources and animated stories Free for teachers for a year! and Free for parents for a month.

Vroom: Free educational tips and science explanation for parents of children 0 to 5 available by app, text, and printables.

Wakelet: Education resources and information to help children and students understand the coronavirus.

Zearn: Maths learning software for maths instruction.

Zoom: video conferencing software, up to 100 people and 40 mins at a time for free.

Well the response is overwhelming and frankly a full time job now. It is so good to see the educational world pull together over something like this and hopefully it bodes well for the future. The guys at Amazing Educational resources are putting the offers and have added it to a Webpage as fast as they can. So rather than recreate them here with the ones i know about I have added those ones to their list and will instead focus a different post on the English / ESL resources as 99% of you that use this site are teaching English. Great work everyone their link is here

So if you know of an English Subject related company offering services please let me know. We already have been approached by Teachers Pet in the UK and will be offering their giveaway soon!

There is also a Google Docs file being added to ( I think by Amazing Teaching Resources as well) which if you can access Google (I know some can’t which is why i put this together) The link to this is HERE

Post by Marc of Making English Fun

About the Author

Hi I’m Marc. A teacher of over 15 years, mostly English but dabbled in outdoor pursuits and media. Thought is was about time to sharing both what I have learnt during that time and the resources I have put together. On this site we aim to teach the theory and share our thoughts, but also go that one step further and give you access to the hard resources you need for your class or for you children. Feel free to take a look at our resources, email us on info@makingenglishfuncom.wpcomstaging.com, or jump on the Facebook group to ask questions. Happy learning, teaching or playing!