Tech
Teachers Can Get Special Discounts. These Are Our Favorites
Discounts for teachers are sought after for good reason. Teaching is a tough, important, and often thankless job. And with so many out-of-pocket costs for supplies and resources, even small savings can feel crucial. We’ve rounded up a list of exclusive discounts that educators can snag with their teacher credentials—so you can spend a little less time stressing out over full-price dry-erase markers and a little more time stressing about the kid who learned to swear over the summer. We thank you for your service.
Are you a parent or a student? You can usually score on discounts with a valid .edu email address as well. We’ve got a handy list of student deals, plus some roundups of Back to School Deals and Back to School Laptop Deals.
Table of Contents
How to Qualify
Retailers and service providers use various authentication methods to verify whether someone is eligible for faculty discounts. The website SheerID verifies teacher status and has a huge list of offers available to teachers. The same is true for ID Me. If you’re a homeschool teacher or a childcare provider, you may still be able to qualify for some of these deals and discounts. Double-check with the listed reward offerer for more information and details.
Tech and Apparel Deals
Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
The Apple education discount isn’t just for students. Teachers can get 10 percent off Apple hardware. The company usually sweetens the deals in the fall. In 2025, you can get free accessories like AirPods or a Magic Keyboard with your iMac, iPad, or MacBook purchase.
Dell offers discounts to teachers for free, but the sign-up process is a bit confusing. You’ll need to sign in or sign up for a free Dell Rewards account. Navigate to your Membership settings, and then click “Verify Teacher Status” to verify through SheerID. You’ll get an extra 10 percent off select PCs, monitors, and accessories, plus up to 9 percent back in rewards.
Sign up for HP education discounts by verifying your .edu email address. HP says eligible shoppers can save up to 40 percent on select products, with “special discounts” for students, parents, and faculty. Find more HP coupon codes here.
Lenovo switches up its discounts on a regular basis, but students and teachers can get at least 5 percent off on top of any additional seasonal savings. Accounts are free and verified via ID Me.
Microsoft offers up to 10 percent off a variety of products, including Surface devices and accessories. Parents, students, and faculty are eligible.
Samsung’s program is for students, parents, and educators, who can get up to 30 percent off laptops, tablets, phones, and other gadgets. Usually, these discounts come in the form of extra percentage-based savings on already-discounted gear, but sometimes you can get additional storage for free or deals on bundled products. WIRED has additional Samsung promo codes you may want to check out.
Adidas offers teachers 30 percent off online and in-store orders and 15 percent off factory outlet purchases. Verification is completed through ID Me. You can find some Adidas promo codes here.
Teachers love Crocs, and who could blame them? (I also love my Crocs). They’re comfortable and fun to decorate. Verify your teacher status with ID Me to get 15 percent off full-price styles. (And yes, this includes Jibbitz).
Classroom and Supply Deals
Verify your educator status through ID Me at checkout to receive 15 percent off your Happy Planner order. This company makes our favorite paper planners. Some are even designed especially with teachers in mind.
Educators and school staff can take 20 percent off one qualifying online purchase through August 30. You’ll need to join Target Circle (which is free) to redeem the offer. You can also get half-off a paid Circle 360 membership (usually $99 per year).
Verify your educator status through ID Me to get a one-time 20 percent off discount online. You can also get a one-time 20 percent off discount for an in-store purchase, though it’s unclear whether you can redeem both coupons or whether you’ll need to choose between them.
Educators can always get 15 percent off at Michaels, including on sale items. Aside from picking up the obvious arts and crafts supplies, this could be a good way to get a slight discount on things like baskets, prizes, plastic drawers, desk accessories, and decor. (Or very oversized coffee mugs.)
Educators can join this program to guarantee that they’ll always get the lowest possible price at Blick. In-store purchases are matched to online pricing, with shipping and handling costs included. You’ll also get an extra 10 percent off your order total. Note that you’ll need to sign up for this program in-store. You’ll also need to present your faculty ID in addition to your membership card to get the discount when checking out in-store.
