Digital teaching

Google Workspace from the point of view of the school management

Michael Lutz

Published on

20.04.2022

Google Workspace from the point of view of the school management

More than competitive - that's Google Workspace for Education Plus. The licence fees of CHF 4/student per year are only one reason. According to According to the Swiss Coordination Office for Education Research, around 57 per cent of schools use digital devices on a daily basis. However, in order not to miss the boat on digitalisation, these notebooks, tablets, iPads & Co. should also be sensibly integrated into a cloud environment and centrally managed. This article shows the potential.

The Workspace for Education Plus version is a self-contained environment that is managed via a domain. Documents, web pages or emails can only be viewed after successful authentication. By default, all documents are not visible to outsiders, but can be shared or edited with other people if required. An e-mail, which is also the user name, and a password are sufficient to authenticate oneself with all apps. This single sign-on also allows access to other Apps&Tools services on the Internet when the "Sign in with Google" button is pressed.

Power "under the bonnet

The special feature is that the school's own structure can be digitally mapped and a clear assignment of rights can be defined according to the following roles:

Viewer
Commentator
Contributor: Add and edit files
Content Manager: Add, edit, move and delete files
Administrator: Manage content, members and settings

A 100 TB shared storage on a domain offers space not only for documents, but also for entire video collections. The fast search function finds emails, file names and terms as well as content within documents. In addition, the stored data can be transferred to the cloud as a complete folder structure with documents via drag-and-drop.

A shared data repository, with appropriately equipped rights, enables the team to work collaboratively and purposefully, whereby the organisational structure is mapped and, for example, school administration members can also have access (or work in their own group).

Screenshot of a team repository in Google Drive — Google Drive: shared team storage

In addition, every support team's dream comes true: Google Workspace for Education Plus is a low-maintenance, extremely stable environment. In combination with Chromebooks, support is reduced to a minimum, as updates are applied automatically and all devices can be configured centrally via an admin tool. Open Chromebooks, log in and get started. There are no longer any limits to hybrid teaching.

Efficient cooperation

I like the fluid and simultaneous collaboration on documents and projects. In a nutshell: two classes work on one document at the same time! In addition, a well thought-out, natural workflow is noticeable in day-to-day business and it is easy to set up different school, team and class calendars.

Efficient collaboration allows not only adding comments or suggested changes, but also assigning tasks to team members or sending comments to specific persons. Replies can be made in the document itself or, with the e-mail function "Reply", also from the inbox of the mail account. The changes can be viewed and undone at any time. Google also keeps a clear record of who made the change in a version history.

In the group area, subgroups can be created for working groups, student bodies or external projects. Chat histories, files and tasks are clearly listed and can be viewed by all team members. Here, for example, the school management can assign tasks to its staff or give assignments to the subject group. The individual members receive a message. E-mail replies "to all" are not necessary because the individual conversations are sorted by time. Alternatively, tasks can also be sent to the inbox.

Screenshot of Gmail Spaces — Gmail: Spaces

The administrator can temporarily lock and unlock accounts. Audits and push messages for suspicious actions can be set up to notify those responsible immediately. Appropriate mobile versions that allow the administrator or a helpdesk to reset forgotten passwords with their phone are available. I recommend enabling two-factor authentication for teacher accounts and setting up a separate account for administrators.

BYOD, certification programmes and ideas for the classroom

Workspace for Education is bring your own device (BYOD) ready because it is 100 per cent web-based. This means device freedom for the end user, but still controlled security. The framework agreement signed with Educa regulates the conditions for the purchase and use of Google Workspace for Education Plus.

Workspace certification programmes and extensive training relieve the burden on technical and educational ICT support staff. As an administrator, you can contact your own telephone contact at Google, who will not leave until the problem has been solved. With StackWorks, you have competent partners at your side who have already successfully and sustainably migrated a large number of schools and companies to the cloud.

Google Workspace for Education can be extended with a free offer from Google: the "applied digital skills and competences". More than 170 elaborated applied digital skills are available and guide students to ingenious products with short video instructions (turn on subtitles if necessary).

Lesson plans, procedures and tasks have been developed and prepared for a specific topic. These are divided into individual lessons or entire lesson series. The teacher does not need to have expert knowledge, as the students work out the units step by step themselves.

The 'applied digital skills and competences