Tag Archives: Education

Girlguiding and Google: technology is for everyone

Technology has always been a huge part of my life. Growing up in the nineties and early noughties, I can’t remember a time without it. From chunky flip phones and CDs, to newer, sleeker gadgets with all sorts of capabilities, technology has changed rapidly and remarkably in my lifetime alone.

But, despite growing up around tech, I — like lots of my female peers — never really felt I could be involved in creating it. This needs to change. Technology can be made by anyone, and is for everyone. We need to make sure that girls and young women have the opportunity to pursue an interest in STEM subjects.

That’s why, as a Ranger and Young Leader within Girlguiding, I’m really excited about Girlguiding’s newly expanded programme with Google which will give nearly 400,000 Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers more opportunities to learn digital skills for their future.

Girls feel STEM is not for them

To encourage more girls and young women to pursue STEM subjects, we need to change attitudes from a very young age. Girlguiding’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey, found in 2021 that 52% of girls aged 11-21 saw STEM subjects as “for boys”. Girls of this age are at a stage where they’re making choices about their future, but sadly, preconceived perceptions are impacting their aspirations.

A third (34%) aged 7 to 21 feel there’s a lack of women role models in STEM. One in five (19%) aged 7 to 10 say girls who are interested in STEM subjects are teased. 27% of girls aged 11 to 21 believe teachers and career advisors often encourage girls to do different subjects to boys.

These numbers really highlight the need for groups like Girlguiding to work with organizations like Google to change this and enable more young people to feel empowered to pursue their interests.

  • A picture of Girlguiding groups and Google engineers.

    All four of Girlguiding's sections (age groups) and Google's engineers holding the partnership's digital skills badge.

  • Picture of a Rainbow raising her hand while taking part in the co-created activities.

    A Rainbow raises her hand while taking part in the co-created activities.

  • A picture of a Ranger taking part in pixel art at Google's offices

    A Ranger takes part in pixel art at Google's offices.

Digital discovery badges

Google and Girlguiding first launched the Google Digital Adventure for Brownies and Digital design badge for Rangers in 2018. More than 15,000 girls have already taken part.

Now, we’re expanding our partnership to give more girls and young women opportunities to learn about concepts like coding and algorithms, with new activities co-created by Google’s women engineers.

The new activities include Happy appy for Rainbows to learn about app designs; Brownie bots to teach Brownies how to write code and fix bugs; Chattermatter to teach Guides about chatbots, and Build-a-phone, which aims to teach Rangers the basic principles of phone design.

The new activities will form part of Girlguiding’s national programme within the Skills for my Future theme. These span all four Girlguiding sections (age groups) and have been created to be completed offline to ensure they are accessible to all girls.

An exciting future for all girls

Our goal — to make sure the next generation of girls and young women are encouraged to pursue STEM subjects — may not happen overnight. But thanks to the Girlguiding and Google partnership, nearly 400,000 girls like me in the UK will get new opportunities to learn the essential skills they need to break through stereotypes and become tech pioneers.

In years to come, I hope to see the Rainbows or Brownies of today on the front cover of a newspaper showing off their incredible discoveries and inventions. Alongside Google, Girlguiding is working to help build a future where more girls and young women feel empowered to help change the world!

Want to find out more? Read all about the new Google and Girlguiding partnership at www.girlguiding.org.uk.

Sculpt, sketch and see the world in new cultural games

Creating new and engaging ways for you to learn about the world's art, culture, and history has always been the focus of the creative coders and artists in residence at the Google Arts & Culture Lab. Play can be an incredible vehicle for learning which is why in 2021 the team launched “Play with Arts & Culture”, a series of puzzle and trivia games that made it fun to discover and learn about cultural treasures from our partners’ collections. Today, you are invited to try four new games which will challenge you to learn through play. Simply visit g.co/artgames or press the Play tab (it looks like this ?) within the Google Arts & Culture app for Android and iOS .

