Tag Archives: Education

Join Kick Start, a coding competition for all levels

Kick Start, one of Google’s Coding Competitions, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this season! Open to all skill levels, Kick Start gives beginner to advanced coders the chance to develop their skills and learn more about competitive programming through algorithmic and mathematical challenges designed by Google engineers.

Kick Start’s 2022 season is officially underway. Rounds take place throughout the year, so you can join in on the fun whenever it’s convenient for you. Check out the full schedule and register today.

Hone your skills with Coding Practice with Kick Start

In addition to Kick Start’s eight online rounds, we’re also hosting several Coding Practice with Kick Start rounds this season. These four-day sessions remove the time constraints and scoreboard, so you can take your time working through problems and get some extra practice without pressure. You’ll receive dedicated Googler support and detailed walkthrough videos to help you level up and prepare for the next Kick Start round. Our next Coding Practice with Kick Start round takes place from June 27 to July 1 — add the session to your calendar so you don’t miss out.

Still deciding if Kick Start is the right fit for you? We sat down with a few members of the team behind Coding Practice with Kick Start to learn more about the competition and why it’s valuable for coders of all levels.

And here’s what some of our participants had to say about their experiences:

“Coding Practice with Kick Start helped me learn about the different types of competitive programming problems. And since we had more time, I could work on fixing my common mistakes, like not reading the problem statement carefully on the first pass. The problem walkthroughs were also very helpful, and I’m glad I can revisit them when I have a little more time.”

“I really liked that Coding Practice with Kick Start gave me an entire week to complete problems at my own pace. It helped lower the barrier of entry for me, since I've never participated in an online coding competition before and I was hesitant to sign up at first. Theintroduction session also clearly explained the format of the official Kick Start rounds, giving me a good sense of what I was walking into and the types of problems I would need to solve.”

You can participate in any Coding Practice with Kick Start session and official Kick Start round — so why not give them all a try? Head to g.co/kickstart and register today. We hope you’ll join us June 27 - July 1 to kick start your coding competition journey!

New Workspace for Education tools to enhance learning

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.

Whether learning takes place in the classroom, or virtually on Google Meet, control remains paramount. It’s also important to enhance educational tools that help take teaching and learning further for every educator and student. Today we’re announcing several new Google Workspace for Education tools rooted in enhancing learning for the individual and classroom, giving educators more control and increasing support for diverse learners.

Enrich teaching and learning experiences for all types of learners

No one student experience is the same, so it’s a key priority for us to ensure the entire learning environment is enhanced. Earlier this year, we announced many features in Docs, like Assistive Writing features and the ability to use Meet directly in Docs, Sheets and Slides. For our Google Workspace for Education Plus and Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers, we announced live-translated captions in Meet, which allows hosts to add live-translated captions to support video meetings for language classes, multilingual audiences and even parent/guardian teacher conferences.

Today, we’re adding even more features to make Meet useful in the classroom. which are all available in Google Workspace for Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade:

  • Host Q&As and Polls in live stream: Users in a livestream later this year can participate in Q&As and polls, matching the experience Meet attendees enjoy today.
  • Auto-transcribe Meet calls directly into a Google Doc: Keep a record of meetings with less storage than a recording and provide an easier way to edit, review, search and share lessons with students.
  • Live stream public events directly to YouTube: Live stream Meet video calls to the public via YouTube for events like school board meetings, school assemblies and much more.
  • Animated image of joining a Meet call directly from Google Docs.

    Join a Meet call directly from Google Docs.

  • Image of a PTA meeting in Google Meet showing how to turn the feature on to stream directly to YouTube through Google Meet.

    Stream directly to YouTube through Google Meet.

  • Image of students in a meet call and the feature to turn on auto-transcribe within Google Meet.

    Turn on auto-transcribe within Google Meet.

We’ve also made significant updates to Originality Reports in both Classroom and Assignments. Schools using Education Plus or the Teaching and Learning Upgrade can soon analyze Microsoft Word documents and backfill their private, school-owned repository with previous student classwork so teachers can compare student-to-student matches, in addition to hundreds of billions of web pages and over 40 million books. Also, starting today, originality reports can run reports in more languages including Dutch, Thai and Tagalog.

