Category Archives: Google for Work Blog

Work is going Google

Talk with your audience — not at them — with Slides Q&A



(Cross-posted on the Google Docs Blog.)

Public speaking can be intimidating—even for veteran speakers with phenomenal ideas and experiences to share. Take Shree Bose, for example.

At just 17 years old, Shree took home the top prize at the first ever Google Science Fair for her research on drug resistance in ovarian cancer. Now, a senior at Harvard, she’s met with President Obama twice, crowdfunded a Minecraft computer program to support STEM education, and has given talks across the globe. But she still gets nervous every time she’s asked to speak at events.

When Shree recently visited our New York office to present to 200 middle school students, we invited her to try a new feature in Google Slides: Slides Q&A. This update—rolling out globally today—helps speakers connect with their audience and collect real-time feedback. With a simple link displayed on a Slides presentation, audience members can submit questions from their phones, laptops, and tablets—and vote on those they want answered the most.

Hear what your audience has to say 

Slides Q&A is great for audience members, too. During Shree’s talk, students submitted more than 170 questions and voted 800 times. They enjoyed being able to submit questions online the moment they thought of them instead of having to remember them until the end of the presentation. Some students also chose to submit questions anonymously.

At the end of her talk, Shree left time for Q&A, but she couldn’t possibly answer all 170 questions. So, she sorted the questions based on audience votes—and responded to the top ones. The question with the most overall votes was submitted by a seventh grader named Leila. She says, “I was so surprised when I saw my question was the most liked. I probably wouldn’t want to stand up and ask the question because I’m kind of shy.”

Focus on your ideas, not set up 

Slides Q&A makes it easy to interact with your audience—without having to worry about mics or moderators. Slides also helps you get your big ideas and stories on screen—without having to worry about wires or set up stress. Starting today, we're improving this "Show up, don't setup" experience in two ways:
  • You can now present your slides to a Hangout from your iPhone or iPad. So with just your phone or tablet and the Slides app, you can present to any screen using Chromecast, AirPlay or Hangouts. 
  • And for those of you who like presenting from a computer, we're introducing a new laser pointer on the web. Just in time for May the 4th (be with you). 
Today’s Slides updates are rolling out globally on AndroidiOS, and the web. So go on, share your stories and present with confidence.

And for a little inspiration, check out Shree’s full talk, #HowCanWe Make the World Better with Science? on the Talks@Google channel.

Appreciating 3 computer science teachers upending stereotypes



(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog.)

Editor's note: This post is part of our series for U.S. Teacher Appreciation Week. Look for more content on our blog and social media throughout the week. Don’t forget to add to the conversation using #ThankATeacher.


When I was five years old, I immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan. My sister and I were the only Asians in our entire school, and I remember how my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Marvin, went out of her way to make me feel welcome in the classroom and country. I stayed in touch with her until her passing a few years ago. Our relationship speaks volumes about how influential teachers can be. Later in high school, my math teacher, Mr. Fee, showed me how to apply my math skills in the real world. His practical guidance shaped my career aspirations to study chemical engineering in college and to become a high school math teacher myself.
After moving from Taiwan to the U.S. at age 5, Mo Fong's first experiences with the U.S. School system was formed by her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Marvin, who helped set her up on a path to success. 
All good teachers inspire students to pursue new opportunities and challenge themselves, but science, technology, engineering & math (STEM) teachers and specifically computer science (CS) teachers have to overcome some obstacles that others don’t. Often, there’s not enough access to CS resources in schools, and school officials haven’t adopted a CS curriculum. Only 22% of public school principals say that CS education is a top priority, despite the fact that more than 1.3 million computer and math-based jobs will be created by 2022, according to a joint Google and Gallup study. CS teachers also have to overcome stereotypes that keep many students, especially girls and underrepresented minorities, away from the subject.


In the spirit of Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like to share the stories of three high school CS teachers who are overcoming these obstacles and inspiring students to be passionate about the problems they want to solve in the world.



