Today we're announcing new Chromebooks for students and teachers, updates to Screencast and cast moderator, and new features like reading mode.
Editor’s Note: Join us for Google for Education’s product launch event, The Anywhere School 2022, to find out about the latest features to help students pursue their personal potential.
Over the last two years, many school districts have gone from sharing devices to providing one for every student. Students aren’t the only ones getting devices, either - teachers are, too. We’ve talked to a lot of teachers to see what tools they might be missing on their devices so we can design new tools to make key workflows easier, and provide students with even richer learning experiences.
We heard loud and clear that returning to the classroom this year after remote learning, many educators are now using computers not just to prep for class, but also to teach in real time. Having a lightweight convertible Chromebook with a stylus and all-day battery life allows them to step away from their desks and move freely about the classroom to engage with students. And with so many schools moving toward a 1:1 student to device ratio, students are taking their Chromebooks home in backpacks to work on homework; this gives them unprecedented access to digital tools both in school and at home. With that, video has quickly become both a critical teaching tool and a powerful way for students to show their work. So for this back to school season, we've built new ways for both students and teachers to share and record their screens for real-time collaboration in the classroom and creating instructional videos and reports.
Make video creation capabilities available to everyone in your class with the Screencast app built into Chrome OS. Educators can record, trim, transcribe and share lessons or demos to build a custom library of recordings. Students can create their own screencasts to share their ideas and what they’ve learned, or access lessons if they missed a class or need homework help. You can even draw or write on the screen using a touchscreen or stylus to diagram or illustrate key concepts. Recordings are stored on Google Drive, and can be accessed via link to the Screencast app – at school or from home. Update Chrome OS to M103 to get access.
Share ideas and content wirelessly with a moderator mode for casting that lets educators control casting in their classrooms. Cast moderator lets educators and students share their screen, whether sharing a presentation, a video or a worksheet, wirelessly to a central display, using a secure access code. Educators can keep class on track by controlling when the code gets displayed and instantly turning off a disruptive cast in their classroom with the click of a remote or from the teacher’s own Chromebook. With cast moderator, all educators need is a cast sender, like a Chromebook or a desktop Chrome browser, and a supported Google TV device as a cast receiver. We’re piloting this with schools this summer, so to get notified about availability, express interest through our form.
Our team aims to give students access to the tools they need to build key skills and creatively express their ideas on Chromebooks. We’re working with developers like Figma, the leading browser-based collaborative design software, to optimize their products for Chromebooks and run pilots in real classrooms. Through this partnership, we hope to equip students with the visual communication, problem-solving and collaboration skills they need to thrive in a digital-first world. We’re announcing a free Figma beta for U.S. high schools using Chromebooks. Now you can deploy Figma and manage free app licenses all from Google Admin Console, making it easy to deliver to many people at once. Starting today, you canapply to participate in the Figma beta, which launches later this summer.
Whether you’re looking for Chromebooks for high schoolers or for educators, or for yourself, you can find recommendations onour website, along with accessories that are Works with Chromebook certified, like styluses from Logitech. You can learn how to set up a Chromebook repair program in your school, with device-specific resources from Acer and Lenovo. Or if you have old Macs and PCs sitting around, you can repurpose them with Chrome OS Flex, a new version of Chrome OS that can help extend the lifespan of your devices.
We’re excited to see how educators are using Chromebooks to expand their teaching. Chris Preston, an honors biology teacher at Rider High School in Wichita Falls ISD, is among the teachers who rely on Chromebooks for teaching. “As a teacher, I’m always looking for ways to save time, and my Chromebook is the ultimate time saver,” Chris says. “I actively share my experiences with my Chromebook with fellow educators because Chromebooks have changed the way I work. I want others to have that same opportunity.” And now, with Screencast and cast moderator, we hope educators around the world feel the same way.
Chromebooks — which last year were largely used as classroom tools for writing reports and working on projects — are now the main way many students go to school. As distance learning takes place around the world, educators and students have had to quickly adapt to teaching and learning through Chromebooks. And along the way we’ve updated features and tools to make learning from anywhere easier.
This year, we have 40 new devices and accessibility improvements coming so that every student can learn the way they want to.
Teachers have long recorded lessons to help students do homework and study for tests, but in the past year it’s become downright critical for virtual learning. Which is why we’ve built a screen recording tool right into Chrome OS that is coming in the latest Chromebook update in March. With this tool, teachers and students can record lessons and reports in the classroom and at home.