Increased controls and safety

We’re adding new Meet features to make sure you have control and can manage your class:

  • Additional Meet controls: Admins can now control whether users in their organization can share their screen and use polls, Q&As, and whiteboarding to reduce student distractions and allow only teachers to use these settings.
  • Picture-in-Picture: To be able to see and manage your class while presenting, we added Picture-in-Picture in Google Meet. Hosts can now see up to four meeting participants while presenting and navigating different tabs and windows, when running Meet on Chrome browsers.
Animated image of a Google Meet call and how to turn on the Picture-in-Picture feature to navigate to another tab while also seeing participants in Meet.

Building more inclusive learning environments

We believe in building with and for people with disabilities, and one of the ways we do that is by building accessibility features directly into our products.

  • Individualized accessibility preferences: Previously, these preferences were shared across all Workspace tools, meaning users needed to continuously turn them on and off. Now, accessibility features, like high contrast mode, will automatically work in Docs, Sheets and Slides, without needing to turn on an Editor-specific preference.
  • Alt-text in Gmail: You can now add alt-text to your images in Gmail. This allows people to add context for an image, making it accessible for people using screen readers and helping them better understand exactly what is being shared.

With these improvements, we aim to change the way the classroom is connected, with the ability to teach across various learners’ needs. We look forward to another upcoming school year that is more connected and more personalized, regardless of where learning is taking place.

Adapting products to meet teachers’ changing needs

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.

As we build our products, it’s essential to listen to user feedback. That’s how we help make them useful for the people using them — and more inclusive, too. Our Google for Education team has a long history of directly involving schools in user research studies to better understand what they need. This connection to educators and students has made it easier to adapt our products as schools’ unique needs change over time. Here’s how we’ve done just that.

Making virtual teaching more engaging with Google Meet

In 2020, the instructional demands on teachers radically changed overnight, prompting many teachers to use Google Meet to host their virtual classrooms. But Google Meet was originally designed for businesses — not classrooms — and the product was not meeting the needs of educators, students or their parents and guardians.

“Students are using the tools in a way that makes it hard for teachers to do their job,” a tech admin based in the U.S. told us. “Teachers can’t mute students, or put them in groups, they can’t ask questions easily to take the temperature of the class. Students are also jumping on the video without supervision – and that’s an issue. I wish there was more control.”

To improve the experience, the Google Meet team worked quickly to figure out what teachers did need from the product, and spent a lot of time learning from teachers directly. The team was able to incorporate this feedback into the product design, resulting in new functionality like attendance taking, hand raising, waiting rooms and polls. “With the upgraded Meet experience, I find it very practical and friendly to manage the class and communicate with the students,” a high school teacher in Mexico told us, “obviously improving the overall experience for students.”

image of teacher working with Googler and providing feedback

The Google for Education team working in schools to gather user research.

Google Meet became a core piece of the virtual classroom, better connecting teachers with their students and reducing the stress of managing the new remote environment. And these changes ultimately benefited everyone interacting with Google Meet, including businesses and those using it for personal use.

Gif of using polls in Google Meet

Making Classroom work for limited device access or Wi-Fi connectivity

We took a similar approach to improving the user experience of Google Classroom by adding features to help close access gaps. Educators noted that in areas where students didn’t have computer or tablet access, students were completing homework by hand and submitting photos of their work with a mobile device. But Google Classroom did not have the functionality to grade photos. The team took that feedback, and a new feature was added that let teachers interact with students’ submitted photos, ensuring greater access to learning across more types of devices.

Teachers from around the world also told us that because Google Classroom access was only available with Wi-Fi, this increased learning barriers in countries with limited Wi-Fi access on phones, especially when adding more data costs money. So we made some features of Google Classroom available offline for Android devices, like reviewing class announcements and assignments, editing downloaded assignment attachments and managing offline files. “Over 20% of our students do not have access to the internet at home,” a superintendent in the U.S. told us. “We needed a way to provide access to their work. The offline feature allowed that for students.”