Diane Terrell - Exposing more students to computer science 



When I think of Diane Johnson Terrell words like strength, empowerment and role model come to mind. Terrell, a high school math and engineering teacher at Oakland Unified School District in California, became a CS teacher via an unconventional path. She was working as a programmer analyst and quickly realized she was one of the only African Americans and females in the industry. One of the main reasons the field isn’t more diverse is because people haven’t been exposed to the field, Terrell says. Now her students understand they can build amazing things with a CS degree, and they can have a lucrative career doing so.


Terrell also is breaking down the idea that CS is only for boys and the affluent. She's introducing a CS program that more than 400 9th graders will take next year, and teaching youth at her church how to code and develop an app for the church together.


“Many students in my community play video games and post on social media, but they don’t understand that a lot of programming and code goes into building them,” Terrell says. “My goal is to get my students to move from being consumers to being builders by creating apps on their phones.”


Another inspiring way Terrell is empowering female students to pursue CS is by connecting them with female executives and doctoral students in the field who mentor them and show them that women can be as successful in the field as men. “After spending time with their mentors at UC Berkeley, girls of color learned they have a phenomenal aptitude to change the world,” Terrell says. “Their confidence exploded and they realized how much of a difference they can make.”



Seth Reichelson - Breaking down the computer science stereotype 



The field of CS shares the unfortunate “geek” stereotype that math and engineering do. But that stereotype doesn’t exist at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Teacher Seth Reichelson, a White House Champion of Change, has toppled those preconceived notions and made his AP CS class appealing to all students. To make the subject relatable and interesting, he changes his in-class examples to be fun, for example by having students manipulate pixels in a picture instead of doing a bug simulation.


“I won’t acknowledge a stereotype because if you acknowledge it, that’s the same as promoting it,” says Reichelson, who learned this strategy at a National Center for Women & Information Technology workshop. “My students have no idea what the stereotype is.”
The computer science class of 2015 at Lake Brantley High School
Reichelson believes that there should be a diversity requirement that the AP CS student population reflect the diversity of the entire school. He believes a more diverse classroom will lead to a greater diversity of ideas and opinions and thus a smarter, better run workplace. “If you have one type of person working for your company, you’re only going to have one type of solution,” Reichelson says. “You have to have a diverse company to have diverse solutions.”


Leslie Aaronson - Turning the classroom into a startup environment 



After working for Nickelodeon for three years, Leslie Aaronson realized she wanted to teach students communication, collaboration and networking skills in a way that reflects the real world. Today as lead teacher of Foshay Learning Center’s Technology Academy in Los Angeles, California, she’s turned her classroom into a startup environment. She encourages students to take control of their learning and be proactive, instead of waiting for the teacher to provide instructions. “I put learning back into the student’s hands. Students show each other their screens, and when they can’t figure out a solution to a problem, I ask them, ‘What have you tried, and who have you talked to?’ I challenge them to explore all of their resources.”

Aaronson teaches her students to meet with professionals, both to develop the skill of networking and to form strong relationships with people in the industry. She coordinates mentor days and field trips for her students to connect with people at local colleges like USC and UCLA.

To showcase their projects, Aaronson’s students develop a digital portfolio that speaks to their technology skills when applying for college or interviewing for jobs. “Some kids come back to me three years later and say that the portfolio they created in my class got them a job. The most rewarding thing is to know I’m helping people get on their feet and achieve great things in life.”
Leslie with nine of her students who won the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award
These are the stories of just a few of the inspirational CS teachers that are educating the data scientists and software developers of tomorrow. Reach out a hand and support teachers like Diane, Seth and Leslie by donating to a classroom in need at DonorsChoose.org, or partnering with a school to introduce a CS program.

Giving thanks (and time back) to teachers with new updates to Google Classroom




(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog.)


Matthew Agrall teaches fifth grade at South Elementary School in Des Plaines, Illinois. He juggles teaching all core subjects, leading before-school tutoring, managing fifth grade patrol, participating in student council and playing volleyball in his “free time.”

This is why we created Google Classroom—to help busy teachers like Matt spend less time on logistics and more time on teaching, tutoring and student council-ing. Since we launched Classroom two years ago, we’ve added more than 50 updates to make it easier to manage assignments, communicate with students and stay organized.

Today, on National Teacher Appreciation Day, to show our thanks for the millions of hardworking teachers like Matthew, we’re making it even easier to stay organized and save time with Classroom.