Set your personal best score

All four of these games will let you earn and save High Scores. If you’re logged in to Google Arts & Culture, your best score for each game will be automatically saved and synced across your devices and displayed on the Play page so you never lose track of your personal best. When you beat your record, a congratulatory notification will let you share your high score with friends and challenge them to do better.

We hope you’ll have a lot of fun discovering Arts & Culture through our latest collection of games and learn something interesting along the way. Get playing and start setting your high scores today at g.co/artgames or in the Play tab (it looks like this ?) on the Google Arts & Culture app for Android and iOS.

Celebrating update 100 with new Chromebook features

Thanks to regular automatic updates, Chromebooks are always stepping up their game. Each Chrome OS update helps your laptop (and you) get things done faster, easier and more securely.

And you might have noticed we’ve had a lot of them. In fact, Chrome OS officially hit update 100 this week. In celebration of the big 1-0-0, we’re sharing a few announcements to improve Chromebooks for everyone — whether you’re using them to work, learn, manage a business or just kick back and relax.

Find more with the new Launcher

With a quick press of the Everything Button on your keyboard or the circle icon on the bottom left corner of your screen, Chromebook’s Launcher has made it easy to search for your apps and files — and even find answers online. And now, Launcher is getting an updated design and enhanced search functionality to help you more easily find what you’re looking for.

First, you’ll notice that Launcher will open on the side of your screen instead of from the bottom — leaving more space for any windows you have open. You’ll also be able to organize your apps by name or color, or manually arrange them in any order you like. And when you download a new app, it will follow the same organizational style.

Searching with Launcher is also getting easier. Looking for that celebrity name on the tip of your tongue? Before, Launcher would show you a short preview of your search result. Now, it will show even more information — so you can check the weather or find that celebrity name, all without leaving Launcher. You can also quickly search for Chromebook shortcuts, like how to take a screenshot or turn on caps lock.

GIF of new Launcher UI zooms in to show the Launcher activated on the left side of the screen, then scrolls through a grid of apps. User types “Steph Curry” and more information about the basketball star appears right in the interface.

Launcher now provides even more information when you search

If you work with a lot of Chrome browser tabs and windows open (no judgment), it can be difficult to find the exact one you’re looking for. Instead of sifting through your tabs for that crossword puzzle you started this morning, a quick search in the new Launcher will direct you to the right open tab.

Keep an eye out for the new Launcher, rolling out to all Chromebooks soon.

Discover your next Chromebook

Our partners HP, Lenovo, Acer and ASUS recently announced several powerful Chromebooks to help you make the most of Chrome OS now and in future updates. Check out a few of our favorites, available for purchase in the next few months:

  • HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook: Designed for a premium productivity experience, with features like a haptic trackpad, an integrated privacy screen, 5G and support for a wirelessly chargeable magnetic Stylus pen
  • Acer Chromebook Spin 513: The first Chromebook to feature the MediaTek Kompanio 1380 processor, bringing together power and efficiency with up to 10 hours of battery life
  • ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5: Made for productivity and entertainment with 12th Gen Intel Core processors, a 16-inch nano-edge display and Harmon-Kardon certified speakers
  • Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook: Built with productivity in mind and comes with powerful processors, a 1080p webcam and a stunning 14-inch 16:10 FHD display

Four Chromebooks are shown in a row on a white background. They are labeled, from left to right: Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook, HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook, Acer Chromebook Spin 513, ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5

Recently announced Chromebooks from Lenovo, HP, Acer and ASUS

Make edits with your voice

You might already use the Dictation feature, where you can dictate text anywhere you would normally type on your Chromebook — like in an email or on your browser. Now, you can also edit using your voice. Simply say “delete” to delete the last letter, or “move to next character” to adjust where your cursor is on the screen. Or, if you’re not sure what command to use, say “help” and your Chromebook will give you ideas. Once you’ve enabled “Dictation” in Settings, try it out by pressing the Everything Button + D.

