Tips from the Teacher’s Desk – Making the most of Google Apps

The current standards in education require that all students be successful with 21st Century Skills. Along with the World Languages tenets of Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading, we must also make certain that students are able to utilize these skills in a means that is in line with technological and informational developments that happen on a daily basis.

In May of 2014, Google introduced Classroom, an online platform that has added a new dimension to the world of education by streamlining the process of creating and returning assignments.  The classroom suite allows student to student collaboration as well as safe, moderated communication in real time.  Classroom is part of the Google Apps for Education suite and is available for free in 42 different languages. To qualify for Google Apps for Education,  A non U.S. school (K-12) must be an educational institution that is accredited by a generally recognized accreditation body.  However, if your school hasn’t yet “gone Google”, there are still a variety of ways to successfully implement Google Apps individually.

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Start with Google Drive

Google Drive allows you to use the Web to store all of your files and to access them from any device with internet capability. Once he or she creates an account, a user gets 15 GB of free file storage across Drive, GMail and Photos.  Google Apps for Education users get unlimited free storage.  With Google drive, you can upload and download files with one click to any device. Better yet, any document that is stored on Google Drive can be shared with multiple people- either to view or to actively collaborate on.  Students can work on assignments wherever they may be and partners on a project no longer need to be in the same place at the same time to get the job done.  Click here to get started with Google Drive

What’s next:

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are the apps that let you create different types of online materials that can be shared across a variety of devices and platforms. As with any of the other Google Drive files, these all may be shared with other users who can edit or collaborate in real time.  Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint slides can be easily uploaded and converted to Google documents.

Never worry about losing your hard work:  In addition to the ease of access and ability to collaborate, all Google drive documents are automatically saved as you are working on them. Even if you lose internet connectivity or electricity, each of these platforms can be worked on offline and will update once the user is reconnected.  This effectively levels the playing field for students who may not have access to the internet once leaving school for the day.

Google Forms: The true Teacher’s Helper

Imagine a test or quiz that your students actually enjoy taking and that takes you almost no time to grade. Google forms can help to make it happen.  Accessible through Google Drive, Google Forms allow you to easily (and quickly) create a wide variety of surveys, worksheets, quizzes and tests that allow for multiple question/answer styles – all within the same document if you wish.   Using Google forms,  teachers are able to check for understanding in real time.

There are a variety of web-based applications that can be utilized in the classroom. Using Google Drive is a great place to get started from.

 

Dianna Altmiller

USA Academic Manager

 

 

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