GEG Global
Director of Educational Technology at Louisiana Department of Education.
Education Technology
Compliant Communication
School leaders understand the importance of teachers, parents, and students building relationships, but are often concerned about the communication crossing appropriate boundaries. To mitigate this possibility, many institutions have implemented stricter guidelines that include a ban on electronic communication, particularly via phone, chat messages, and social media.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Google Voice supports communications between teachers, parents, and students can make parent-teacher conferences more productive. Before the pandemic, a lot of institutions hosted parent-teacher conferences in-person or over their phone system within a set window of time. The goals of the conference could be impeded if the parent couldn’t attend the meeting due to a last-minute issue with transportation or time, or if there is no follow-up on next steps for lack of a discussion record. With Google Voice, parent-teacher conferences can be arranged to accommodate parents’ schedules, and teachers can connect with them over the phone regardless of location or time using a compliant, domain-assigned, phone number.
Communicative Technology
Not only does it allow teachers, parents, and students to stay in contact without location and time being hindering factors, but Google Voice also makes it easier for staff to communicate with each other while on the move. Administrators who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the school building are often equipped with cellular devices or walkie-talkies to use as they make their rounds. This equipment can be expensive, has to be replaced regularly, and in certain cases, may not have enough range to work properly.
Emergency Preparedness
Communicating with the academic community on the go is also important during emergencies. There are plans in place to protect stakeholders during severe weather, fires, hostile intruders, and now national health crises. Administrators can remember the chaotic feeling of trying to keep teachers, students, and parents connected during the pandemic. Equipped only with the stationary phone systems left behind in the school buildings, institutions were challenged with finding a way to contact their community outside of email. Google Voice supported many schools in their continuity of learning mission, and, post-pandemic, can continue to keep them prepared for future unforeseen circumstances. Teachers don’t have to wonder if their hallways are secure, students don’t have to question if their parents know what is going on, and parents don’t have to worry about their student’s safety.
CDW Corporation is an American technology company, that provides technology products and services for business, government, and education. The company has a secondary division, CDW-G, devoted solely to United States governmental entities, such as K-12 schools, universities, non-profit healthcare organizations, and local, state, and federal governments.
We Know Google and We Know Education
We also know how important classroom management is. Ill-equipped and outdated systems often can’t handle your large amount of data, or don’t have the necessary functions allowing you to implement a safe and effective learning environment for your teachers and students. This is why we developed Little SIS.
One Google Workspace for All Domains
While the district has a series of other tenants (Canvas, Microsoft, Schoology, etc.), they had a Google Workspace percolating in the background. In order to better serve their students and ensure the continuity of learning, they initiated it with student and teacher accounts and then worked in tandem with us and Google to begin building a centralized Google Workspace domain. While reflecting on the progression since the height of the pandemic, the GWA shared, “I am grateful to CDW for being at the table as we got the system up and running. It was the deep knowledge that they have, which isn’t hearsay or just a document from Google but extensively tested best practices, that made transitioning to a virtual learning environment so solid.”
Migration Brings Safety and Compliance
Still in the thick of their migration, the district currently has over 100 different Google Workspaces, many of which are inconsistently administered. The GWA discussed, “We run into daily problems, due to inconsistent management, that create enormous risk for our students.” Unfortunately, they have encountered situations that students should have never been in because of poorly managed consoles. “This is why we need a centralized Google Workspace,” he added.
Distributed Access with Little SIS
With hundreds of thousands of classrooms in the Google Workspace, Little SIS has played a major role in the transition and in the transformation of their classroom management processes. On a centralized Google Workspace, settings are regulated at the district level, but Little SIS allows for distributed access control.
Little SIS’s Student Explorer Tool Makes Data Collection Easy
As much as Little SIS contributes to the administrative role in schools, its benefits also trickle down to the teacher level.
Little SIS’ capacity for data reporting has been a proven staple for the district. The GWA shared, “We just had a transition in leadership. My immediate response was to go to Little SIS and pull data to report analytics for the classes. Just to be able to export that level of data to show the activity and engagement in our Google Classrooms, into a Google Sheet no less, was really helpful.”