One other improvement benefited all teachers who use Google Classroom across multiple classes. The team quickly prioritized building features to resolve this issue, saving teachers’ (very precious!) time and energy.

Help shape the future of Google products

User feedback is critical to ensure we continue building more inclusive and helpful products – and focusing on the features that teachers need and want most. When communities are sharing their experiences with Google, we have a better understanding of how to adapt to their needs. If you would like to start sharing feedback with us, here’s a few ways to get started:

Google Classroom: Making your favorite educational tools work better together

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.

For educators, there are always a few top of mind questions: how can they optimize their time and find ways to help each student learn effectively? With Classroom, we’re working to help solve these problems so educators can focus more on teaching and students can experience new approaches to make learning more personal.

We’re announcing new features to help tackle complex challenges, like supporting individualized learning at scale. We’re also developing deeper integrations with key tools that educators and administrators use on a day-to-day basis, making everyday tasks, like grading, creating assignments, and managing class lists easier.

Practice makes progress

Built with adaptive learning technology, practice sets is a new feature in Google Classroom that enables teachers to transform their existing content into interactive assignments. When working on an assignment, students receive instant feedback on their answers, and real-time support through visual explainers and videos if they get stuck along the way. For teachers, once they set up their initial questions, practice sets provide automated grading and insights to help them quickly identify gaps in students’ understanding so they can shape future lessons. Practice sets will be globally available in beta, and in English only, for Google Workspace for Education customers with Education Plus or the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. If you’re interested in trying out the beta, express interest here.

Video of digital illustrations showcasing the new adaptive learning feature called practice sets
10:25

Create interactive lessons and simplify grading with your favorite EdTech tools (coming soon)

With Classroom add-ons, teachers and students can soon access custom learning and grading experiences from more than 15 EdTech favorites including IXL, Pear Deck, Kahoot! and Nearpod. They can sign into Classroom and each add-on with the same login, removing the need to remember multiple passwords or to navigate to multiple websites to access classwork. Teachers can more easily review student work with the Classroom grader view and grades will automatically transfer to the Classroom gradebook.

In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out this feature to Classroom users with Google for Education Plus or the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. Admins will be able to choose which add-ons they enable for their schools. Subscribe to the Google for Education newsletter to get notified when this feature is available.

With the IXL add-on, browse content by skill level or subject, then preview the skill before attaching to an assignment.

Set up classes automatically with expanded SIS syncing

Last year, in partnership with Clever, we added the ability to sync the rosters from your student information system (SIS) to Classroom, so classes could be automatically created and updated. Soon, we’ll be expanding to 15 more countries with the help of SIS integration expert, Elevate Data Sync. Admins can sync class lists and timetables directly with most major student information systems, removing the need for teachers to set up their courses manually. Now, they can just click “accept” when their course is created. Schools with Education Plus that are interested in trying this out with Elevate Data Sync can sign up for the beta today.

Animation showing student rosters syncing and updating.

Admins can sync class lists directly with most major student information systems. Teachers can just click “accept” when their course is created

Prioritizing your top requests

We spend a lot of time with teachers and schools to make sure we’re developing new features and products that help with what they need most. We read every piece of feedback that is shared, anduse that information to prioritize top feature requests. Here are some of the latest improvements:

  • YouTube in Google Classroom: It’s now easier to find, evaluate, and add YouTube videos into your lessons from Classroom with larger thumbnail images and the ability to filter videos by duration. And when you or your students are watching a video, you’ll see a larger video player.
  • Grade export: We’ve added action-oriented messages that guide teachers as they sync grades with their SIS.
  • Notifications: Our notification emails are getting a refresh, so teachers and students can quickly scan emails and find key information. Later this year, teachers will even be able to reply to students from within their email notifications in Gmail. And for those of you who access Google Classroom on your mobile device, we're adding email settings functionality – so that everyone can now tailor notification settings for both email and push notifications.
Animation showing a teacher responding to a student’s comment, right from within Gmail.

Reply to students' comments, right from within Gmail.

