Educational products span physical materials, digital software, online platforms, and complete courses designed to support learning in classrooms and at home.
When someone asks about types of educational products, the answer goes far beyond textbooks and pencils. The category covers everything from printed workbooks to interactive whiteboards, from classroom apps to full academic programs. For parents, teachers, and school administrators, understanding the full range matters when choosing what to buy or recommend.
This guide breaks down the main categories, highlights what the biggest names in education offer, and helps you spot what actually qualifies as an educational product.
The Main Categories of Educational Products
Instructional materials generally fall into seven distinct groups based on how students use them. Each type serves a different learning purpose.
- Printed and duplicated materials — textbooks, workbooks, worksheets, and handouts.
- Non-projected display materials — charts, posters, maps, and bulletin board sets.
- Still projected display materials — slides and overhead transparencies.
- Audio materials — podcasts, audio recordings, and language-learning tapes.
- Linked audio and visual materials — narrated slide shows and multimedia presentations.
- Video materials — educational films, documentaries, and instructional clips.
- Computer-mediated materials — software, apps, websites, and online platforms.
That final category has exploded in recent years. Digital products now include educational games, simulations, learning management systems, and full online courses. A single product can also be a lesson, an instructional unit, a module, a training session, or an entire academic program.
What the Biggest EdTech Companies Offer
Three major players dominate the US education market, and their product lines show how broad the category has become.
Google for Education organizes its ecosystem around its free Education Fundamentals tier, which includes Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Classroom, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. These tools handle assignment distribution, file storage, and real-time collaboration on schoolwork. Google also sells Chromebooks, which it describes as fast, affordable, shareable devices that update automatically and are easy to set up and manage.
Microsoft positions its education line around Microsoft 365 Education, Teams for Education, and the Copilot AI assistant. Its offerings also include Azure cloud services, Surface laptops, and the Power Platform for building custom apps. SMART Technologies focuses on interactive displays and collaborative learning software that lets multiple students work on the same screen at once.
For a deeper look at specific products worth buying, see our roundup of top-rated educational products for classrooms and home learning.
Open Educational Resources and Content-Only Products
Not every educational product is a physical device or a paid subscription. Open educational resources (OER) are free teaching and learning materials released under open licenses that allow anyone to use, adapt, and share them. The OER category includes full courses, course modules, learning objects, open textbooks, openly licensed videos, tests, software, and other support tools.
The licensing point matters. A free worksheet floating around the internet does not qualify as OER unless it carries an open license that explicitly grants reuse rights. Content-only products like textbooks, instruction videos, and study modules count as educational products even though they involve no hardware at all.
Intel, which supplies chips for many school devices, describes the broader edtech picture as an ecosystem that includes edge computing, cloud services, networking, and data center technologies — not just the laptops and tablets students hold. That framing shows how infrastructure itself has become part of the educational product landscape.
FAQs
What Is The Difference Between Educational Products And School Supplies?
School supplies are consumable or basic items like pencils, paper, and binders. Educational products are learning resources — textbooks, software, apps, courses, and devices — that deliver instruction or support the learning process itself. The line blurs with items like calculators and lab kits, which straddle both categories.
Can Software Alone Count As An Educational Product?
Yes. Computer-mediated materials are one of the seven recognized categories of instructional materials. Educational apps, learning management systems, simulation software, and online tutoring platforms all qualify. Many schools now run their entire curriculum through digital products like Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams for Education.
What Should A School Consider When Buying Educational Products?
Start with the learning goal, then check device compatibility, internet requirements, teacher training needs, and licensing terms. For digital products, verify whether the license covers all students and whether the vendor offers administrative controls. For OER, confirm the open license actually permits the reuse you plan.
References & Sources
- Google for Education. “Google for Education — Solutions for Teaching and Learning.” Lists Education Fundamentals tools and Chromebook offerings.
- Microsoft Education. “Microsoft Education — Products for Learning.” Details Microsoft 365 Education, Teams, and Copilot for schools.
- Intel. “Intel Education Technology for Learning and Teaching.” Describes edtech as an ecosystem of edge, cloud, and data center technologies.