Chrome Education Upgrade unlocks access to Google Admin Console, making it possible for schools to centrally manage massive fleets of Chromebooks. Now, there are over 500 Chrome policies in Google Admin Console, including new ones like Zero Touch Enrollment, which make it easier to deploy and manage Chromebooks at scale — even remotely.
As schools buy hundreds or even thousands of Chromebooks for teachers and students, it’s overwhelming to find the best device to purchase. To make it easier we’ve created a resource to help you find the right Chromebook for whatever you’re looking for — whether it’s in-class learning, virtual learning or devices for faculty and staff.
We’re launching over 40 new Chromebooks. Many of them include convertible Chromebooks that function like a laptop and a tablet, and come with a stylus, touchscreen, and dual-cameras for students to take notes, edit videos, create podcasts, draw, publish digital books and record screencasts. Every new Chromebook is equipped to deliver exceptional Google Meet and Zoom experiences — right out of the box. We also have devices that can better support students with limited access to the internet, or in countries with strong mobile broadband networks. These devices, called Always Connected devices, have an LTE connectivity option that allows you to connect via your preferred cellular network.
Making education products that work for all students, also means creating accessibility features. And it turns out these features are helpful to everyone — including people with disabilities. ChromeVox, our full-featured screen reader, has new features including improved tutorials, the ability to search ChromeVox menus, and smooth voice switching that automatically changes the screen reader’s voice based on the language of the text.
We are also making significant audio, video and reliability improvements to Meet on Chromebooks so it continues to work smoothly for everyone.
As many students are learning from home, it has become even more important for parents and guardians to help support their child’s learning, while also making sure they’re safe online. We’re making it possible for families to add a Google Workspace for Education account to their child’s personal Google Account managed with Family Link. This lets children still log into the apps and websites they need with a school account, while making sure parents can still set guidelines for device and app usage.
We’ll continue to listen and evolve Google for Education products so they benefit educators, leaders and students. To learn more about all of the upcoming improvements to Chromebooks and Chrome OS, subscribe to our Chrome Enterprise Release notes.
The last few months have been an adventure for a lot of families like mine that are juggling work, parenting, and school at home. Our family Chromebook has been a huge help. Between video calls with teachers and classmates, virtual “field trips” to the zoo, moviemaking, and book publishing (and that’s just the last week!), my kids are spending more time online. With that comes some challenges, and I know I’m not alone. A lot of parents are looking for better tools to help them manage and guide their kids’ time spent online.
Parents can now approve extensions from the Chrome Web Store for their kids.
With the latest update, parents can also set per-app time limits for Play Store apps to manage their child’s screen time on Chromebooks. This Family Link improvement gives parents more precise control over their kids’ app usage, so kids can strike the right balance of time on educational apps like Khan Academy Kids and games like Roblox.
Kids will receive notifications related to per-app time limits set by parents.
If you’re new to using Family Link on Chromebook, download the app from the Google Play Store and check out this article on our Help Center for set-up instructions.
Here are some other tips for using Chromebook as a family:
Visit the revamped “Kids” tab on the Google Play Store to find teacher-approved apps for learning and entertainment.
Visit Teach from Home for resources on teaching and learning at home, and more information about the Google for Education tools your kid may be using in school.
Help your kid learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship and online safety with Google’s Be Internet Awesome family resources and the Interland game.
Turn on Digital Wellbeing settings, like Night Light, which changes Chromebook’s screen temperature to reduce blue light at night.
We’ll be back soon with another highlight reel of recent improvements to Chromebook.
The last few months have been an adventure for a lot of families like mine that are juggling work, parenting, and school at home. Our family Chromebook has been a huge help. Between video calls with teachers and classmates, virtual “field trips” to the zoo, moviemaking, and book publishing (and that’s just the last week!), my kids are spending more time online. With that comes some challenges, and I know I’m not alone. A lot of parents are looking for better tools to help them manage and guide their kids’ time spent online.
Parents can now approve extensions from the Chrome Web Store for their kids.
With the latest update, parents can also set per-app time limits for Play Store apps to manage their child’s screen time on Chromebooks. This Family Link improvement gives parents more precise control over their kids’ app usage, so kids can strike the right balance of time on educational apps like Khan Academy Kids and games like Roblox.
Kids will receive notifications related to per-app time limits set by parents.
If you’re new to using Family Link on Chromebook, download the app from the Google Play Store and check out this article on our Help Center for set-up instructions.
