Google Nation

Google has become an integral part of our internet / information based culture and has even become part of our lexicon with  Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary listing Google as a verb since 2006.  It is no surprise that Google has become one of the tools commonly used in schools and now, with Google Apps for Education providing their suite of communication and productivity tools free to schools, it is no surprise that many school districts have decided to get on board.  While the savings on servers for email and storage are attractive to districts, the ease of collaboration and communication between teachers and students and the engagement of students is profound.

District Savings

Districts can migrate all of their email to Google apps saving them thousands of dollars in server space and staff time by not having to maintain their own servers and monitor email quotas.  One district in Michigan estimates that they saved over $400,000 by switching to Google Apps for Education and the State of Oregon Department of Education estimates that they will save $1.5 Million.  The benefits to districts don't stop there.  In my mind, the benefits to students and teachers is even greater.

Increased Engagement and Collaboration

Students live in a digital world and embracing this allows educators to help move and mold that energy instead of fighting it.  Google Drive exists in the cloud enabling students and teachers to access their work from anywhere, from any device.  This fluidity allows students to share their documents with each other and with their teachers, work on those files together in real time making the process of collaboration easy and fun.  The students light up when they see that what they are typing on their project is immediately seen by others in their group.  The chat feature is something that is familiar to them and is an easy way to ask each other questions without talking if they are right next to each other or without the use of a phone if they are working from home.

No Dogs Here

While "the dog ate my homework" is an overused cliche it speaks to difficulties that students do have with keeping track of their work and for teachers in tracking and grading assignments.  Google Drive allows students to store their documents in the cloud and access them anywhere.  This levels the playing field for those students who don't have technology at home, or have it, but can't afford more expensive word processing software. By simply sharing their documents with their teachers, students can turn in their work even when they aren't at school, and teachers can track when work was completed and who did how much work on group projects. Tools like shared "Drop Box" folders or Learning Management Systems like Edmodo or Schoology, make the process of turning in work to teachers more easy to track.  These Learning Management systems also simplify the process of tracking assignments when they were "Turned In" and providing feedback to students by keeping it well organized in an easy to use interface.

Increased Accountability

The File Revision History of Google Docs is a very useful tool to educators.  It makes it easy to spot copying, track how much time was spent working on and revising work, and see who in a group project was doing the most work.  The history shows who wrote what and at what time, so if a document was started at 10:00pm and was completed by 10:04 with 3 pages including footnotes, chances are, there is something fishy going on that students will have a hard time explaining away.

Whatever the reasons for moving to Google Apps, the benefits are many.  If you are looking for ways to use different features in your classroom, be sure to check out our many workshops being offered.  (see calendar to the right or check out My Learning Plan).