In interviews with dozens of education leaders, we’ve heard three main themes: You need better visibility, deeper insights, and ways to support teachers at scale. We’re working on several new features, built specifically for education leaders, that will address these needs. Stay tuned for the chance to join our alpha and beta pilots, and expect lots more updates about how we’re empowering education leaders to achieve their goals and drive instructional impact.

We know that training helps build confidence when using new tools in the Classroom. Whether you’re just starting out or exploring advanced features, we have three new video-based trainings covering features that help simplify class management and accelerate grading, and lessons for students too. You can easily find all of these new lessons (available in English), and more training and instructional resources, on the Applied Digital Skills website (available now) or the Teacher Center (available later this month).

Ready to shape the future of our products? Sign up for our Google for Education Pilot Program, which is available globally.

Share your ideas with Chromebook

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.

Share your ideas with Screencast

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.

YouTube video of Screencast on Chromebooks
10:25

Secure, wireless casting for the entire class with cast moderator

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.

YouTube video of cast moderator
10:25

Working with Figma to optimize for Chromebooks

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.

YouTube video of Figma partnership with Chromebooks
10:25

Find the right Chromebook for you (and your school!)

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.

Building for the future of teaching and learning

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.

The Anywhere School 2022

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.

Each year, my team and I speak with thousands of educators around the world to better understand how students and teachers are using technology in the classroom. We do this to help educators amplify their efforts and, most importantly, help students pursue their personal potential. Today, we’re sharing new updates to Chromebooks, Google Classroom and Google Meet to set up teachers and students for success ahead of the next school year.

Create screencasts and cast to a big screen with Chromebooks

From sharing devices to 1:1, to teachers using Chromebooks alongside students, we’re constantly evolving our features to meet the needs of the classroom. We’re adding new features like the Screencast app, built into Chrome OS in M103, where you can record, trim, share and view transcribed screencasts — and create a custom library of videos automatically saved in Google Drive. Cast moderator is a new mode coming to select devices with Google TV that enables both educators and students to wirelessly share their Chromebook screen to a class display using an access code, so that only folks in the same classroom as the display are able to cast. To get notified on availability of cast moderator hardware, express interest in this form. And for more on what’s new for Chromebooks, read our blog.

YouTube video of Screencast on Chromebooks
10:25

Adaptive learning enhancements in Google Classroom

We’re rolling out newintegrations and tools to improve teachers’ day-to-day tasks and help students grow their skills. Practice sets lean into adaptive learning by giving students instant feedback on their answers and real-time support if they get stuck — providing automated insights for teachers to identify potential gaps in students’ understanding. Practice sets are now globally available in beta, and in English only, for Google Workspace for Education customers with the Education Plus or the Teaching and Learning Editions. Sign up here to get access. With add-ons, we’re making it possible for students and teachers to access more than 15 EdTech tools, like Kahoot! and Pear Deck, all with a single login. Teachers can create engaging assignments and see new grading experiences, while students don’t have to worry about remembering extra passwords and navigating external websites. Add-ons will be available with the Education Plus or Teaching and Learning Edition. And to get ready for the new school year or semester, we’re expanding our roster import feature in Google Workspace for Education Plus to an additional 15 countries, in partnership with Elevate Data Sync, so class lists can automatically be synced with student information systems. Sign up here for the beta. For more on what’s new with Classroom, read our blog.

YouTube video of practice sets in Google Classroom
10:25

Better interconnectivity and efficiency with Google Meet

For those using the Google Workspace for Education Teaching & Learning and Plus editions, we’re adding features focused on increasing interconnectivity, control and efficiency in the classroom to Google Meet. Now, Meet calls can be auto-transcribed directly into a Google Doc for easy lesson reviews and the ability to search for keywords and concepts. Ever wished you could keep tabs on your class and present from another tab? Now you can, with Picture in Picture in Meet, where you can navigate other tabs in Chrome while viewing 4 tiles of students in a Meet call. And to keep your class engaged and regularly check for understanding, you can now add polls and Q&A to Live-streams, and live-stream directly to YouTube. For more on what’s new with Google Meet, read our blog.

