This post is contributed by Gene Carboni, Business & Technology Department Chair at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, PA.
Over the past six years, little by little, one school at a time, the seventeen high schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia adopted Google Apps for Education. My school, Father Judge High School for Boys, was an early adopter in 2011.
In the 2010-2011 school, Google Apps for Education took more than 8 million new users into the Cloud. In 2015 there were over 40 million users and estimates show that Google Apps for Education Anticipated to Reach 110 Million Users by 2020.[1]
Today, teachers can reach students where they are with Google Classroom. Google Classroom, along with Google Apps for Education, provides teachers with the tools to take their classroom to the cloud. Is there a better way to help students learn in a 24/7 world? Google Apps for Education provides schools with the tools to foster student engagement in and outside of the traditional classroom.
Teachers created over 70 million assignments in Google Classroom’s first year of use. That number should increase dramatically as more schools come on board in year two. That’s right, Google Classroom is still in its second year. In the summer of 2014, Classroom was still being beta tested. I’ve been using educational technology for 20 years and I can’t remember a tech tool that has had such a dramatic impact on education in so short a period of time.
Google Classroom is not a Learning Management System but more of a Google Drive Management System. It might help if you think of Google Drive as Google’s equivalent to Microsoft Office® . (See the table below)
| Google Apps for Education | = | Microsoft Office® |
| Docs | = | Word |
| Sheets | = | Excel |
| Slides | = | PowerPoint |
| Drawing | = | Paint |
| Forms | = | Office Forms (New) |
Today’s students do not know of a world without cloud computing[1]. They’ve grown up with the Internet, iPhones, and wireless access. Why then would we want them to disconnect when they leave school or even worse why would we want them to disconnect when they come to school? Either way, if we don’t help our students make the move to 24/7 learning in the cloud, we are doing them a disservice.
Google Apps for Education are collaborative tools that make working with partners a snap. When working on a joint project, there isn’t a need to send files back and forth. The beauty of it all is that there is only one file that all collaborators can access at the same time. It gets even better! Students can access their files on any device that has an Internet connection. They can create, edit and even print, if needed, from a computer, laptop, Chromebook, MacBook or Smart phone. Teachers can accept paperless assignments via Google Drive or Google Classroom while providing much needed feedback in real time with embedded comments and discussions.
If you have any questions about getting started with Google for Education and GoogleEDU, you can contact me at [email protected]. I am a Google for Education Trainer and would be happy to assist you and your students make the move to Google Apps for Education.
If you are interested in Technology or other STREAM topics, consider registering for the NCEA STREAM 2.0 Symposium being held June 27-29 in Aston, PA. You can find registration information here. Use the coupon code STREAM100 for a $100 discount now through June 3rd. For questions about registering for STREAM 2.0, contact Jennifer Sweet at [email protected].
References:
[1] “Google Apps for Education Anticipated to Reach 110 Million Users by …” 2015. 7 May. 2016 <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/google-apps-for-education-anticipated-to-reach-110-million-users-by-2020-300107878.html>
[2] <https://boostelearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Upward-Trend-Graph1.png>
[3] “What is cloud computing? – Definition from WhatIs.com.” 2011. 9 May. 2016 <http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-computing>