A zoomed-in Chromebook screen shows the text “Hello! How are your.” The letter “R” is highlighted and an on-screen command indicates this letter is about to be deleted using voice dictation.

Use your voice to edit dictated text on Chromebooks

Create and share your own GIF

Instead of digging through the internet to find that perfect GIF, you can now make your own right in the Chromebook Camera app. Simply open the Camera app, select “Video” and flip the toggle to “GIF.” Record a five-second video and when you’re done, it will automatically convert to an animated GIF. Share it through email and other apps on your Chromebook, or send it to your Android phone using Nearby Share.

Grab a friend, or a pet, and make your own GIF on the Chromebook Camera app

Continue learning at home

Thanks to new Chromebook updates, students can easily review what they learned at school that day. With school accounts for Family Link, parents and guardians can add a Google for Education account for kids to access Google Classroom and other school resources on supervised Chromebooks at home. And with so many teachers sharing educational YouTube videos during class, parent supervision to YouTube is now available for Family Link users on Chromebooks. Plus, a new YouTube app for Chrome OS allows offline playback, so students can keep up with their lessons even without access to Wi-Fi at home or on long car rides and flights.

YouTube video describing how Family Link works with school Google accounts
10:25

See more device insights

We’re also making it easier for IT administrators to keep their organization’s devices running smoothly.

Within Google Admin console, we’ve added a new report for a quick look at which devices need attention. Meanwhile, the new Chrome Management Telemetry API provides more detailed information about device performance so you can create your own personalized report. This complements the existing Chrome Policy API, which allows IT admins to quickly apply policies across a fleet of devices.

Go cloud-first and reduce e-waste

Chrome OS Flex is a new, free-to-download operating system that brings the speed, simplicity, manageability and proactive security of Chrome OS to PCs and Macs. Built for businesses and schools, it allows you to modernize PCs and Macs with a cloud-first operating system and reduces e-waste by extending the lifespan of older devices. Since early access availability in February, we’ve verified more than 100 devices to work with Chrome OS Flex and brought it into beta. Try it out and share your feedback.

We’ll be back to share more Chromebooks and features to help you personalize your laptop and work even better across multiple devices. And of course, we look forward to bringing you the next 100 Chrome OS updates.

Sign up today for Code Jam’s 2022 competitions

Google's longest-running coding competition, Code Jam, is back for its 19th season. Code Jam to I/O for Women is also returning for a ninth year, bringing together women programmers from around the world. In both competitions, developers tackle algorithmic challenges designed by Google engineers — all while building their network, sharpening their coding skills and even winning some prizes.

Want to participate? Read on to learn more about each event and how to sign up.

Code Jam to I/O for Women kicks off March 26

We launched Code Jam to I/O for Women to help build a more inclusive competitive coding community. And it’s grown rapidly over the years, with more than 23,000 registrants last season. This year, the top 150 competitors will receive a stipend and access to virtual Google I/O experiences. Whether you're a seasoned contestant or a brand new competitor, we invite you to register today for Code Jam to I/O for Women. Check out the archive to get a taste of the competition and start practicing with previous problems.

Code Jam returns April 1

At Code Jam, developers of all skill levels compete head to head in multiple online rounds. This season takes place from April to August, ending with a live streamed World Finals event. Competitors must earn enough points to advance to the next round. Out of thousands of participants, only the top 25 will head to the World Finals to compete for the title of World Champion and cash prizes of up to $15,000. And there will be plenty of other prizes to go around — the top 1,000 competitors will win an exclusive Code Jam 2022 t-shirt.

Code Jam registration is now open until the end of the Qualification Round on April 3 at 2:00 UTC — visit our schedule page to find your exact time zone. We recommend warming up with previous problems from the archive to improve your chances of advancing to Round 1.

We hope to see you on the scoreboard this season!

Practice sets: a more personal path to learning

Everyone learns in their own way — but we do share a few patterns in common. We all learn more effectively when we practice, and even more so when we get specific feedback.

