Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Google Apps for Education (GAFE)

The fifth web 2.0 tool that I would like to discuss and share is GAFE.  As I learn more about this tool by using it, I continue to be amazed at the efficiency and organizational power of this software.  Granted, the HCPSS version can be a bit confusing at first because most teachers maintain three separate Google accounts.  However, learning the ins and outs of GAFE as I prepared for my group's summer tech sessions has opened my eyes to the value that it offers teachers.

Below is the a piece of the menu of apps that are offered in this program.  There are many more apps than are shown, but the apps shown are the most prevalent to teachers in my experience.





The Drive app allows the user to house and share documents of many sorts.  The user can choose to share each document with specified people or groups of people.

The Calendar app allows a teacher, among other functions, to communicate with students and parents daily by simply posting messages, assignments, etc.

The Sites app allows teachers to create websites as needed.  For example, I maintain a main website, a geometry website, a tennis website, and a volleyball website.

Again, there are many other apps that are useful in this program.  I would argue that a teacher could use GAFE almost exclusively to create an extensive and meaningful online relationship with students, parents, and other teachers alike.

Check out the video below by Google Enterprise.



1 comment:

  1. I agree, there is an "announcement" feature on the website that allows people to subscribe to posts that is a great benefit in student/parent-teacher communication. I also found out that you can now install drive onto your computer so that you can work on things offline. Great job outlining this tool!

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