Schedule ahead, post later 


Starting today, teachers can plan ahead by scheduling announcements, assignments and questions to post at a later date or a specific time (great for the early birds who want to get a head start on school planning during the summer ;). Just look for the scheduling option when posting new assignments, questions and announcements. You can find scheduled and draft posts in the “Saved posts” section of your class stream, and you’ll get email and mobile notifications when your scheduled posts go live.


We’re also adding new updates to Classroom over the next week—all designed to help teachers save time and stay organized. Look out for easier-to-read email notifications and updates to our iOS and Android apps.

Coming this fall: keeping parents and guardians in the loop 


We know parents and guardians are instrumental to student success at school. And to the school leaders and teachers who’ve told us they need an easy way to keep guardians updated with what’s happening in Classroom—we hear you! Later this year, we’ll launch email notifications for guardians so they can stay involved and help to motivate their students.

Guardians will be able to sign-up to receive daily or weekly email digests of their student’s progress, upcoming work and class announcements. Administrators will be able to invite guardians directly and set domain-wide policies for guardian linking and notifications.

To teachers like Matthew who are fueling the future—we thank you. Here’s hoping you get all the appreciation you deserve this week . . . and for the rest of the school year.

Welcoming Synergyse to Google



When learning a new skill, it’s helpful and comforting to have a coach by your side, every step of the way. Whether it’s a golf instructor giving tips on your swing, or a parent sitting (calmly!) in the passenger seat while you learn to drive. The same is true when learning a new technology. That’s why we — and thousands of Google Apps customers — have been so excited about Synergyse.

Google Apps was built to provide powerful cloud-based productivity and communications, in an easy-to-use set of applications. And today our Apps product suite, which includes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs and more, is now used by more than 2 million paying businesses around the world. As more businesses sign up, we wanted an elegant way to scale our training offerings to our customers and our customers’ users.

Synergyse built a virtual coach inside of the Google Apps interface, built on Google Cloud Platform. With voice and text interactive modules that are searchable by topic within our apps, Synergyse will help your users get up to speed quickly — including when new features are rolled out. The trainings are always up to date, thanks to the power of the cloud. Organizations that use Synergyse see on average 35 percent higher adoption across Apps products, meaning those organizations are more likely to be productive, collaborative and embrace digital transformation.

Given the enthusiasm that exists for Synergyse already, we want to extend this service to all of our customers. That is why we’re happy to announce Synergyse will be joining Google, and we intend to make the product available as an integral part of the Google Apps offering later this year. In the meantime, existing customers will continue to have access, and new customers will be able to download the Chrome extension for free while the integration is underway.

By providing the right help at the right time, Synergyse will help our customers with the critical task of change management in the enterprise, and bolster the training and support programs we already offer today.

Please join us in welcoming the Synergyse team to Google Apps!

Incubating leadership: Thank you to the teachers encouraging innovation




(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog.)


Editor's note: This post is part of our series for U.S. Teacher Appreciation Week. Look for more content on our blog and social media throughout the week. Don’t forget to add to the conversation using #ThankATeacher.

I’m in awe of Mrs. Zazulak, my daughter’s 5th grade teacher. She is constantly finding new ways to engage students with her inquiry based learning approach. She inspires her student’s creative writing with “Who would win Wednesdays?” and asks them to write any story about what would happen if King Kong faced off against Godzilla. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States, so we’d like to honor teachers like Mrs. Zazulak and the millions of others who put their talents and passion into educating our children. Below are a few more examples of teachers using creative methods to engage students and teach valuable skills for the future.