But with large classes of students at different skill levels, teachers can have trouble supporting individual journeys and learning styles. So we spoke with educators around the world to see how we could help them become more effective in the classroom. Time and again, they said they wanted to spend less time on tedious tasks like grading, and more time focused on their students’ unique needs.

So today, we’re announcing an upcoming feature in Google Classroom to help them do just that. Practice sets will give teachers the time and tools to better support their students — from more interactive lessons to faster and more personal feedback.

YouTube video describing practice sets tool, with colorful imagery of students and teachers.
10:25

Supercharge teaching content and get class insights

With practice sets, educators can easily transform their own teaching content into interactive assignments and use the autograding tool to cut down on manual grading time. Practice sets also help teachers figure out which concepts need more instruction time and who could use extra support, giving them quick performance insights to shape future lesson plans.

Boost student confidence and celebrate their progress

Students get real-time feedback as they complete practice sets, so they know whether they’re on the right track. When they’re struggling to solve a problem, they can get hints through visual explainers and videos. And when they get an answer correct, practice sets will celebrate their success with fun animations and confetti.

One fifth-grade teacher, who used practice sets in a recent trial, saw the benefits in action: “The kids were calling it ‘Google magic’ because of the hints, pop-ups and instant feedback they received. That’s what makes practice sets a real game changer for their learning experience.” They also liked the focused support: “Practice sets also helped meet students’ needs when I couldn’t meet with them at that moment.”

  • Student experience in practice sets, getting a hint from resources when they are stuck

    Students get real time feedback and hints when they get stuck, like video resources

  • Educator experience when creating a practice set

    Educators can use existing content or create a practice set from scratch

  • Educator view of insights dashboard in practice sets

    Educators can view automated insights of assignment performance trends in Classroom grader view

Get ready for practice sets

We’re actively testing practice sets with some schools in anticipation of our beta launch in the coming months. Practice sets will be available within Google Classroom for any educator using the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, or any institution using Google Workspace for Education Plus. If you’re interested in participating in the beta, get in touch with us.

To learn more about adaptive learning technology and its potential impact on the future of education, read our latest blog post.

Let’s get personal: Adaptive learning tech and education

Twelve years ago, Shantanu Sinha left his job to join his long-time friend Sal Khan’s new venture. At the time, Sal was spending his days making educational YouTube videos. It was an unusual career choice for both of them. But they saw what was possible when students had more agency over their learning and how technology could play a role. Together they started the online education platform Khan Academy, and Shantanu worked there for five years.

Today, Shantanu is the head of Google for Education. His team works to improve teaching and learning with technology, and one promising area is their work with adaptive learning technology. This emerging, AI-driven technology supports tailored learning experiences for students and helps amplify teacher instruction.

To get a crash course on adaptive learning technology and what it means for students and teachers, we talked to Shantanu.

What exactly is adaptive learning technology?

The concept of adaptive learning has been around for decades. It refers to a type of learning where students are given customized resources and activities to address their unique learning needs. For example, if a student struggles with adding fractions, a teacher might offer 1:1 tutoring or additional practice problems. You can see the concept of adaptive learning play out in gaming. When I was a kid I remember playing Carmen Sandiego and noticing how the system was tailored to me and changed whenever I got something wrong.

What’s new is applying recent AI advances to this concept, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities to transform the future of school into a personal learning experience.

Can you share an example of what this might look like?

Imagine you’re a student stuck on a math problem. With 25 other students in your class, you can't always get immediate help, leaving you frustrated and diminishing your confidence to complete future problems. Now imagine a different scenario. You’re stuck on a problem, but instead of growing frustrated, you receive a helpful hint or video that gives you exactly what you need to unblock you. You realize what you need to do differently, complete the math problem correctly and feel more confident in your ability to learn.

