Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals

South Kingstown School Department uses Google Workspace for Education and provides and manages a Google Workspace for Education account for students and staff members. Google Workspace for Education is a set of education productivity tools from Google used by students and teachers worldwide. Students will use their Google Workspace for Education accounts to complete assignments, communicate with their teachers and peers, and learn 21st-century digital citizenship skills.

What’s included in Google Workspace?

• Gmail provides email storage with extra security, including restricted incoming and outgoing email access. Emails by students in Grades 4 to 8 are restricted to within the South Kingstown School System Domain.

• Google Calendar enables us to create and share school or class calendars with events that can be subscribed to by families to receive automatic updates.

• Google Docs lets students create and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms. This also allows students to work together on projects simultaneously within the SKSD System Domain only for Grades 2 to 8.

• Google Forms makes it easy to create a survey or poll, give students a quiz, or collect other information in an easy, streamlined way.

The Benefits of Google Apps

● Ease of access, Students can access Google Apps at any time, anywhere. It is designed to work in any browser (Google Chrome, Explorer, Safari, etc.) and on any computer or mobile device. This enables access to email, calendars, and documents from school or at home.

● Online storage No flash drives (memory sticks etc.) are required because documents and files are automatically stored

● Collaboration Students can easily collaborate with others based on the grade-level permissions we have enabled

● Monitoring of Learning During collaborative work, teachers can monitor the progress of each student and provide instant written feedback visible to the group or to the individual. This enhances teaching and learning and provides accurate assessment.

● Online Portfolio Students can develop an online portfolio of work throughout their years at school.

●Family Communication Through websites, calendars, and email, parents can stay informed about the latest assignments and activities in their student’s classes. For Grades 3 to 8, this sharing would need to be done by staff as the students are restricted to within the SKSD domain. See

Within the SKSD Google Apps service:

● No external email addresses can contact student accounts in Grades 4 to 8 and vice-versa.

● All email communication and comments within collaborative work are monitored.

● Work uploaded to Google Drive remains the property of the creator--it is not copied or kept by Google if it is removed by the creator.

● We employ Gaggle to monitor student Google Email and Drive.

● We employ iBoss to filter the internet content on district devices, as well as devices that are on the district network.

User Access

Students in grades four and up have been provided with an SKSD student Gmail account. Students will follow school policies for appropriate use when using Google Apps. The service is an extension of the school’s own network. Students know that the school has the right and ability to monitor user accounts for policy and e-safety purposes.

Google Workspace Fundamentals is an integral part of the curriculum for most subjects. All email communication is archived, and the school’s Technology Policy will be enforced across the District for both staff and students.