.jpg)
Photograph: DmitriiSimakov/Getty Images
Teachers can get 20 percent off in-store purchases at Books-A-Million by applying for the free Educator Discount Program. You’ll also get free shipping on your online orders, and there are extra savings during “educator events” throughout the year. You can apply for the card in-store or online.
Half Price Books gives educators 10 percent off year-round in-store purchases. Note that the discount doesn’t apply to online purchases.
Meijer’s teacher appreciation sale runs through September 7. Show your ID to the customer service desk and you’ll be able to save on school supplies, home office gear, cleaning essentials, and more. There’s a big list of eligible items on this page.
Teachers get half-off a subscription to Vooks, which are essentially animated educational storybooks with read-along text. The price drops to $3 per month or $50 for a year. Note that this membership used to be free, but this still isn’t a bad deal if you’re in the market.
Teachers are eligible to receive a free used book valued at $7 or less when they purchase four or more books at ThriftBooks. Eligibility and signup are completed via SheerID.
Sign up for the free Extra Credit rewards program to get 10 percent off your purchases.
Music teachers can get 8 percent back through Sheet Music Plus’ rebate program. The cash back is given back in the form of a Sheet Music Plus gift card. If you’re buying lots of sheet music, it’s worth checking out.
The Eduporium Educator Discount Program offers teachers up to 20 percent off. The marketplace has several STEM resources such as 3D printers, drones, coding tools, and robotics devices.
The website Teacher Wish Lists allows educators to make a wish list that may be fulfilled by random donors or members of your community. If there are items you’d like to have but don’t necessarily need, this tool may be worth a shot. Get Your Teach On is another popular teacher wish list aggregator.
Free Educational Resources for Teachers
A few websites compile free resources, from worksheets to posters to fonts. Check out Teachers Pay Teachers, Crayola, and Canva for examples.
Software and Service Deals
This is nearly half off the normal cost of a six-month Babbel subscription. Babbel is our favorite language-learning app out of the many we have tried.
Eligible students, parents, and educators get 50 percent off Ableton Live Intro, Standard, or Suite license, or can apply the same percentage off to Live bundled with Push. This software is especially enticing for music creators, though if you’ve been considering uploading some fun projects to SoundCloud, it might be worth your while too. It’s the best DAW for DJs and live performers. You don’t need to be a music major to take advantage of the offer. Check out our guide to learning music online for more tips.
Students and educators can use a valid .edu email address to get free access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Teams, plus some Microsoft AI tools. There are free alternatives to Microsoft Office products, but if you use the suite frequently, this deal is worth considering.
Adobe Creative Cloud includes more than 20 apps, like Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat Pro, Lightroom, Firefly AI tools, and more. You also get 100 GB of cloud storage. It’s usually $70 a month, but students and educators can get it for $30 monthly with a free one-month trial. After a year, the $30 price raises to $40, but it’s still a good discount if you can’t access needed Adobe apps another way. This discount can be applied to monthly or annual plan purchases.
Courtesy of Apple
This bundle includes licenses for Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and more. It’s tailored to video and music creators and costs $200. Considering that Final Cut Pro sells for $300 on its own, this bundle is a worthwhile purchase if you plan on buying any of these software licenses individually.
Prezi offers a slate of tools used to perfect digital presentations. It can be integrated with Zoom and Google Meet, along with other services. Prezi has two educational premium plans for students and educators that cost either $4 or $8 per month (usually $7 or $19 per month, respectively).
Teachers can save on select phone plans and home internet plans at Verizon when they verify eligibility through ID Me. Phone lines start at $25 per month and Fios Home Internet starts at $45 per month. As is true with most mobile phone services, there are many terms and conditions. However, it’s still worth checking out, especially if you’re already a Verizon customer. These Verizon promo codes may also be of use.
Educators can provide their employee ID to get discounts on wireless services through AT&T. The discounts fluctuate often, but you can save on various phones, phone plans, and home internet plans. WIRED also has AT&T promo codes that may be helpful.
Verify your status with ID Me to get 50 percent off your first Home Chef box (up to $60), plus 10 percent off future orders. You’ll also get free shipping on the first box and free dessert for life. Home Chef is our favorite meal kit subscription service for families, and it’ll help a lot when you need to cook dinner after school and your brain is too tired to function. You can find more Home Chef coupon codes here.
