For classrooms

Use this doc to set up your classroom on Felt and learn about key Felt resources for educators.

For Educators

Maps are an important way to explore the world around us, revealing spatial relationship that would not otherwise be obvious. Creating & analyzing maps are important skills for all people to learn. For these reasons, the Felt platform is free for classroom use. Below are three steps you need to complete to get your classroom using Felt.

Create one Workspace per class you teach. Within each Workspace you can create Projects, which keep maps separate for different units or even managing different group assignments.

The Edu Plan: What's Included

The edu license gives you access to all features of Felt for Free. This is a full suite to power your students to run robust spatial analysis and build compelling story maps. With an unlimited number of editors included, the edu license also includes powerful features such as:

• QGIS plugin integration

• Spatial Analysis tools (Buffer, Clip, Joins)

• Powerful visualizations and styling options, including:

  • Categorical, numerical, heatmap, raster, and H3 visualizations

  • Zoom-based styling

  • Attribute table search and filtering

  • Custom icons and pop-up interactions

• Spatial Dashboard Components (layer slider, time series, histograms, dynamic statistics, spatial filters, viewer tools, and more)

• Cloud data integrations and automatic data refreshes

  • Live SQL queries

• REST API, Python Integration, and JS SDK (See Developer Docs to learn more)

• Codeless map embeds

Step 1. Create a Workspace for your class

New to Felt?

1. Sign up for Felt with your edu email and create a Workspace by clicking the Create a new workspace button during the sign up

2. Name your team after your class name.

3. Skip the email invite section for now and click Create Workspace

Already have an account?

1. Navigate to the Felt home, click on your current workspace, and select Create workspace

2. Name the workspace after your class.

3. Skip the email invite section for now and click Create Workspace

Step 2. Fill out this form to qualify for the edu license

Our verification process takes less than two weeks.

You will receive an email confirmation from us when you are verified.

Step 3. Once verified, invite your students to Felt

1. Navigate to the Felt home page of your class workspace

2. Click on Invite members

3. Add your students’ emails and click on the pink Invite button. This will send Felt invites to students via email. Students should be invited as editors so they can create their own maps for the class.

Tip: You can copy and paste a comma-separated list of their edu emails to add them all at once and send the invitation at the same time.

Resources

For Educators

All educators get full access to Felt's Fundamentals of GIS course materials and modules. We also provide an example exercise for teaching spatial analysis with Felt.

For Students

Felt’s Youtube channel is constantly updated with educational videos on Felt features and includes how-tos on using Felt. Our Help Center is another resource to share. And finally, we have a developer center for more technical units.

Organize your class

Create one Workspace for each class so maps remain separate between different classes

1. Use your edu address so you can be verified as the Workspace Admin.

2. Add students as editors so they can create maps within the classroom workspace.

3. If you are teaching the class with another teacher or have TAs that need to manage the class account, add them as Admin so they have full permissions.

Managing Maps

Check out Workspaces and projectsto learn more

1. Students can submit their map via a single link! Sharing settings are accessible by clicking the Share button on the top-right corner of any map:

2. Use projects to organize the maps in your class.

   1. Use Public projects to organize maps, exercises, and different units for all students.

   2. Use Private projects to stage upcoming units and set up different groups for group project assignments.

3. Folders can be used to organize student maps within the same Project. Folders can be nested.

4. You can move maps or migrate maps to different projects in the workspace or copy them to a different workspace.

5. Students can duplicate maps, which can help students get started with template maps for different exercises or assignments.

Permissions

As the Workspace creator, you will be an Admin of the class by default. You can invite students, teacher assistants, or other teachers with the following permissions:

Viewer	Can see team assets - shared maps, folders, library layers and other team members. Viewers can comment on maps
Editor	Can publish, edit and remove maps, folders and library layers.
Admin	Same as editor, but can also add, remove and edit permissions of team members.

To manage permissions of your classroom, click on the name of your workspace and click Invite members

On this page you can invite new students as well as change permissions or remove students by using the Permissions column.

FAQ

I just submitted the edu form. How long until I get verified? What happens next?

The verification process will take two weeks at most, but we aim to make this a faster turnaround.

Once verified you will receive an email from us in your inbox. After receiving that email you can invite your students to the workspace in Felt.

Can I use Felt for free for my academic research?

While Felt is free for classroom use, Felt is not free for individual or academic research. For information on which plan is best for you see our pricing page.

How long does free access last?

The edu license lasts for the duration of your class.

What happens after the class ends?

The maps will not be removed or deleted from the account, but you will lose edit access to the Workspace and not be able to create new maps for that class.

Are there any age limit restrictions for Felt accounts?

Children over the age of 13 can use Felt in the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom, over the age of 14 in China, Spain, Bulgaria, Austria, Cyprus, Italy and Lithuania, over the age of 15 in Slovenia, Check Republic, Greece and France and over the age of 18 in India, Columbia, Indonesia, Egypt and over 16 in all other countries. See our terms for more info.