Here are some other tips for using Chromebook as a family:
Visit the revamped “Kids” tab on the Google Play Store to find teacher-approved apps for learning and entertainment.
Visit Teach from Home for resources on teaching and learning at home, and more information about the Google for Education tools your kid may be using in school.
Help your kid learn the fundamentals of digital citizenship and online safety with Google’s Be Internet Awesome family resources and the Interland game.
Turn on Digital Wellbeing settings, like Night Light, which changes Chromebook’s screen temperature to reduce blue light at night.
We’ll be back soon with another highlight reel of recent improvements to Chromebook.
Editor’s note: This week, we’re at BETT in London, where you can visit us at booth SE30. If you’re #NotAtBett, follow along on Twitter and Facebook.
My favorite part about being on the education team here at Google is talking to teachers about how their classrooms are evolving and how Chromebooks give their students a voice in the world. For generations, “learning” meant memorizing and repeating other peoples’ ideas. Today, with the help of classroom computers and creativity apps, schools are reinventing themselves as studios for students to create and share their own ideas. Where students used to be limited to reading and writing, they can now design, record, compose, code, prototype, and share their ideas using a range of digital media tools.
Today, we’re updating our collection of creativity apps for Chromebooks—tools for the next generation of authors, filmmakers, journalists, artists and boardroom visionaries to capture and broadcast their ideas to teachers, parents, and students around the world.
Like every good toolbox, our collection offers a range of apps for students across all grades and subjects and is designed to help all types of learners express themselves in their own way:
In the collection are WeVideo, Book Creator, Infinite Painter, Squid, Soundtrap and Explain Everything.
This collection of six creativity tools comes with the ability to instantly deploy to thousands of students with our new app licensing system in Google Admin Console.
Watch the video to learn more about the collection of creativity apps.
For students and teachers, this means no more usernames and passwords; every app in the collection uses Google Sign-In to quickly and securely confirm the user’s app license and unlock all features and content.
For school administrators, this means you don’t have to manually roster apps through spreadsheet uploads or server syncs. You simply turn app licenses on or off for organizations in your domain and monitor usage over time— all from Google Admin Console. When students change classes or move grades at the end of the year, app licenses return to the pool to be used by the next student. Finally, since schools can purchase app licenses from their Chromebook provider, you no longer have to approve new vendors or create new purchase orders for every app.
Altogether, we hope our new app licensing system will save admins, teachers, and students both time and headaches—and put a whole lot of megaphones… er “creativity tools” into the hands of imaginative kids around the world. We can’t wait to see what you create.
All apps are licensed and managed with Google Admin Console.
Coming soon, you’ll be able to purchase these creativity apps for Chromebooks through your Chromebook provider. Stay tuned at g.co/edu/creativityapps for more information in the coming months.
To learn more about these apps and hear from teachers using them in the classroom, check out our playlist on YouTube. And for more on these apps and ideas on how to use them, check out the Chromebook App Hub.
If you’re an educational software developer and interested in participating in Google’s app licensing system, please fill out this form.
As parents, we watch our kids craft stories every day—remixing and reimagining the world around us in fantastic adventures that rival many Hollywood screenplays. The stories we tell them inspire their imaginations—while toys, crayons and sofa cushions become props for their performances.
In January, we released a playful storytelling app called Toontastic 3D for kids (and kids at heart) to draw, animate, narrate and record their own cartoons. Since then kids have created 2.5 million cartoons with 24,000 hours of content. That’s nearly three years worth of swashbuckling adventures, intergalactic explorations, inquisitive science reports and inventive design pitches.
Toontastic works a lot like a digital puppet theater—you simply choose a setting, cast your characters, and play! As you move your character on screen, the app records your animations and your voice as a cartoon video. The built-in characters and settings make creating your cartoon really easy, but like dolls and action figures, they also empower kids to tell great stories.
Today, we’re adding new characters and settings to Toontastic that are sure to spark the creativity of kids around the world. Inspired by Disney•Pixar’s new movie “Cars 3” releasing this week, kids can now create their very own cartoons with Lightning McQueen and Mater as well as new characters Jackson Storm, Cruz Ramirez and Miss Fritter. Two playsets from the film are included—the Florida 500 raceway and the Thunder Hollow demolition derby. Kids can also get an inside look into how animated movies are made with a “behind the scenes” tour of Pixar Animation Studios in the app. “Cars 3” characters and playsets can be added to cartoons until September 30.