Discounts on Magazine and Newspaper Subscriptions
We’re biased, but a year of unlimited digital access to WIRED costs $24 per year. Teachers can also get affordable subscriptions to The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, and more. If there’s a magazine or newspaper that you frequently read, you may be able to get a discount when you subscribe. It’s also worth checking your local library to see if you can get a free or discounted subscription there.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
Anthropic is moving into a new London office as it seeks to expand its research and commercial footprint in Europe, setting up a scrap between the leading AI labs for talent emerging from British universities.
The company, which opened its first London office in 2023, is moving to the same neighborhood as Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Meta, Wayve, Isomorphic Labs, Synthesia, and various AI research institutions.
Anthropic’s new, 158,000-square-foot office footprint will have space enough for 800 people—four times its current head count—giving it room to potentially outscale OpenAI, which itself recently announced an expansion in London.
“Europe’s largest businesses and fastest-growing startups are choosing Claude, and we’re scaling to match,” says Pip White, head of EMEA North at Anthropic. “The UK combines ambitious enterprises and institutions that understand what’s at stake with AI safety with an exceptional pool of AI talent—we want to be where all of that comes together.
UK government officials had reportedly attempted to coax Anthropic into expanding its presence in London after the company recently fell out with the US administration. Anthropic refused to allow its models to be used in mass surveillance and autonomous weapon systems, leading to an ongoing legal battle between the AI lab and the Pentagon.
As part of the expansion, Anthropic says it will deepen its work with the UK’s AI Security Institute, a government body that this week published a risk evaluation of its latest model, Claude Mythos Preview. According to Politico, the UK government is one of few across Europe to have been granted access to the model, which Anthropic has released to only select parties, citing concerns over the potential for its abuse by cybercriminals.
The increasing concentration of AI companies in the same London district is an important step in creating a pathway for research to translate into AI products, says Geraint Rees, vice-provost at University College London, whose campus is around the corner from Anthropic’s new office.
“This cluster didn’t emerge from a planning document. It grew because serious researchers and companies understand that proximity isn’t a nice-to-have,” he said last month, speaking at an event attended by WIRED. “That’s how the innovation system actually works. It’s not a clean, linear transfer from lab to market. It’s messier, richer, more human than that.”
Setup was relatively quick and painless. You just have to unbox four speakers, a soundbar, and a subwoofer, attach their power cables, and plug in everything. Pairing happens through the LG ThinQ app, which allows you to set up the Sound Suite system and tune it to exactly where you’re sitting in the room using your cell phone’s microphone.
You can also set up each speaker to play music and group it with any other LG smart speakers you might have around your home, like the more affordable $250 M5 bookshelf speaker, to create a whole-home system.
Once all the components were synced, I plugged the soundbar into the C5 OLED via HDMI, and was able to easily control everything via the TV remote’s volume and mute buttons. More in-depth settings had to happen in the app, but if you’re anything like me, this won’t become a regular chore. You’ll set it how you like it once and move on. While the pairing functionality with the LG TV was nice, it’s not required–the eARC port lets the Sound Suite work perfectly with any modern TV.
The bar itself runs the show, with a black-and-white display on the far left that shows your mode and volume, among other settings. In the center of the bar and below each speaker, an LED light strip that also shows you the volume when you change it, which is a nice touch.
Getting Musical
Photograph: Parker Hall
The sound of the LG Sound Suite is full and cinematic, thanks in no small part to the extra dedicated speakers. Most competitors lack front left and right, simply opting to use the soundbar for these channels. As such, the width and breadth of the soundstage were bigger than most competitors I’ve tried, with only Samsung’s flagship HW-Q990F as a real contender. Even the Samsung lacked the lower-frequency audio quality that these LG speakers provide.
Tech
Cyber Essentials closes the MFA loophole but leaves some organisations adrift | Computer Weekly
On 27 April, the government backed security certification scheme, Cyber Essentials v3.3, takes effect and multi-factor authentication (MFA) becomes a pass-or-fail requirement for the first time.
