Last updated on 15 September 2026
Friday, three o'clock. The worktop turns, four students have finished before the others and start looking at the ceiling. You have three tablets at the back of the class and no desire to bring out the same workout sheet.
Alec is aimed at exactly that point in time: a collection of math and French games for kindergarten and primary school, with a dashboard that allows the teacher to assign activities and see who worked what.
Table of Contents
What exactly is Alec?
Alec, or more precisely ‘Alec, the Odyssey of Knowledge’, is an online educational game platform for children aged 4 to 11. The publisher announces more than 110 mini-games in mathematics and French, broken down by level (kindergarten, CP-CE1, CE2-CM1, CM2-6e), subject and category: grammar, spelling, conjugation, numbering, geometry, measurement, problem solving.
Nothing to install. Everything goes through the browser, on computer, tablet or iPad, with Chrome or Safari recommended. Students advance in worlds called burrows, earn golden legs and knowledge stones, unlock accessories for their avatar. We are therefore quite far from a bank of self-corrected exercises: there is a narrative thread and progression visible to the child.
Behind Alec is EduMedia, a Bordeaux company that has been working on digital educational resources since 2003 and also publishes eduMedia Sciences. It is the same house as Pikado, this collection of free interactive tools for primary school I was talking about a few months ago. A team that knows the school, it feels in the details.
What the quality of the games is worth, and why dressing matters
I am often wary of platforms that promise to learn while having fun. Nine times out of ten, we find behind a battery of classic exercises repainted in bright colors, with a star that blinks when the student is good. Here, the effort of artistic direction is real. Consistent universe, hand-drawn characters, soft palette, animations that do not move in all directions. A quiet atmosphere and a relaxing sound world.
However, that consistency is not just a matter of taste. A CE1 student who is afraid of miscalculation does not enter an activity in the same way depending on whether they are presented with an exercise grid or a burrow to explore. Playful disguise shifts the stakes. Error becomes an attempt instead of a fault, and this is precisely what fragile students need.
That said, the medal has its reverse, and it is better to know before starting the session. The reward system (golden pads, knowledge stones, avatar accessories) works very well, perhaps a little too well: some students will play first to dress their animals. It’s up to you to frame the lens before, otherwise the 20 minutes spin in avatar customisation.
What the teacher really drives from his dashboard
This is where the difference between a school support app and a classroom tool is played out. Clarification: access to the dashboard is through a teacher account, obtained by subscription or invitation from the school administrator.
Create your class and distribute the code
You create a class, give it a name and a level (from kindergarten to sixth), and the platform automatically generates a four-character class code. This code is the same for all students. You can display it large on the board or pass it on to families for the children to play at home again. Simple, and especially without identifiers to distribute one by one.
Assigning homework
From the class page, you assign games to the whole group or to a particular student. A maximum of five games per assignment, with a date and an optional set-point. When the child logs in with their class code, the homework panel is displayed directly. For differentiation, it is the right grain: you do not send the same thing to everyone.
Track progress
The statistics screen shows the success rate per game, the time spent, the levels validated, with the average of the class indicated in brackets. A colour code from red to green makes it possible to spot what is catching at a glance. Please note that this button only appears if you have enrolled students in the class. I come back to it below, because this point has consequences.
Making your own games
The ‘Create my games’ section allows you to take back certain games from the platform and inject your own questions and answers into them. Nice idea. You then assign them like the others. This function is reserved for teachers, and this is frankly what makes the school subscription interesting: your notions of the moment, in a dress that the students have already adopted.
Game-changing settings for dys, allophone or Ulis students
This was the most important point for me when I looked through the documentation. Alec was obviously designed with specialized teachers.
- Localization of texts. All text fields can be read aloud with one click. You can force the option for an entire class or for a single student from their profile. For a fragile reader or an allophone student, this removes the obstacle of the written instruction.
- Instructions set out at launch. By default, the student must click on the fennec head at the bottom left to hear the instruction. A class option allows it to be triggered automatically. (The fennec hidden in a corner of the screen is cute, but I bet some students will never find it on their own.)
