Advantages of Google apps

There are many wonderful Google apps which would help as a teacher. The fact that Google apps are free to schools is one of the best reasons to use them!

Communication advantages:
Since most schools already have system-wide email, I'm not sure the email portion would be much of an advantage. However, the collaborative Google calendar could be a great help when planning team teaching! It would be a huge benefit to have all the team teachers include lessons, assignments, tests, etc. on one calendar which can be seen by all teachers, parents, and students! My kids have something similar to this, but the teachers don't use it and it is difficult to get to. Added bonuses are the seamless intregration into Microsoft Outlook and the mobile access. Perfect for us teachers who have iPhones / blackberries / palms and want to make updates on-the-go!

Collaborative advantages:
The Google apps listed under the collaborative category offer a HUGE range of uses! The free Google docs are only a small part of the whole picture. Interactive, collaborative labs would be such an advantage to any science class!!! Having the ability for groups of students to combine lab results would allow for more in-depth experiments to be completed, since each group could do a small part of a larger experiment, yet still have the results of the whole experiment once everyone inputs their results. Also, Google sites that allow the collaborative creation of a web site would have many added benefits to any classroom. Students could work together inputing important information, lab results, timelines, etc. The group effort would be beneficial for teaching teamwork, and the fact that students would be inputing the information would increase their actually learning and information retention! What a great idea!

I wish some of these options had been available when I was a student. I know that more actual learning is done when it is fun and interactive. I think the Google apps will help me create this type of learning when I obtain my secondary teaching position!