Ever since the world has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, education has gone online. Even after a year, many schools, colleges, and universities stay closed for physical classes. Remote learning and teaching resources have been popularized more than ever before. Teachers, as a result, are looking for better solutions to make distance learning as helpful for their students as possible.
One of the biggest companies when it comes to the digital world is Google. We use the search engine every single day of our lives, and it has become a portal through which we access different services online. However, what many people don't know is that Google has its own learning solutions in the form of Google for Education which was previously known as G Suite for Education. This is a set of tools created with educators and students in mind to make their remote learning as seamless as possible.
The Benefits of Distance Learning
Even without the presence of the pandemic, there are many advantages that distance learning can provide. Some of these are:
● Students who are unable to attend school physically due to a disability or another health-related reason can take classes online.
● College students who cannot afford to move to another country can still enroll themselves in a top-tier university without having to leave their own country.
● Students can collaborate no matter where in the world they are.
● The overall cost of many distance learning programs is much lower than their in-person counterparts.
The idea of remote learning has been around for many years now because of such reasons. It has opened doors for countless students who would otherwise not have access to a good education simply because they can't travel. Having the option to study at a top university while sitting in their homes is something that can make all the difference to some students' lives.
Google For Education
So, where does Google come into the picture? Students use the service to do all the research they need for their papers and assignments already. They can look for an APA paper writing service to hire an APA paper writer for their thesis or just find some examples of subjects to write about. And writing papers and creating assignments isn't all that students use this service for. Instead, Google is at the center of the majority of student work, so it makes sense for the company to expand its services to educational institutes even more.
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That is why Google for Education exists. The company already has many different tools that can be used by people to create and manage their work. Tools like Google Docs, Google Meet, Gmail, and Drive are being used by students and professionals alike. Google for Education is a collection of all the most useful tools that an educator would want to use to teach. All of the tools and files are connected via the Google Cloud, which makes collaboration very seamless and easy.
Let's take a look at some of the most important apps and tools in this suite that make virtual learning easier:
● Docs, Slides, and Sheets
These three apps are at the base of most student assignments when they use Google for Education. Docs is a word processing program that is used to write reports and papers. Slides is the company's presentation tool that students can use to create visually appealing presentations for their class. Sheets allow them to create detailed spreadsheets.
● Google Classroom
The most important part of this whole suite is the Classroom. This is an excellent app that makes it easier for teachers to post assignments and announcements for their many students. It's essentially an extension to a classroom where students can see what they need to do and what the deadlines are. They can also be notified about their upcoming tests. This is also a great way for them to turn in their assignments all in one place.
For a teacher, this means that they don't have to check up on each of their students separately. Instead, they can control the whole curriculum in one place.
● Google Cloud
While not an app, the Google Cloud is what makes this all possible. All of the information shared by students and teachers via any of the tools included in the education suite is easily accessible by everyone. All of the students' work is also backed up automatically, which is great because they don't have to worry about losing it due to a power outage or hardware error. The seamless integration of all the various resources and tools is what really makes Google for Education an excellent choice for distance learning.
● Resources for Teachers
Another great thing about using Google for Education is that teachers have access to a whole lot of resources to teach different skills to their students. Whether they want to teach coding, digital literacy, language, art, or STEM in their class, they can access the various resources and create their own lesson plans. These resources include the likes of video lessons, daily trivia challenges, and even fun activities like games. Educators can use these resources to teach their students whether they are in Kindergarten or college.
Conclusion
Google for Education is an excellent set of tools and resources for all those schools who want to make distance learning a part of their offered services. Any school that wishes to help students learn without limiting them to their physical classrooms should make use of services like these to make virtual education possible. The world is quickly moving towards distance learning solutions as more and more people want to learn on the go. And while apps like Google Meet have already become popular for video conferencing, the complete Google for Education suite should not be ignored in this regard.