Early attempts at adaptive learning worked only for very specific content and curricula. With recent AI advances in language models and video understanding, we can now apply adaptive learning technology to almost any type of class assignment or lesson at an unprecedented scale. When students receive individualized, in-the-moment support, the results can be magical.

Algebra video tutorial helps students stuck on a homework problem

Tell us about the magic.

We recently talked to an educator who is testing out a new adaptive learning feature that we’re developing called practice sets in Google Classroom. The feature allows teachers to create interactive assignments and provides students with real-time feedback. He said the instant feedback that kids received was like having a teaching assistant in the classroom at all times. The technology helped give students 1:1 attention and validation — so they knew right away whether they got a problem correct or incorrect — and drove students’ intrinsic motivation and engagement through the roof.

I saw a similar phenomenon back when I was part of Khan Academy. Over time, students not only became more proficient with subject matter content, but also in their ability to learn new material. They learned how to learn.

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Practice sets: a more personal path to learning

We’re announcing practice sets, an upcoming adaptive learning feature in Google Classroom to help teachers better support their students.

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How does adaptive learning technology help teachers?

Adaptive learning technology saves teachers time and provides data to help them understand students’ learning processes and patterns. For example, with practice sets, teachers can quickly see a student’s attempts at a given problem, so they know where a student got stuck and can identify areas for improvement. Since assignments are auto-graded, teachers can devote more time to making sure that each student gets the instruction and practice they need to succeed.

So is the future of education more personal?

Learning is inherently personal. Education should feel personal too, but there are time and resource constraints. As we build toward a more personal future for education, adaptive learning technology can help us get there faster. Our goal is to power the pursuit of personal potential — for both teachers and students — in and out of the classroom.

Over these past two years, technology has influenced where people can learn, but has it changed the way people learn?

When I look back to the start of my career and where the world is now, it’s clear that having immediate access to information has fundamentally transformed how, when and where we learn. Today, learning is a muscle we flex easily and often. At Google, we see this play out each day: 85% of U.S. YouTube viewers surveyed say they learn or improve their skills on the platform1 and more than a billion people turn to Search each day to discover something new.

As we think about the evolution of learning, what role can Google play?

We aim to be a learning company — for school, for work and for life. Last year, we launched a site all about our ongoing commitment to help everyone in the world learn anything in the world. Learning is personal. I’m excited to continue working with our partners to build toward a more personal future of education. When we apply the right technology to the process of teaching and learning, exciting things start to happen.

The next generation of women in coding

Women of color make upless than 10 percent of all Bachelor's degrees earned in computing in the U.S. Peta-Gay Clarke and Shameeka Emanual are working to help change that. As program managers of Google’s Code Next program, they’re using their tech careers to give young women more access to computer science. Today, they’re announcing the sponsorship of a new Women of Color in Tech scholarship.

I recently had the chance to talk to Peta-Gay and Shameeka to learn about the women who’ve inspired them and how, in turn, they hope to inspire the next generation.

What interested you in a technology career?

Peta-Gay: My grandmother was a Jamaican immigrant and even though she didn’t know much about computers, she walked into Radio Shack in the 1990s and put a computer on layaway. A year later, she surprised my sister and me with it on Christmas. This gift both turned me into our family’s tech support and sparked my interest in technology. Later on, I transferred into a computer science program at my high school in Queens, which changed my life. I learned how to build and repair computers and was introduced to computer programming.

Shameeka: I grew up as a cheerleader and band nerd who was eligible for free lunch — I knew technology would be my key to moving to another economic class. I was also drawn to tech because math and science are objective subjects rooted in proof: you’re either right, wrong or innovating.

Women, particularly women of color, are underrepresented in tech. How have you seen women of color break into this work?

Peta-Gay: Breaking into the tech industry requires a great deal of persistence, resilience and support. Early exposure, access and opportunities also make a huge difference. I personally have had mentors and sponsors enter my life at critical points. But if we’re going to see major shifts in the number of women of color entering the tech sector, we need innovative public and private partnerships and new ways to access careers in tech.