Majoring in leadership 

Teachers are dedicated to building the next generation of leaders. Teachers like Lou Ann McKibben at Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Mississippi are fostering leadership skills and giving students opportunities to experiment with the kinds of projects and tools they’ll encounter in the workplace. For example, Ms. McKibben, an economics teacher, hosts an annual “Shark Tank” day where students pitch their ideas to local business leaders. She’s giving the students a fun way to guide their own learning, while preparing them to share ideas and drive projects in the workplace.
Ms. McKibben with one of her graduating students

Classroom commerce

In addition to developing crucial skills for the future, teachers are empowering students to dream big. Matt Martin, a chemistry teacher at High Tech High in San Diego, California, gave his students a crash course in entrepreneurship that led them to create the Wicked Soap Company, a student-run ecommerce business. Students are involved in every aspect of the company, from creating the soap to reporting on the business to their classmates. From day one, Mr. Martin has encouraged his students to experiment — the idea for Wicked Soap came from one student’s science project — and to follow their instincts. Mr. Martin’s class uses the revenue from the business to fund field trips, reinvest and organize a scholarship for fellow students. By rallying the class around a complex project, Mr. Martin created an experience that inspired students to try new things, work together and believe in their ability to run a business.
Mr. Martin, chemistry teacher at High Tech High

Encouraging innovation 

Teachers are also redefining traditional notions of the classroom and challenging students to do the same. Stacy Dang, who teaches at Cornwall Terrace Elementary in Pennsylvania, created a virtual classroom that supports inquiry-based learning, a method for prompting students to solve problems themselves. In one instance, Ms. Dang created a shared classroom with second graders from Pennsylvania and seventh graders in neighboring New Jersey. Second graders submitted science questions using online forms for the seventh graders to research and answer with presentations. She also encourages students to teach one another in the virtual classroom through “live lessons.” Teachers like Ms. Dang are encouraging young people to learn from themselves and from one another — skills that will help them to think critically, embrace curiosity and see the world in new ways.


To the millions of teachers, including Mrs. Zazulak, Ms. McKibben, Mr. Martin and Ms. Dang, who create dynamic learning experiences that prepare and inspire our children to lead: thank you for the work you do every day. We’ll be posting more on Google for Education Twitter channel and here on this blog throughout the week. It’s a great time to thank teachers for the difference they make — share what you’re thankful for by joining the conversation: #ThankATeacher.

New security and privacy certifications give more transparency on how Google handles your data in the cloud



Google was born in the cloud, and we’ve set a high bar for what it means to host, serve, and protect our users’ data all over the world. That’s why we’re proud to add two new certifications to Google Apps for Work and Google Cloud Platform: ISO 27017 for cloud security and ISO 27018 for privacy. We announced ISO 27018 adoption last year, and have now added ISO 27018 certification to our compliance commitments. Additionally, we renewed our ISO 27001 certification for the fourth year in a row and increased the product coverage from 34 to 60 different products.

ISO 27017 builds on the well-known standard of ISO 27001 by providing additional controls that address some of the security risks that are more specific to cloud services, ensuring that:

  • The security roles and responsibilities between Google and our customers are clearly-defined
  • Our customers’ data is protected from any unauthorized party and between different cloud customers
  • The security policies for Google’s virtual networks are as secure as on our physical networks
  • Our customers have adequate tools to monitor how their data is handled at Google


Meanwhile, ISO 27018 establishes controls that examine our privacy practices and contractual commitments around the use of customer data and provide transparency on the processing of that data. It confirms that:

  • Google does not use customer data for advertising
  • The data that our customers entrust with us remains the customer's
  • Google provides our customers with tools to delete and export customer data
  • Google scrutinizes third party requests to customer data and ensures customers are informed of such third-party requests
  • Google is transparent about where our customer’s data is stored

Certifications such as these provide independent third-party validations of our ongoing commitment to world-class security and privacy, while also helping our customers with their own compliance efforts. We’re committed to ensuring that our products continue to meet trusted and rigorous global standards like ISO 27018 and 27017.

Chrome works for you with the new HP Chromebook 13, a professional, secure laptop




Editor's note: We’re currently hosting a multi-city Chrome roadshow in locations near you to explain how Chrome benefits your business and to show the latest Chrome for Work devices.


Businesses of every size around the world are taking a lesson from the education market and adopting Chromebooks thanks to the speed, simplicity, shareability and security the platform offers. A March 2015 ESG-Group survey also indicates that 70 percent of IT professionals expect Chromebooks to supplement or replace their existing device footprint in order to cut costs and safely improve employee productivity.

We’ve listened to business customers who have had a need for lightweight devices that don’t compromise on battery life, performance or build quality, and that provide the enhanced security businesses demand. And today with HP, we’re happy to introduce the HP Chromebook 13, the latest professional laptop that’s ultraportable — one of the thinnest and lightest in its class — and offers a new Chromebook docking station to boost productivity and help Chrome work for you.

