G-Suite for Education

What is G Suite for Education?

G Suite for Education is an integrated communication and collaboration solution, hosted by Google and managed by USD 261. It is a Google platform designed specifically with education in mind. While it is based on many of the popular Google functions available to consumers, it provides a controlled environment in which school systems can manage the collaborative environment for students. USD 261 students, faculty, and staff can communicate, store files and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Collaboration can occur in real-time, all within a secure district-managed online environment. The use of these tools provides an approved alternative to consumer Google accounts. G Suite for Education includes the following apps for students: Calendar, Classroom, Contacts, Drive, Docs, Keep, Forms, Mail, Sheets, Slides, Sites, and Tasks.

Anytime, anywhere access to G Suite allows users to be productive at school, at home, and on mobile devices. G Suite works on PC, Mac, and Linux computers, and supports popular formats such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, and .pdf. Files stored on G Suite are always accessible and backed up online.

How is G-Suite for Education different than the consumer Google account?

• G Suite is compliant with Federal student privacy laws.

• Your personal Google account will allow you to reach out to anyone, anywhere. When logged in to an 261 G Suite account, you can generally only share access to Drive, Calendars, Docs and more with others in the 261 domain. There are a few limited exceptions to this rule for specific instructional programs.

• Your personal Google account has limited storage capacity. There is unlimited storage within G Suite for Education.

• Your personal Google account may have cookie tracking and tailored ads within the environment. There is no advertising in G Suite.