Gif of picture in picture in Google Meet on Chrome OS

Building for the future of more personal learning experiences

We want to continue developing products and features that meet the needs of students and teachers today, and in the future. The magic happens when tech is put in the hands of teachers who know how to engage students, to challenge them and instill that love of learning. Education is not one size fits all — and neither is the technology that powers education.

Helping Ukrainian teachers keep teaching

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy, not just for now but for generations to come. As the international community response evolves, we’ve continued to look for ways to help, whether by supporting the humanitarian effort, providing timely, trusted information and promoting cybersecurity.

With millions of people forced to leave their homes, and thousands of schools affected by bombings and shelling, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science predict more than 3.7 million students are learning remotely.

Providing Chromebooks to schools

For Ukraine’s teachers, creating and delivering content to their students has become increasingly difficult with the move to distance learning. To help teachers keep teaching, Google is working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, UNESCO, and partners from around the world to provide hardware, software, content and training.

To help education continue for both remaining and displaced students, Google is giving 43,000 Chromebooks to Ukrainian teachers - helping them to connect with their students, wherever they are now based.

To ensure those devices make the best possible impact, Google is partnering with local organisations to train around 50,000 teachers - and providing our Chrome Enterprise upgrade so that schools can set-up and manage devices remotely. Through a series of workshops and online material, educators will learn how to get the best use out of their devices, and the suite of Google Workspace for Education tools we’re providing.

Google for Education will also continue to update resources such as Teach From Anywhere, a central hub of information, tips, training and tools, that was developed during the pandemic.

In the coming weeks, we’re expanding youtube.com/learning to include the Ukrainian language so that Ukrainian students aged 13-17 can discover content that supports their curriculum - wherever they are. This will include a range of subjects, aligned to the national curriculum, from Ukrainian Literature and Language studies, to Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and more.

Supporting universities and their students

Of course, university students have been impacted by the war in Ukraine too - with many now unable to attend their classes in person or in real-time. To help support them to continue their education, we have made several of our premium Google Workspace for Education features available to Ukrainian universities free of cost until the end of the year. That will allow universities to host larger meetings for up to 250 participants, as well as to record them directly in Drive.

Continuing to help Ukrainian refugees and students

Google will continue to search for ways it can partner with Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science, and those of bordering countries, to help those impacted by the war in Ukraine - including supporting the millions of school-age refugees to access education in this difficult and trying time.

Helping every student learn how they learn best

Editor’s note: Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. We’re also sharing how we’re partnering with people with disabilitiesto build products and a newAndroid accessibility feature.

I often think about what Laura Allen, a Googler who leads our accessibility and disability inclusion work and is low vision, shared with me about her experience growing up using assistive technology in school. She said: “Technology should help children learn the way they need to learn, it shouldn’t be a thing that makes them feel different in the classroom.”

As someone who has spent years building technology at Google, I’ve thought a lot about how we can create the best possible experience for everyone. A big part of getting that right is building accessibility right into our products — which is especially important when it comes to technology that helps students learn. Ninety-five percent of students who have disabilities attend traditional schools, but the majority of those classrooms lack resources to support their needs. The need for accessible learning experiences only intensifies with the recent rise of blended learning environments.

  • Teacher working with a student on a Chromebook

    An educator works 1:1 with a student

  • A teacher sitting with a student with intellectual disabilities. The teacher's cane is leaning on the table nearby.

    An educator sits with a student working on a Chromebook.

  • One autistic student and one student with Downs Syndrome working together in classroom on a Chromebook

    Students in their special education class working together in their classroom

We want students to have the tools they need to express themselves and access information in a way that works best for them. Here are a few recent ways we’ve built accessibility features directly into our education tools.

  • You can now add alt-text in Gmail. This allows people to add context for an image, making it accessible for people using screen readers and helping them better understand exactly what is being shared.
  • We’ve improved our Google Docs experience with braille support. With comments and highlights in braille, students reading a Google Doc will now hear start and end indications for comments and highlights alongside the rest of the text. This change makes it easier for people using screen readers and refreshable braille displays to interact with comments in documents and identify text with background colors.