Designed and built for business

At just 0.5 inches thin and starting at 2.86 pounds, the anodized brushed aluminum HP Chromebook 13 is a capable travel partner to and from meetings. It’s also ideal for online meetings, thanks to Audio by B&O Play and a 720p webcam for clear sound and video. Both meetings and work will look great on the 13.3-inch display, available with either full HD or a pixel-packed 3200 x 1800 (QHD+) resolution.

Inside is plenty of power for business grade multi-tasking, with configuration options ranging up to an Intel 6th generation Core m7 processor and 16GB of internal memory. Working through the day won’t be an issue either thanks to a battery that lasts for up to 11.5 hours* between charges. The optional HP Elite USB-C Docking station and port replicator accessories turn the HP Chromebook 13 into a full desktop solution with additional USB 3.0 ports and dual display support.

Easy, seamless integration thanks to new and improved Chrome OS features

For our customers who are using a Microsoft infrastructure, we’re excited to announce the improved Citrix Receiver 2.0 for Chrome extension, a virtualization solution that lets you remotely use apps from other platforms in their own window, even from the Chrome OS launcher. You simply use legacy and Chrome apps the same way, whether they’re local or remote, in browser tabs or individual windows. We also now offer direct integration with the Microsoft PKI based off of Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS).


You can get more done at your desk with a Chromebook too: support for 3+ monitor and UDL 3.0 DisplayLink support is baked into Chrome 51, currently in the Beta channel. For organizations using smartcards for authentication, such as banks and government institutions, we’ve launched a Certificate Provider API that technology partners are integrating with. And we added the ability to centrally restrict network access for organizations operating in sensitive environments.

Equip your business with Chrome


HP Chromebook 13 starts at $499 in the US, with pre-orders starting today at our reseller partners, and availability from HP and directly through the Chrome for Work site starting in May.

*Battery life may vary depending on specification, usage and other conditions.

Google Calendar for Android: Find a time for my meeting



(Cross-posted on the Gmail Blog.)

Smartphones have made productivity portable. You no longer have to be at your desk to catch up on meeting notes, dial into a conference call, or send an email. But scheduling meetings on the go is still difficult, as you have to open your laptop to check everyone’s calendar and find a time that works.

Starting today, if you use Google Apps for Work or Edu, you can schedule meetings from anywhere with "Find a time" in Google Calendar for Android.

With a single tap, “Find a time” helps you find meeting times that work for everyone—even if they're in different time zones—based on their availability and the times they usually have meetings. If there are no times that work, Calendar will look at which conflicting meetings can most easily be rescheduled. Designed specifically for organizations where sharing your calendar with colleagues is the norm, here's how it works:
“Find a time” makes suggestions, but you're still in control. You can tap to see everyone's schedule at a glance—perfect for making sure the timing works for all. And if you manage someone else's calendar, you can use the feature to schedule meetings on their behalf as well.

Download Google Calendar for Android to get easy, on-the-go scheduling. And yes, we're also working on bringing “Find a time” to iPhone, as well as easier ways to schedule on the web.

How Expensify employees work from the beach with Google Apps



Editor's note: Today’s post comes from Matt McNamara, director of engineering at Expensify, a company that provides “hassle-free expense reporting built for employees and loved by admins.” Read how their team uses Google Apps to work abroad for at least one month every year.


At Expensify, we’re all about making mundane tasks (like expense reporting), a pleasant, less time-consuming experience. Google’s no-sweat, work-in-real-time tools have helped us achieve these goals since starting our company in 2008. We considered alternatives like Microsoft and Zoho, but we found that no other solution could compete with the simple, intuitive interface and ease of use of Google Apps.

Google Apps is a natural extension of our company culture, which I like to think of as “Family Style.” Whether or not we’re in the office, we encourage people to work flexibly and with people on different teams. Building this type of open, supportive culture depends on ensuring everyone has an equal voice — and tools like Gmail play a huge role in making this happen. We encourage transparency and participation by adding every employee to all internal email lists from day one. It might sound like a lot, but anyone can opt out and choose only to follow what’s relevant to them.