If a cloud service your organisation uses offers MFA and you have not enabled it, you fail. No discretion, no partial credit, no route to remediate inside the assessment cycle.
This is the right call. I want to say that clearly, because what follows is a problem with the implementation, not the policy. MFA is the single most effective control against credential-based attacks, and the scheme has needed to stop tolerating its absence for a long time. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, which developed Cyber Essentials and certification company, IASME have got this decision right.
But in the assessments we have conducted this year, I have seen two organisations that will hit a wall on 27 April, and I do not think they are unusual.
Train company could not deploy MFA
The first is a train operating company in the South East. Station operations rooms run on shared terminals where staff rotate through shifts in time-critical conditions. A transport union raised formal concerns that MFA would introduce delays at the keyboard that could affect train operations and, in their view, the safety of train movements.
The company listened and chose not to enable MFA in those environments. Under v3.2 they passed, with the relevant questions marked as non-compliant but not fatal. Under Cyber Essentials v3.3 they will fail.
Charity run by volunteers faces MFA hurdle
The second is a nationally known charity with hundreds of high street shops. The shops are staffed largely by volunteers many of whom work a few hours a week, and staff turnover is high.
The cost and management overhead of enrolling every volunteer onto MFA, using personal phones they may not have and authenticator apps they would not keep, was considered prohibitive. So MFA was never switched on. Same story: they passed under v3.2. Under v3.3 they fail.
Neither of these organisations is ignoring security. Both made considered decisions based on how their people actually work. The problem is not that they do not want to comply. It is that the standard toolkit of MFA methods, including SMS codes, authenticator apps on personal phones, and push notifications, does not fit a six-person shared terminal that has to be available in seconds, or a volunteer workforce that changes every week.
FIDO2 could offer solutions
The frustrating part is that there is a solution, and it is already proven in healthcare, manufacturing and retail. FIDO2 authentication delivered through NFC badge-taps lets a staff member authenticate in under two seconds: tap a badge, enter a short PIN, session opens.
It satisfies the MFA requirement by combining possession of the badge with knowledge of the PIN. It is faster than typing a password. Crucially, it is compliant, because each badge is enrolled as that individual’s unique FIDO2 credential, so the Cyber Essentials requirement for unique user accounts is met. Shared keys or shared PINs would not work. Individual badges do.
Need for better guidance
v3.3 explicitly recognises FIDO2 authenticators and passkeys as valid MFA methods. The compliance path is clear. What is missing is anyone telling the organisations most affected that this path exists.
That is the gap that must close. The NCSC and IASME have made the right policy decision; the scheme would be weaker without it.
But implementation guidance for shared-terminal, shift-based and high-turnover environments is thin, and these organisations are running out of time to find their way through it. Many of them hold Cyber Essentials because it is required for government contracts or in their supply chains; losing certification has a direct commercial cost.
The answer is not to soften the requirement. The answer is to make sure no one fails for lack of information about how to meet it.
Jonathan Krause is Founder and Managing Director of Forensic Control
Spoiler alert! Surprise twist in “Survivor 50” elimination
Layla Banaras: Bridging two worlds, building Pakistan’s women’s football future
Kane hails ‘special night’ as Bayern finally gets past old rivals Madrid
-
Entertainment1 week agoQueen Elizabeth II emotional message for Archie, Lilibet sparks speculation
-
Tech1 week agoAzure customers up in arms over ‘full’ UK South region | Computer Weekly
-
Tech1 week agoAs the Strait of Hormuz Reopens, Global Shipping Will Take Months to Recover
-
Fashion1 week agoCII submits 20-pt agenda to Indian govt to back firms hit by Iran war
-
Tech1 week agoThis AI Button Wearable From Ex-Apple Engineers Looks Like an iPod Shuffle
-
Politics6 days agoIndian airlines hit hardest after Dubai limits foreign flights until May 31
-
Entertainment4 days agoPalace left in shock as Prince William cancels grand ceremony
-
Politics6 days agoChinese, Taiwanese will unite, Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader