Google Apps for Education

This past weekend I spent two days at Charlottesville High School immersed in a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) Summit.  While we are not yet ready to adopt GAFE, I did learn some useful information, particularly surrounding the Chrome browser.

I’ve used Google Docs for years, even before it was Google Docs and was known as Writely.  With Google Docs, now Google Drive, there is really no need for Microsoft Office – as long as you have Internet access.  You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, along with drawings and forms that have many uses.  Any of these can be downloaded in Microsoft format.  The best thing, though, is they are automatically saved to your Google Drive account which you can access from any device with Internet access –smartphones, tablets and computers.  These documents can easily be shared with others – fellow teachers can collaborate or simply have a copy.  In GAFE schools the teacher can share a template or other document with their students who then make their own copy and share back with the teacher.  The teacher can then follow progress on the document, even leaving comments for students just as with a paper document.  No need to print anything unless there is a need.

I spent many sessions at the summit learning more about Chrome, one of the fastest browsers.  While I have long been an advocate for Google Apps for Education I was really thinking simply in terms of Docs/Drive, calendar, maps, etc.  I wasn’t thinking along the lines of apps for the Chrome browser.  If you have a Google account and log into Chrome and then switch devices, your Chrome “experience” is the same.  For instance, I tend to use one laptop at school and another at home – I can add apps and extensions to either laptop and they automatically appear when I open the browser on the other laptop.  With the dictionary extension double click on any word on a web page and you will get the definition along with an icon to click to hear the word.  There are plenty of apps, many of which are free and most of which automatically direct you to a webpage.  There are apps for Quizlet, StudyStack and many other flashcard generators.  Want typing practice?  There’s an app for that!  More than one, actually.  There are math game pages, mostly geared towards math facts for elementary students.  Higher level math courses can make use of graphing calculators and equation editors.  Those teachers might also want to look into Geogebra and Sketchometry.  Biodigital Human offers the human body, male or female, in 3D layers.  You turn on/off the skeleton and numerous other systems of the body – lymphatic, muscular, nervous, reproductive, endocrine, digestive, etc.  There are apps and extensions for home, school and business.

While our students don’t have Google accounts, these apps can come in very handy in the classroom as long as you have an account.  Most teachers now have an interactive whiteboard (IWB) of some type, simply display the app and let students interact with it on the IWB.  If you don’t have a Google account (you don’t have to create a Gmail account, you can use your ACPS email account), you will need to create it at home.  Once you have it created you will be able to sign in and use it in the school system.