Tools – Google Apps

Google provides a rich set of applications that students can use collaboratively.  Your learning objectives can be woven through these apps to increase opportunities for critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. Google provides the security and reliability, and students have 24/7 access.

Check with your school, college, or university for the services available to you and your students:

The core services include:

  • Google Classroom: is a free application designed to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, grade and give feedback, go paperless, and much more! Check out ten best practices for Google Classroom.
  • Google Chrome Sync: is a feature that allows End Users to synchronize bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings across all the devices where they are signed in to Chrome.
  • Gmail: Gmail is a free, web-based email platform that offers SPAM protection and is completely ad-free in G Suite for Education accounts.
  • Google Drive: Google Drive allows you to store your files securely and access them from any device, as well as create, open and edit your files.
  • Google Calendar: Google Calendar is a free, web-based calendar platform that is completely ad-free in G Suite for Education accounts.
  • Google Vault: Google Vault lets you retain, hold, search, and export your organization’s mail and chat messages. You can also search and export your organization’s files in Google Drive.
  • Google Docs: Google Docs is a free, web-based word processing tool that allows you to create and edit documents online and collaborate in real-time.  Check out Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing
  • Google Sheets: Google Sheets is a free, web-based spreadsheet tool that allows you to create and edit spreadsheets online and collaborate in real-time. It is great for data analysis and organization.
  • Google Forms: Google Forms is a free, web-based form tool that allows you to create forms, surveys, and quizzes that collect response information in real-time. Some ways to use Google Forms for learning can be found here.
  • Google Slides: Google Slides is a free, web-based presentation tool that allows you to create and edit presentations online.
  • Google Drawings: is a free, web-based diagramming software. It allows users to create flowcharts, mind maps, concept maps, and other images.
  • Google Sites: Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share websites and web pages.
  • Google Hangouts and Hangouts Chat: Google Hangouts is a free communication and collaboration tool for text chats, video calls, and screen sharing.
  • Jamboard: is a web-based service that allows End Users to create, edit, share, collaborate, draw, export, and embed content within a document.
  • Google Keep: is a web-based service that enables End Users to create, edit, share, and collaborate on notes, lists, and drawings.
  • Google Tasks: Keep track of your daily tasks, organize multiple lists, and track important deadlines with Google Tasks.
  • Google Groups: allows you to create and participate in online forums and email-based groups with a rich experience for community conversations.
  • Google Contacts: is a web-based service that allows End Users to import, store, and view contact information, and create personal groups of contacts that can be used to email many people at once.

Other Google products that may be used for learning, but are not part of the G Suite for Education include:

  • Chrome: Internet browsing
  • YouTube: Online video hosting and sharing
  • Google Maps/Earth: Interactive maps and satellite imagery
  • Blogger:  Publishing blogs