- Sounds disabled by default. Useful in computer room without helmets.
- Hide the names of the burrows. A CM1 student working on CP games will not see the displayed level. For an adaptation class or Ulis device, this detail avoids a lot of discomfort.
Add the rounded font, large numbers, neutral colors and choice of difficulty level in each game. And the fact that everything is played with the keyboard and the mouse, which relieves students for whom manual writing is an ordeal.
How much does Alec cost for a class, and does it require a student account?
For families, prices are displayed: approximately 9,90 Eur per month without commitment or 99 Eur for the year, with up to three child profiles and immediate termination from the account.
For schools, no prizes are published: the site refers to a quote or demo form. I asked the question directly to the publisher, who answered me by applying a fee schedule based on the number of pupils and classes, with a very high degressivity according to volume. Applications range from a small group in Ulis or IME to whole classes, hence the absence of a public tariff. For a teacher and an entire class count about 90 € incl. tax for a whole year.
On the accounts side, students do not need it to play: Class code is enough. The teacher must have an account, created by subscription or invitation from the school manager. You get a free 30-day subscription to test the platform. To ask when making contact.
Student data: what the Alec Charter says
Rarely read such a readable privacy policy in this sector. Some points that count for a school:
- An anonymous method of access exists: If you do not register any students, no student personal data is collected. The downside is that you lose all statistical monitoring. You have to choose.
- If you register your students, only one item of data is required: a first name, initials or a nickname. The child never fills out a form.
- The servers are in Ireland, at Platform.sh, and the publisher states that no transfers outside the European Union are made under GAR.
- Class data is purged at the end of the school year, even if the subscription continues. A teacher account that has been inactive for 12 months is deleted.
- No advertising, the model is based solely on subscriptions.
- In France, Alec is accessible via the GAR, therefore potentially from the Mediacentre of your ENT, with the ministry as data controller.
A downside, which is not specific to Alec: obtaining parental consent is the responsibility of the teacher. A model letter to parents is provided in the dashboard, which is already taken.
What I like, what I like less
What I like
- The four-character class code, which saves a lot of time at the beginning of the session and allows the extension at home.
- Customizable games with your own questions.
- The care taken in the graphics and the sound atmosphere, which gives the students the desire to come back to it without falling into the constant turmoil.
- Accessibility options, thoughtful and not just ticked.
- A clear data policy, with an anonymous access actually offered and a hanging on the GAR.
What I like less
- The absence of a public fee for schools, which requires the use of a form.
- Statistical monitoring disappears as soon as anonymous access is chosen.
- A maximum of five games per assignment, which means that you often have to go through the dashboard again.
To whom I would advise to take a closer look
If you teach in cycle 2, Ulis, IME or adaptation class, Alec deserves a demo request. The settings of vocalization and masking of the levels solve concrete problems that few platforms seriously deal with.
Elsewhere, the question is more open: this kind of tool does not replace anything, it occupies a specific niche, that of the fifteen minutes of autonomous training that we do not have time to prepare. It remains to be seen whether you prefer to put €90 in this niche or elsewhere.
FAQ
Should we create an account for each student?
No, no. Students log in with the class code generated by the platform. Enrolling students remains optional and is only used to obtain individual follow-up. In this case, only one item of data is requested: a first name, initials or pseudonym.
Can students play at home?
Yes, with the same class code, from any browser. This is described by several user teachers, notably in Ulis. Assigned duties appear automatically when the child connects.
Is Alec accessible via the GAR?
Yes, yes. The publisher publishes a specific confidentiality charter for the Resource Access Manager, in which it acts as a subcontractor to the Ministry. Access is then made from the GAR portal, without re-authentication.
Does it work on a tablet?
Yes, on tablet, iPad and computer, without installation. The publisher recommends Chrome or Safari and an up-to-date version of iOS. Use on an interactive digital board is also provided for, with the entire class.
How much does a school subscription cost?
There is no public tariff. The publisher told me to apply a graduated scale according to the number of pupils, with an average price of around €90 including tax per class per year. A quote is to be requested via the form of the site.
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