With the Fruit Ninja theme, kids can slice their way through new adventures based on the YouTube Red Originals Series Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force from Halfbrick Studios. Taking inspiration from the Frenzy Force series inside Toontastic’s Idea Lab, kids can go on to create their own episodes with the heroes Peng, Seb, Niya and Ralph to battle the Clean Bee.
To create your own Cars 3 inspired cartoons and Fruit Ninja adventures, download the updated release of Toontastic 3D today for Android, iOS, and select Chromebooks. Now start your engines.. er... stories in 3-2-1!
As parents, we watch our kids craft stories every day—remixing and reimagining the world around us in fantastic adventures that rival many Hollywood screenplays. The stories we tell them inspire their imaginations—while toys, crayons and sofa cushions become props for their performances.
In January, we released a playful storytelling app called Toontastic 3D for kids (and kids at heart) to draw, animate, narrate and record their own cartoons. Since then kids have created 2.5 million cartoons with 24,000 hours of content. That’s nearly three years worth of swashbuckling adventures, intergalactic explorations, inquisitive science reports and inventive design pitches.
Toontastic works a lot like a digital puppet theater—you simply choose a setting, cast your characters, and play! As you move your character on screen, the app records your animations and your voice as a cartoon video. The built-in characters and settings make creating your cartoon really easy, but like dolls and action figures, they also empower kids to tell great stories.
Today, we’re adding new characters and settings to Toontastic that are sure to spark the creativity of kids around the world. Inspired by Disney•Pixar’s new movie “Cars 3” releasing this week, kids can now create their very own cartoons with Lightning McQueen and Mater as well as new characters Jackson Storm, Cruz Ramirez and Miss Fritter. Two playsets from the film are included—the Florida 500 raceway and the Thunder Hollow demolition derby. Kids can also get an inside look into how animated movies are made with a “behind the scenes” tour of Pixar Animation Studios in the app. “Cars 3” characters and playsets can be added to cartoons until September 30.
With the Fruit Ninja theme, kids can slice their way through new adventures based on the YouTube Red Originals Series Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force from Halfbrick Studios. Taking inspiration from the Frenzy Force series inside Toontastic’s Idea Lab, kids can go on to create their own episodes with the heroes Peng, Seb, Niya and Ralph to battle the Clean Bee.
To create your own Cars 3 inspired cartoons and Fruit Ninja adventures, download the updated release of Toontastic 3D today for Android, iOS, and select Chromebooks. Now start your engines.. er... stories in 3-2-1!
As parents, we watch our kids craft stories every day—remixing and reimagining the world around us in fantastic adventures that rival many Hollywood screenplays. The stories we tell them inspire their imaginations—while toys, crayons and sofa cushions become props for their performances.
In January, we released a playful storytelling app called Toontastic 3D for kids (and kids at heart) to draw, animate, narrate and record their own cartoons. Since then kids have created 2.5 million cartoons with 24,000 hours of content. That’s nearly three years worth of swashbuckling adventures, intergalactic explorations, inquisitive science reports and inventive design pitches.
Toontastic works a lot like a digital puppet theater—you simply choose a setting, cast your characters, and play! As you move your character on screen, the app records your animations and your voice as a cartoon video. The built-in characters and settings make creating your cartoon really easy, but like dolls and action figures, they also empower kids to tell great stories.
Today, we’re adding new characters and settings to Toontastic that are sure to spark the creativity of kids around the world. Inspired by Disney•Pixar’s new movie “Cars 3” releasing this week, kids can now create their very own cartoons with Lightning McQueen and Mater as well as new characters Jackson Storm, Cruz Ramirez and Miss Fritter. Two playsets from the film are included—the Florida 500 raceway and the Thunder Hollow demolition derby. Kids can also get an inside look into how animated movies are made with a “behind the scenes” tour of Pixar Animation Studios in the app. “Cars 3” characters and playsets can be added to cartoons until September 30.
With the Fruit Ninja theme, kids can slice their way through new adventures based on the YouTube Red Originals Series Fruit Ninja Frenzy Force from Halfbrick Studios. Taking inspiration from the Frenzy Force series inside Toontastic’s Idea Lab, kids can go on to create their own episodes with the heroes Peng, Seb, Niya and Ralph to battle the Clean Bee.
To create your own Cars 3 inspired cartoons and Fruit Ninja adventures, download the updated release of Toontastic 3D today for Android, iOS, and select Chromebooks. Now start your engines.. er... stories in 3-2-1!