We added new features to dictation on Chrome OS. Now you canspeak into any text field on the Chromebook simply by clicking on the mic icon in the status area or pressing Search + d to dictate. The dictation feature can be helpful for students who have trouble writing — whether that's because of dysgraphia, having a motor disability or something else. You can also edit using just your voice. Simply say “new line” to move the cursor to another line, “help” to see the full list of commands, or “undo” to fix any typos or mistakes.

Accessibility in action

We see the helpfulness of these features when they’re in the hands of teachers and students. My team recently spoke with Tracey Green, a teacher of the Deaf and an Itinerant Educational Specialist from the Montreal Oral School for the Deaf (MOSD) in Quebec. Her job is to work with students with hearing loss who attend local schools.

She and Chris Webb, who is a teacher at John Rennie High School and also a Google for Education Certified Innovator and Trainer, have been using Google Classroom to support students throughout distance learning and those who have returned to the classroom. For example, they integrate YouTube videos with automatic captioning and rely on captions in Google Meet. Their efforts to improve access to information during school assemblies kicked off a school-wide, student-led accessibility initiative to raise awareness about hearing loss and related accessibility issues.

Benefiting everyone

One phenomenon that underscores how disability-first features benefit everyone is called the “Curb-cut Effect.” When curbs were flattened to allow access for people with disabilities, it also meant greater access for bikers, skateboarders, and people pushing strollers or shopping carts. Everyone benefitted. Similarly, accessibility improvements like these recent updates to our education tools mean a better experience for everyone.

We see this similar effect time and time again among our own products. Take Live Caption in the Chrome browser for example. Similar to Google Meet captions, Live Caption in Chrome captions any video and audio content on your browser, which can be especially helpful for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It can also be helpful when people want to read content without noise so they don’t disrupt the people around them.

When we build accessible products, we build for everyone. It’s one of the things I love about working for Google — that we serve the world. There’s a lot of work ahead of us to make sure our products delight all people, with and without disabilities. I’m excited and humbled by technology’s potential to help get us closer to this future.

Stay up-to-date on the latest accessibility features from Google for Education.

Reconociendo a los educadores en esta Semana de Apreciación al Maestro

Read this post in English. // Blog en inglésaquí.

Nota del Editor: Kurt Russell, la historia de un maestro de Oberlin High School en Ohio, fue nombrado recientemente como Maestro Nacional del Año 2022. En honor a la semana de Apreciación al Maestro , él nos comparte más de su historia, la importancia de la comunidad educativa y algunas formas en las que Google reconoce a los educadores.

Los maestros tienen la habilidad de transformar vidas. La señorita Francine Toss y el Señor Larry Thomas cambiaron la mía al compartir conmigo conocimiento, confianza, autovaloración, paciencia y amor durante los años de la escuela primaria y secundaria. Y yo sé que hay una cantidad incontable de profesores, en todo el país, que hacen esto mismo con sus alumnos cada día. Me siento honrado de representarlos al ser nombrado como Maestro Nacional del Año.

Pero seamos honestos, enseñar no es sencillo. Hay momentos en los que puede ser frustrante. Nos podemos llegar a sentir invisibles y poco valorados. Suele ser un desafío poder satisfacer las múltiples necesidades de nuestros alumnos, teniendo muchas veces recursos limitados. Pero mis queridos profesores me motivaron a enfrentar estos desafíos. Esta es una comunidad que proveé un apoyo inquebrantable y muestra resiliencia, excelencia profesional e inspiración - no solo para los estudiantes, sino también entre nosotros.

Por casi 10 años, Google ha sido un patrocinador del programa de Maestro del Año del Consejo de Jefes Estatales de Oficiales de las Escuelas como parte de su apoyo constante a los educadores alrededor del mundo. Estoy muy agradecido por las maneras en las que Google se muestra en la actualidad, y cada día, para engrandecer a la comunidad educativa.