Shameeka Emanuel, program manager of Google’s Code Next program, sits behind her laptop. She is wearing glasses and looking into the camera, smiling.

Shameeka Emanuel, program manager of Google’s Code Next program

You’ve been working with Google’s Code Next students for six years. What still surprises you about working with them?

Peta-Gay: I’m still surprised how often our students are excluded and underestimated. There are still far too many schools that don’t offer computing courses, and even if they do, our students may not be eligible to take them. Many of our budding engineers join Code Next to get the exposure and access they need. They join as freshman in high school and stay through graduation. Our inaugural cohort have even stayed connected through the program, and they’re now sophomores in college!

Shameeka: The students continuously blow me away, there’s no limit to what they can achieve. Our senior leadership sees it too. I’ve even seen their eyes twinkle when they attend our student showcases! Being a part of this leadership team has also helped me raise my own children — I’ve learned that you have to remove boundaries and focus on the play part of education to truly inspire the next generation.

What do you hope the students who participate in Code Next learn beyond new technical skills?

Peta-Gay: I want our students to become lifelong learners. My hope is that they never stop exploring and tinkering, but more importantly they find joy in learning.

Shameeka: I want our students to use what they learn here to reach back and pull others forward. We want to inspire the next generation of makers and engineers to become disruptive leaders in tech with a growth mindset. I hope they keep growing and glowing!

What do you hope to achieve with the new Women of Color in Tech scholarship?

Peta-Gay : Together with Scholly, our team is excited to sponsor a new Women of Color in Tech scholarship that will award up to 20 Black, Latina and Native women with $10,000 towards computing degrees.

Shameeka: It was created to raise awareness of the gender gap in tech and the challenges women of color face trying to enter the industry. We also hope it eases some financial burden for the winners so they can focus on their studies.

Peta-Gay, lead of Google’s Code Next program, speaking at a Code Next Hackathon in New York City.

Peta-Gay, lead of Google’s Code Next program, speaking at a Code Next Hackathon in New York City

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, can you tell us about any role models or mentors who’ve helped you grow?

Peta-Gay: My first role models were my mother and my grandmother. I’m a first-generation immigrant, so to know my parents came to the United States from Jamaica and had to start their lives all over is my greatest motivation.

Shameeka: I’ve been blessed to cross paths with amazing women in this industry who took time to counsel and mentor me over the years. But the next generation — our students — are now pushing to create a world where diversity and access are the norm and not the exception — and I’m excited to watch them create this change!

Head over to Code with Google to learn how other Google programs and partnerships are addressing equity gaps in tech, including more scholarships for students pursuing degrees in computer science education.

An intro to AI, made for students

Adorable, operatic blobs. A global, online guessing game. Scribbles that transform into works of art. These may not sound like they’re part of a curriculum, but learning the basics of how artificial intelligence (AI) works doesn’t have to be complicated, super-technical or boring.

To celebrate Digital Learning Day, we’re releasing a new lesson from Applied Digital Skills, Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum (and part of the larger Grow with Google initiative). “Discover AI in Daily Life” was designed with middle and high school students in mind, and dives into how AI is built, and how it helps people every day.

AI for anyone — and everyone

“Twenty or 30 years ago, students might have learned basic typing skills in school,” says Dr. Patrick Gage Kelley, a Google Trust and Safety user experience researcher who co-created (and narrates) the “Discover AI in Daily Life” lesson. “Today, ‘AI literacy’ is a key skill. It's important that students everywhere, from all backgrounds, are given the opportunity to learn about AI.”

“Discover AI in Daily Life” begins with the basics. You’ll find simple, non-technical explanations of how a machine can “learn” from patterns in data, and why it’s important to train AI responsibly and avoid unfair bias.