Our annual month abroad also contributes to our overarching family culture. For one month every year, the entire team has the opportunity to work (and bring their families) abroad. We run as the same business, but from somewhere awesome — last year we spent a month in Thailand. Thanks to the flexibility of Google Apps, our only requirements for this trip are a beach, power and Internet access.

We rely on our employees to give us feedback about the tools we use, and Google Apps is probably the only product no one has ever asked to replace. We’ve tested bringing on some other enterprise and productivity platforms, but we always come back to Google Apps. Their integrations, like single sign-on with Intercom, make our lives easier. We can quickly onboard new employees, and don’t have to worry about former employees accessing sensitive content.

Because it’s so easy to use, we hire zero IT support, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. Even non-technical employees can set up accounts without any problems. It just works — whether we’re at our headquarters or on the beach.

Mid-size businesses, you have more incentive than ever to go Google — we’ll help cover the costs



Back in October, we made it easy for companies locked into an Enterprise Agreement (EA) to switch to Google Apps by providing our productivity suite for free until their existing contracts expired. We even helped prospects with the deployment costs of going Google through the help of our Google for Work Partners. And if interested companies weren’t under contract, we offered to help pay for their migrations from other solutions to Google Apps.

Since then, nearly 200,000 additional users have gone Google. We’ve also received tremendous interest to make the program available to smaller companies. So today, we’re excited to announce we’re extending the global program until the end of 2016. Companies between 250 and 3,000 that currently have an EA with another vendor can qualify for zero-cost Google Apps licenses for the term of their existing EA. And now, companies with 100 users (previously 250) to as many as 3,000 can qualify for a Deployment Voucher. This greatly expands the number of companies that can take advantage of the Deployment Voucher.

In addition to saving money and improving business productivity, the security benefits of Google Apps are especially valuable to mid-market businesses. For mid-market customers that sign up for this promotion, Google will pay for a Security Workshop, to the value of $750USD, through our trained Partners, to help them maximize the security and data protections Google Apps offers.

One example of those data protections are Security Keys. To help get customers started with security keys, our security partner Yubico will provide a limited number of free Security Keys for mid-market customers. These keys help protect users from phishing, account hijacking and other attacks with 1-touch encrypted, 2-step verification. They’re state-of-the art in account protection. They’re also a great example of the security benefits of Google Apps. Additional Security Keys can be purchased at a 50% discount.

Finally, with this announcement, a number of our Recommended for Google Apps for Work partners are announcing additional cost-savings for Google Apps mid-sized companies. Customers can now get similar savings when they build structured document lifecycles and workflows with AODocs and Powertools, move business phone systems to the cloud with Dialpad, use a tightly integrated CRM from Prosperworks or manage projects online with Smartsheet.

Our EA program gives new customers the opportunity to influence the move to Apps — and gives decision makers the final incentive to make the switch.

“Even before we made the official switch to Google, many of our employees used Apps without involving IT. Our entire international team migrated on their own before the roll out, because our previous solution didn’t mesh with their workflow,” says Sam Davidson, systems engineer at The Motley Fool. “Our previous solution was sluggish, with pretty consistent outages. We wanted to move to Google Apps, but we were locked into a three-year contract with our previous provider. The [EA] program allowed us to make the switch much sooner.”

Mid-size companies don’t always have the same resources as larger enterprises, and constraints (like contract lock-in) shouldn’t hinder collaboration or efficiency at work.

Additionally, companies with basic EAs and no dependencies have the potential to cut costs by up to 70 percent through switching to Google Apps for Work.

“Peterborough City Council took advantage of the EA program when the previous provider wouldn’t let us move from on-premise to the cloud without breaking a contract. Our council felt comfortable making the switch after evaluating companies and other councils that had already gone Google,” says Richard Godfrey, Project Director at Arcus Global and formerly Assistant Director, Digital at Peterborough City Council, England. “We’ve come to expect the pace of innovation that Google offers, as well as the flexibility it enables for our team. Google Apps will give us the freedom to work anywhere; all our employees need is a Chromebook, mobile phone and an internet connection.”

Learn more or call 844-420-0601 to get started now!