Google Earth street view of the Nubble Lighthouse York, Maine
The Year of GoogleThis year the York School Department will go Google! Our Go Live date for Google Apps for Education (GAFE) accounts is September 1, 2013. All students and staff grades K - 12 will have a GAFE account at that time. Many schools have already transitioned to GAFE for the simplicity and collaboration features that it offers.
Students and staff can now create and collaborate from any device on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings from anywhere in the World as long as they have an Internet connection. Of course there is also the option to work on Google Docs offline, as well, in the rare cases that you may not have a Wi-Fi signal. This transition will allow students and staff members to login locally to their device, bypassing the school network and go straight to an Internet connection, which will speed up login times in our classrooms and computer labs. At home, it means that students and staff can continue working on their documents without having to save multiple copies in preparation to take it home with them. This also allows learning to extend past the regular school day in that students and teachers can have conversations, make notes, and collaborate on documents, presentations and products from afar. The power of Google Drive alone is well worth the implementation! As a staff, we will also be migrating email, conferences, and calendar communications from First Class to Gmail by January 1, 2014. Google's versions of these services allow us to work on documents, have conversations, reserve spaces or people, and chat from afar all online without ever leaving your web browser. Of course this means all of our materials will need to be moved or recreated, as our First Class services will not be available after the 2013 - 2014 school year when our subscription runs out. We have a full school year to clean out our inboxes and folders, move those First Class documents from our conferences to platforms that will enhance our productivity, and recreate our web presence to allow for stronger communication and interaction between staff, students, parents and community members. Professional development will be key in all of this. No small feat without integrators throughout the district. The tech team will be working hard to provide online resources, as well as some face-to-face opportunities, to provide as much support as we can during this transition year. As always, feel free to call, email, stop us in the hallways, or submit a Help Desk Ticket at our new Google Form if you need assistance. We are happy to help! A Google Site of Resources will be published shortly with tips-and-tricks, video tutorials, step-by-step PDF documents, and best practice strategies for using the Google Suite of Apps within your learning environment. |
New Links for TeachersResources from Google AcademyAll the resources from all of the presentation from Google Academy Bangor, Maine.
Google Drive for Teachers"How to" video links for teachers.
GAFE Login Page (Students/Staff)Google Apps for Education login page. There is a link on all of the school web pages, as well, for this login screen.
Help Desk Google FormA little cleaner than the old version with less fields to fill out too!
Google Drive OverviewCreate documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings collaboratively in the cloud all from your browser on any device.
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