First-hand experiences with AI

“By encouraging students to engage directly with everyday tools and experiment with them, they get a first-hand experience of the potential uses and limitations of AI,” says Dr. Annica Voneche, the lesson’s learning designer. “Those experiences can then be tied to a more theoretical explanation of the technology behind it, in a way that makes the often abstract concepts behind AI tangible.”

Guided by Google’s AI Principles, the lesson also explores why it’s important to develop AI systems responsibly. Developed with feedback from a student advisor and several middle- and high-school teachers, the lesson is intended for use in a wide range of courses, not just in computer science (CS) or technology classes.

“It's crucial for students, regardless of whether they are CS students or not, to understand why the responsible development of AI is important,” says Tammi Ramsey, a high school teacher who contributed feedback. “AI is becoming a widespread phenomenon. It’s part of our everyday lives.”

Whether taught in-person or remotely, teachers can use the lesson’s three- to six-minute videos as tools to introduce a variety of students to essential AI concepts. “We want students to learn how emerging technologies, like AI, work,” says Sue Tranchina, a teacher who contributed to the lesson. “So students become curious and inspired to not just use AI, but create it.”

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The future of learning is digital

Celebrate Digital Learning Day on February 22 with technology lessons from Google’s Applied Digital Skills.

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The future of learning is digital

With the rise of online learning and digital tools, education has dramatically changed over the years — requiring teachers and students alike to learn new digital skills. On February 22, thousands of educators around the world are celebrating the use of technology in the classroom by participating in Digital Learning Day. Whether in school or at home, we’ve seen technology can help provide access, increase engagement and help educators and students open up new possibilities for learning, especially over the last few years.

In honor of Digital Learning Day, Grow with Google’s Applied Digital Skills program has curated a collection of our most popular digital lessons, which includes everything from how to make art using spreadsheets to creating a presentation. Applied Digital Skills is Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum that teaches learners of all ages the practical technology skills needed to be successful in school, work and beyond. To date, this curriculum has helped more than three million students learn digital skills and has helped thousands of educators teach them in a fun and engaging way.

Matt Winters, a Senior Technical Trainer at the Utah Education Network and co-lead for Google Educator Group Utah, has incorporated Applied Digital Skills lessons in his community by training educators across the state of Utah to help them get more comfortable with technology. I met with him virtually to talk about his experience integrating technology and digital tools to create more personal learning experiences in the classroom.

An interview with a teacher who uses Applied Digital Skills
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What does digital learning mean to you?

In Utah, we are promoting several activities to get teachers and students involved in Digital Learning Day. And it isn’t about celebrating just one day or one week: This is a skillset that every teacher and student needs on a daily basis. Technology is a tool, and with any tool we need to know how to use it.

Technology is a tool, and with any tool we need to know how to use it.

In your opinion, how can Applied Digital Skills be used in the classroom to promote digital learning?

We as teachers are asked to do so much, especially since the pandemic. Whether it is planning curriculum, taking attendance or being experts in social-emotional learning, on top of all that we are asked to be technology experts. Teachers just don’t have time for all of it. Applied Digital Skills gives teachers the latitude to teach the technology skills that they want students to learn, without ever having to know the technology skills themselves. Although they can take the lessons too!

I also love the open-source nature of Applied Digital Skills. The lessons can easily be adapted to not just your content area, but also the digital tool you would like to use. One of my favorite lessons is Create a Comic Strip with Google Drawings. It’s a big hit with students and was a no-brainer given my personal love for graphic novels. The curriculum encourages teachers to hand off the lessons to the students to let them easily learn the technical skills needed. This allows the teacher to step out of the “sage on the stage” role and switch into coach mode. And they are able to be the content experts that they are and focus their attention on students who need additional support.

What advice would you give to teachers who are skeptical of bringing technology into the classroom?

My biggest suggestion to teachers is to simplify what you are doing with technology in the classroom. Less is more. Get comfortable with a few tech tools first. Start small. It doesn’t have to be a huge overhaul of your curriculum. If you are going from using very little or zero technology, start with very little increments to grow your confidence. That is a very easy win as you will continue to grow your skills over time.