Akilah Willery, education strategist at CDW, is co-host of the EdTech Coffee Talks podcast, part of the CDW Education Collaborative, K12 Education Strategist.
Empowering IT Teams with Enterprise-Level Support: Amplified Support for Google for Education
CDW Education recognizes the obstacles that your technical staff face while managing your Google Workspace for Education domain. Our Amplified Support for Google for Education service provides two subscription tiers to address these challenges effectively so they can focus on what matters most: the success of their educators and students.
Amplified Support for Google for Education - Basic Subscription Tier
Unlimited Support: Your technical staff engage in 1:1 outcome-based sessions with dedicated Google Workspace for Education experts to address domain challenges, can submit an unlimited number of support tickets, and have priority escalations to Google when necessary for the most effective solutions.
Optimized Domain Operations: Our consultants assist in optimizing domain operations, ensuring efficient management and performance.
Proactive Problem Solving: By staying ahead of issues, your technical staff are enabled to focus on their core mission of supporting educators and students throughout the year.
Amplified Support for Google for Education - Essential Subscription Tier
Customized Solutions: In addition to the unlimited support included with the Basic tier, your institution will receive an annual Google for Education Audit that is tailored to focus on your priorities and provides a comprehensive snapshot of your Google Admin console's existing settings against EDU best practices. This results in a roadmap of recommendations for Support Stacks, training, and tools designed to meet your institution’s unique needs. Your institution will also receive a Chrome · device refresh or an actionable plan of performance strategies that ease Chromebook management.
Professional Collaboration: Your technical staff will have access to monthly webinars that highlight impactful changes, offer professional development opportunities, and foster collaboration between our IT specialists and Google experts to promote best practices and innovative approaches.
Diane Doersch is CoSN board chair and a technical project director at Digital Promise. The former CTO is known for speaking out about digital equity in K–12 education and professional equity in science, technology, engineering, and math careers.
Digital Promise is committed to advancing digital equity so that all learners, especially those who have been historically and systematically excluded, can have access to greater well-being, agency, and economic security. Digital equity involves:
• Expanding access and opportunities for students and households
• Cultivating digital competency (skills, mindsets, behaviors, and dispositions)
• Enabling effective technology use
• Ensuring inclusive participation in a digitally driven society
K-12 schools serve as a key pathway to digital equity by developing digital literacy, ensuring equitable access to technology, and preparing students for success in the digital age. By fostering equal access and proficiency in navigating the digital landscape, we empower current and future generations. Digital equity is an essential part of preparing all students for future success.
Teacher, Author, Education Strategist
Artificial Intelligence in education
AI in Education
Making room for what matters with AI | Teaching for tomorrow
1. The teachers and students will benefit from Technological research and learning and will help prepare students for a technologically anchored future.
2. Technology will create more opportunities for students.
3. It increases the chances for success and understanding of the world and of ourselves.
4. It makes learning accessible for both the Teacher and the learner.
AI can bring huge improvements to education making our system far better for students, educators and society. More Technological Advancements will be seen in education in the next decade than in the past 100 years.
Scheme of Work Generator
Customizable Lesson Planning: Topics such as AI dangers, deep fakes, and ethics can be tailored to various educational levels, allowing instructors to generate a detailed 10-lesson scheme that can be saved, shared, and exported in multiple formats.
Designed for Educators: This feature simplifies the preparation of structured and comprehensive curricula, making it an indispensable tool across educational sectors.
In-Class Generators
Debate Feature: Enhance classroom engagement by generating relevant debate topics on pressing issues like the ethics of generative AI in schools. This tool prepares materials that are immediately usable, fostering dynamic and thoughtful discussions.
Resource Accessibility: All generated materials can be downloaded in PDF or Word formats, facilitating easy distribution and use.
Ask the Expert
Expertise at Your Fingertips: For deeper inquiries into AI, the ‘Ask the Expert’ feature connects educators with specialists who provide tailored responses, enriching the academic content and understanding of AI.
Seamless Integration: Responses and materials from experts can be saved and integrated into course content, enhancing educational quality and depth.
Kenneth Guantai7091@missouristate.edu