Bringing Learning Online A Guide to Activating Technology in Schools

Google has assisted educational institutions across the globe in

harnessing the power of technology to create an engaging, collaborative

teaching and learning environment. Based on best practices collected

over years of successfully deploying Google for Education’s solution in

schools from K-12 to higher education, our five easy steps will help

you get your institution online.

• Defineyourgoals

• InvestinInternetaccess

• Buildyourteam

• Offerwebtools

•Manage change

Define Your GoalsSuccessfultransformationbeginswithaclearvision.It’scrucialtogainconsensusfromall stakeholdersoneducationalandinstitutionalobjectivesearlyintheprocess.Onceyou’ve establishedcleargoals,yourschoolcanselectthetechnologysolutionsthatwillimprove yourlikelihoodofsuccess.

InNorthernThailand,MaeFahLuangUniversitysetagoalofreducingtheirenergyand carbonconsumptionby65to85percent.Withthistargetinmind,theyswitchedfromtheir ownpremise-basedemailsystemtocloud-basedGoogleAppsforEducation,decreasing theuniversity’senvironmentalimpactbyasmuchas98percent.

Invest in Internet AccessThebest-plannedtechnologydeploymentwillfailwithouttheproperinfrastructureto supportit.DeployingarobustandreliableInternetinfrastructureisoneofthefirststeps torealizingyourtechnologyvision.

LautechUniversityinNigeriamanagedanenormousexplosioninitsstudentpopulation– from6,000tonearly30,000injustafewyears–bymakingsignificantinvestmentsinits Internetinfrastructure.Thisinvestmentnotonlyprovidedstudentswithreliable,free Internetaccess,butalsogaveLautechaccesstoweb-basedtechnologiesthathelpedscale teachingandexaminationprocessesfortheuniversity’sgrowingpopulation.Withtheright connectivityaccesstosupportApps,theaveragelecturerwasabletoreducethetimeit tooktogradeexamsfrom3monthstoafewhours,givingthemmoretimetodowhat’s important–teach.

Build Your TeamMovingeducationonlinerequiresadedicatedteam.Youwillneedaninternalgroupof decision-makers,advocatesandtechnologyprofessionals,aswellasdeploymentexperts andexternalpartners.Agoodteamwillpossesstheenergy,expertiseandexcitementto successfullyguidedeploymenttocompletion.

TheSIPReddeColegios,aschoolsysteminSantiago,ChilewantedtoincreaseGoogleApps adoptionacross17geographicallydistributedschools.ThoughtheydeployedGoogleApps yearsprior,itwasonlyinusebyschools’administration.Throughthehelpofchange managementpartners,excitedITadministratorsandteachersateachcampuswere identifiedtochampionadoptiontobothstudentsandfellowteachers.

Offer Web ToolsWithadigitallyfluentandconnectedstudentbody,schoolsshouldbereadytodeliver anengaging,onlinecurriculumthroughaseamlessexperience.Byleveragingweb-enabled instructionaltools,youcanreduceITcosts,helpovercomephysicalbarrierstoeducation, andbetterengageallofyourstudents.

UniversitéCadiAyyad,Morocco,studentsandstaffusetheirGoogleaccountstoaccess theuniversityintranet,whichwasbuiltusingGooglesitesandGoogleAppsscripts. Studentscaneasilyaccesscoursematerial,requesttranscripts,receivetheirgrades, andlogontotheuniversity’seLearningplatform.

Manage ChangeChangeisoftenchallenging,particularlyineducationalinstitutionsthattakeprideintheirrich traditions.Carefullyplannedchangemanagement–fromspreadingthewordtoongoingtraining– willbeoneofthemostcriticalfactorsofsuccessinbringingeducationonline.

TheITteaminKhonkaenUniversityinThailandcreatedanumberofresourcestohelpstudents andfacultyeaseintothetransitionofadoptingGoogleAppsforEducation,includingusersgroup, anITsupportemailaddress,andawebsitethatofferedemailtipsandtricks.

Formoredetails,andtodiscoverhowGoogleforEducation canhelpyourinstitutionbringlearningonline,pleasevisit www.google.com/edu.

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