Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Tech giant Amazon is making an attempt to profit from the growing number of teachers who sell lesson plans and other classroom-related materials to colleagues and parents online.

On Tuesday, the company announced a program called Amazon Ignite, which will let a select group of educators sell their online teaching resources via Amazon. The lesson plans and other resources will show up in regular Amazon search results, just like any other product in the vast digital marketplace. Amazon will take 30 percent of the sales of teacher-made resources, plus a transaction fee of 30 cents for items under $2.99.

Back in February, an EdWeek Market brief reported that Amazon Education was starting to beta-test a new platform with educators, helping teachers navigate the jungles of open educational resources (or OERs, for short).

Well, that platform—Amazon Inspire—has officially launched today in tandem with the ISTE conference in Denver, Colorado.

In the same way as many other industries, education has begun to fully embrace the digital movement. Educational technology, or “EdTech,” not only allows teachers to create more innovative classes, it’s giving students everywhere much easier access to the educational materials they need.