El señor Thomas - mi primer profesor que era un hombre de color - me inspiró a convertirme en educador. Me vi a mí mismo en él y en la materia que impartía. Y es por este ejemplo, que continué con la importante labor de enfatizar la relevancia cultural y la representación de la diversidad en mi propia enseñanza. Por esta razón, me complace ver que Google hizo equipo nuevamente con El Niño Consciente para donar otra cantidad de libros inclusivos, 1,000 más Títulos I de escuela primaria por todo el país - construir suguía de lectura inclusiva y la sección de aulas cultural del Centro de Profesores de Google for Education. La representación es importante en toda la experiencia educativa, y yo soy la prueba de la diferencia que puede hacer en la vida de alguien más.

Este año, el programa de Maestro Nacional del Año y Google for Education están ofreciendo un premio de $5,000 para cada Maestro Estatal del Año como reconocimiento y admiración por la increíble labor que hacen.

Si hay algún maestro que esté haciendo una diferencia en tu vida, como la Señorita Toss y el Señor Thomas lo hicieron por la mía, considera nominarlos como próximo Maestro Estatal del Año. Ya sea que tu seas su estudiante, padre o compañero educador, esta es una excelente manera de hacerle saber a alguien que han hecho un impacto en ti.

Durante esta semana en la que celebramos la profesión de enseñar y a los maestros que han hecho una diferencia, espero que mis compañeros educadores se sientan valorados y apreciados. Porque para mí, y para muchos otros, en verdad lo son.

Una foto de grupo de los Maestros Estatales del Año con el Presidente Joe Biden y la Primera Dama Dr. Jill Biden posando para una foto.

Los Maestros Estatales del Año en la Casa Blanca, conociendo El Presidente Joe Biden y la Primera Dama Dr. Jill Biden. Credito de foto: Foto oficial de la Casa Blanca por Adam Schultz.

Lifting up educators this Teacher Appreciation Week

Read this post in Spanish. // Blog en español aquí.

Editor’s note: Kurt Russell, a history teacher from Oberlin High School in Ohio, was recently named the 2022 National Teacher of the Year. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, he’s sharing more about his story, the importance of the teaching community and some ways Google is showing up for educators.

Teachers have the ability to change lives. Ms. Francine Toss and Mr. Larry Thomas changed mine by pouring knowledge, confidence, self-worth, patience and love into me during my elementary and middle school years. And I know countless teachers across the country are doing the same for their own students every day. I’m honored to represent them as this year’s National Teacher of the Year.

But let’s be honest, teaching is not easy. At times, it can be frustrating. We can feel invisible and unappreciated. We constantly struggle to meet our students’ varied needs, often with limited resources. But my fellow teachers motivate me to meet these challenges. This is a community that provides unwavering support and demonstrates resilience, professional excellence and inspiration — not just for our students, but also for each other.

For nearly ten years, Google has been a sponsor of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ National Teacher of the Year program as part of their ongoing support for educators worldwide. I’m thankful for the ways Google is showing up today, and every day, to lift up the teaching community.

Mr. Thomas — the first teacher I had who was a Black man — inspired me to become an educator. I saw myself in him and in the curriculum he taught. And because of his example, I’ve continued the important work of emphasizing cultural relevance and diverse representation in my own teaching. For this reason, I’m glad to see Google team up again with The Conscious Kid to donate another round of inclusive books to 1,000 more Title I elementary schools across the country — building on their inclusive reading guide and the cultural learning section on Google for Education’s Teacher Center. Representation matters throughout an entire educational experience, and I’m proof of the difference it can make in someone’s life.

This year, the National Teacher of the Year program and Google for Education are also offering a $5,000 award to each State Teacher of the Year in appreciation and admiration of the incredible work they do.

If there’s a special teacher making a difference in your life, like Ms. Toss and Mr. Thomas did for me, consider nominating them as next year’s State Teacher of the Year. Whether you’re a student, parent or fellow educator, this is a great way to let someone know they’ve made an impact on you.

During this week when we celebrate the teaching profession and teachers who have made a difference, I hope my fellow educators feel valued and cherished. Because to me, and to so many others, you truly are.

A large group of people — the 2022 State Teachers of the Year, President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden — pose in front of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Above them is a golden chandelier.

The 2022 State Teachers of the Year at the White House, meeting President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz.