If you are a parent or teacher looking for education resources, you might want to check out Google Apps for Education. Google might not be your first place to look when it comes to educational tool for your children, but the Google Apps for Education are a great resource.

Google Apps for Education are great tools for any parent or teacher gain access to communication tools that make it easy for students to acquire the necessary skills to help them succeed in their learning environment and in life. The Google Apps for Education consists of different types of integrated communication, collaboration applications as well as security and protection features all for no cost to install and no cost to use for schools. Google Apps for Education have already seen tons of success stories from schools throughout the country. Here are a few reasons to give Google Apps for Education a try.

  • Ratings and feedback on the education apps are overwhelmingly positive from students from schools throughout the country. 
  • Another one of the perks of giving Google Apps for Education a  try is because it focuses your IT services on other more important issues than just email services. 
  • The programs are incredibly easy to use. There is no software or hardware to purchase and install. You simply sign up your accounts to get started. 
  • It is also a great way to save money on aspects of IT and other education solutions where your school would ordinarily be spending money.
  • With these apps from Google, your security is of the utmost importance, which is why Google take security and reliability seriously in the development of their technology. This way you can feel confident in using tools like Google Apps for Education. 
  • You can access the Google apps tools from anywhere you have Internet access. This can be on any computer or mobile device, which is incredibly helpful for students who use various computers throughout the school as well as for doing homework on their home computer.

How it works:

Google Apps for Education is an easy-to-get-started online resource program and offers students, teachers and entire schools the chance to keep educational resources all in one place. Google manages the technology so teachers can focus their time on the curriculum and assisting their students rather than having to worry about the applications working correctly. These tools help students, teachers and staff collaborate ideas quickly and efficiently, which means they can get more done in a shorter amount of time. The tech administrations can provide email, sharable online calendars, instant messaging tools and a dedicated website to the faculty and students for free. The services of Google Apps for Education include: Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites. These are helpful because the email service is incredibly easy to use and gives you direct access to other Google features like the instant messaging service, the calendar and Google Docs. All of these services can be shared among the students and teachers. For example, all teachers, faculty and staff can outline their schedule and event information on a shared calendar with the rest of the school so the other teachers and faculty members can know immediately what the other staff and teachers are up to or have planned. This allows for stronger communication among staff members and teachers, which creates a smoother and more efficient work environment. 

One of the favorite features of these education apps from Google include the Google Sites. This gives users the ability to create a class site, and edit it easily the same way you would edit a document. You don't have to have any technical expertise in order to make this work easily and efficiently. This way your site can bring together any and all information you want and need to share with your colleagues and students. This is a great opportunity to share docs, calendars, photos, videos and more. These kinds of tools are perfect for sharing homework assignments, practice tests as well as information with other teachers and staff. The school's IT staff benefits greatly from using  the Google Apps for Education being that it is less time consuming with IT solutions and fixes and is also free to operate. This will help allocate those precious dollars to other areas in the IT budget that need more attention. For more information about signing up with the Google Apps for Education, check out the Google homepage followed by the Apps link to learn more.

Sources: google.com/educators/p_apps.html, google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/k12.html