Google is changing the way our children learn
We talk a lot about the forces shaping education. Standardized tests and school-letter grades and Byzantine funding formulas.
But there’s another one quietly revolutionizing how students learn — and it’s far more technical. Literally.
It’s called Google Classroom.
The free, web-based app has been around for only a few years. But it’s already in use in 68 percent of school districts nationwide, according to EdWeek.
Students can use Google Classroom to work on and turn in assignments. And teachers can grade them online — no paper and red pens needed.
But the app’s greatest potential to change how education works lies in how it allows teachers and students to collaborate.
“It’s completely changed everything that I do in my classroom,” said Abby Cardenas, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Horizon Honors Elementary School in Phoenix.
Teachers can customize assignments based on students’ needs and interests. Multiple students can work on an assignment at once, and teachers can watch remotely as those students collaborate — making them more like guides for where to find information than the ultimate sources of it.
Why does that matter?
Well, consider how the education landscape is changing: Book publishers are increasingly offering textbooks and supporting materials online — some exclusively so. And many high schools and colleges require students to turn in their homework electronically.
They are making the switch, in part, because they recognize employers increasingly need people who can work online and in groups, perhaps with members hundreds of miles away. As a result, many schools are using Google Classroom in third grade and before to introduce students to this online, collaborative world.
But it isn’t enough to master the basic functions of Google Classroom. Educators say using it to its full potential also requires robust lessons about appropriate online behavior — such as keeping personal information safe, not bullying other students and knowing when it’s a good idea to unplug.
“The tools are getting better and better at a very fast pace,” said Jeff Billings, IT director at Paradise Valley Unified School District. “That’s why we need digital citizenship programs … to learn the appropriate use of technology.”
Google isn’t the only one wading into this brave new educational world.
Microsoft and Apple have similar apps, and if you ask the few districts that have chosen them or their hardware over Google, the debate is sort of like the Mac vs. PC wars of several years ago — more about personal preference and brand loyalty than functionality.
Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix uses Google apps on Apple products — and has for years — while Peoria Unified School District has rejected Google altogether.
“Google is fine technology. There’s nothing wrong with it,” said John Gay, Peoria’s chief technology officer. “One reason we’re still using Microsoft is it’s enormously expensive to change.”
But far more districts are making the switch to Google completely, buying the company’s low-cost Chromebooks because its apps are fully integrated and updates are pushed out automatically.
That makes Chromebooks easier to use and support, a plus for cashstrapped, short-staffed districts that are increasingly expected to issue every student his or her own electronic device.
Google has made that marketing pitch far more effectively than its competitors, which may explain why 90 percent of districts expect to buy more Chromebooks in the next two years, according to EdWeek.
But that also has raised concerns about what happens to sensitive student data when one company so thoroughly dominates the education-technology market. Could Google be hacked? Might ads one day creep in?
There’s another potential roadblock — particularly in Arizona, where schools rank among the lowest nationally for access to fast, affordable internet. Rural schools have long struggled to get connected. There are huge price discrepancies for broadband services among more urban school districts, and many students don’t have internet access at home.
Some regularly finish their homework on their parents’ cellphones at Walmart or Starbucks because they offer free WiFi.
Teachers are cognizant of these challenges and are trying to work around them, but ultimately, uploading assignments and collaborating in real time requires a reliable internet connection.
And that raises a fundamental question for policymakers: Is the use of technology a privilege or a right?
“We used to say it’s a privilege,” said Cathy Poplin, executive director of the Arizona Technology in Education Association, “but not anymore. That’s the main way students are going to get their curriculum. If you go digital, you need devices, and if you go digital, you need good broadband.”