We have to remind ourselves that some things that seem scary to us teachers aren’t actually that scary. For example, I was initially intimidated by some of the coding lessons but I realized how comfortable and easy it was to learn to code with Google Apps Script. By using lessons like Create a Guide to an Area, I was able to get comfortable with coding and show my students that this is much less daunting than it seems. No matter where you are at in your journey with digital skills, all you need to do is start today. Just remember to take it one step at a time.

Rajavi Mishra on becoming a computer science researcher

Rajavi Mishra first knew she wanted to become a computer science (CS) researcher when she was a high school junior in Delhi, India. After studying electricity in her physics class, she was hooked on learning even more about the field. Rajavi spent her summer interning with a lab supervisor to design experiments that studied the mechanical life deterioration of electrical contractors, and then expanded that work into a research paper that was published during her senior year of high school.

Today, Rajavi is a senior studying CS at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of the most recent graduates of Google’s CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP). Growing up in India, Rajavi felt like her dream of completing a computer science internship as a high school student and pursuing a career in computer science would be daunting and difficult to achieve. But, thanks in part to the relationships she built during CSRMP, she’s enjoyed every bit of it.

Started in 2018, CSRMP provides mentorship, networking and career exploration to undergraduate and graduate students from historically marginalized groups (HMGs) who are interested in pursuing computing research. The program’s fifth class of students — which included Rajavi — graduated in December 2021, adding 201 students from 109 institutions across the United States and Canada to an alumni community of more than 500 CS researchers. Here’s what Rajavi had to say about her CSRMP and computing research experience:

How has CSRMP impacted your research journey?

I gained insight into a breadth of research domains during speaker series and hands-on workshops. One of our small-group pod sessions had panels with researchers from various Human and Computer Interaction (HCI) sub-domains, which helped me get a taste of different skills, roles and projects in the space.Our pod sessions were real-world learning-focused, and explored different research tools and methodologies in HCI, interesting case studies of projects, and what life as a researcher at Google is like.

What was the highlight of CSRMP?

One-on-one sessions with my mentor were the highlight of my experience. Through discussions with my mentor, I was able to gain solid feedback on my work — from grad school applications and industry research experiences to my current research project at Berkeley. I have a much better understanding of computer science industry research positions and future opportunities for the role.

What were some challenges you had to overcome during the program?

The biggest challenge was letting go of my internal inhibitions and taking the initiative to connect with peers and mentors. To make the most of the program, I had to communicate expectations with my mentor and not feel ashamed for not knowing something. In the end, being a curious learner helped me broaden my horizons and network.

What are you looking forward to most in the year ahead?

As part of my EECS honors thesis, I have been working with Professor Chasins to study how people interact with digital assistants, which we hypothesize do not sufficiently fulfill all possible user queries. While the current research focuses on what people ask their assistants, we wanted to explore how people want to be able to express themselves to their voice assistants. With this in mind, we designed a seven-day in-situ diary study where we asked people with no voice assistant experience to record requests they would ask their assistants. I am using open-coding and language processing techniques to analyze study data, categorize diverse user needs and build an ecologically valid benchmark suite of queries that current voice assistants fail to fulfill. As I wrap up my senior honors thesis, I’m excited to see how my skills have grown since I published my first paper as a high school senior. I'm also thrilled about graduating next semester and joining graduate school as a master’s student to further explore the research area of HCI.

What advice do you have for students like you who are curious about becoming a researcher in computing?

A mentor who can help you identify, shape and strengthen your interests in computer science is pivotal. Learning from my mentors has been invaluable to my progress as a learner, researcher, problem solver and human being.

Congratulations to all of the students who graduated from the CS Research Mentorship Program in the second half of 2021! If you’re interested in joining students like Rajavi Mishra to explore what the world of CS research has to offer, then be sure to apply for the September 2022 mentorship cycle in July when applications open.

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