In a new post on the Google for Work blog, Hal Friedlander is given a guest spot to discuss the New York City Department of Education's decision to add some Google tools to their official list of solutions available for teachers and students. Friedlander is the Chief Information Officer for the school system. The NYC Department of Education recently gave official approval to the use of Google Apps for Education and for the deployment of Chromebooks for use in the system.
With regard to Google Apps for Education, Friedlander says they were seeing more and more schools using it unofficially so their central office took a look at it. They determined that it did not require and special technical skills and schools could modify it to meet their specific needs. That was an important factor for Friedlander who brings a customer-centric model from his private sector days to management of the Division of Instructional and Information Technology. This focus on the customer led his team to conclude that Google Apps for Education could help schools with “fostering parent engagement, to managing classrooms, to creating and sharing online curricula.” Friedlander also indicated the Google Apps platform integrates with their existing systems and his support team found it easy to manage. To the extent that end users need training, which Friedlander said was typically a minimal amount, they created a NYC DoE Google Apps for Education Resource Center to aid those users.
Along with giving the okay to Google Apps for Education, Friedlander's Division has also given their blessing to the use of Chromebooks as approved school devices. Friedlander indicated that many schools in the system wanted to invest in Chromebooks. After review, they determined the Chromebooks were “an affordable, manageable option for learning.”
source: Google for Work
Okay Google, here’s your chance. Design and implement an app to allow for real-time whiteboarding so educators and others can reach out and assist students with homework by actually exchanging data just like writing on a whiteboard in the classroom. Would it not be helpful to watch just how the remote student is trying to resolve something? You bet it would.