Saline Area Schools going gaga for Google
Students in the Saline Area Schools will soon have an easier way to meet in cyberspace.
Earlier this month, the school district began issuing Gmail accounts to all students in grades 5-12, said Superintendent Scot Graden. The system will go live Jan. 10, a week after students return from winter break, and give students access to a full range of Google applications beyond e-mail, including documents and forms.
While it is common for colleges and universities to issue Gmail accounts to their students, the practice is far less common among public school districts. Saline will be the first school district in Washtenaw County to issue Gmail and Google Apps accounts to its students, Graden said.
Scot Graden
“This tool fits right into the direction the district is headed with regard to a Web 2.0 approach to curriculum, i.e. streaming video, classroom blogging, online learning, electronic portfolios, etc.,” Graden wrote in his own Gmail blog.
Parents can opt out of all or part of the program, Graden said. The district will use the Web-based, third-party filter Gaggle to control content. While Google access is free, the filtering service will cost the district close to $5,000, Graden said. The funds will come from the district’s e-rate funds, federal money that helps school districts gain access to telecommunications and information services.
The Gmail rollout will allow students to communicate with their teachers and among themselves, Graden said. It will allow students to seamlessly work on projects and write papers together and receive feedback from their teachers.
There’s a host of other possible uses, which the district will explore as students and staff get connected. They include:
- Accessing other Google products such as Google Docs and Google Calendar.
- Allowing students to build an electronic portfolio.
- Allowing teachers to provide discreet support to students who need it.
- Providing on-line storage space.
- Surveying students on a number of issues, even their input on school lunches.
- Taking tests online, allowing teachers to correct them virtually while cutting down on paper in the classroom.
It’s a logical next step, Graden said, after Saline School administrators started using Gmail accounts in June 2008. The district has been used as a Google case study. Students at Heritage and Middle schools are participating in a Moodle course on cyber safety and the district’s technology policies. Moodle is the blackboard interface the district has used up to this point.
Comments
David Noller
Mon, Feb 1, 2010 : 1:30 p.m.
By the way, there are NO ADS in the education edition. Our Google Docs portal has our district logo. There are no ads targeted to students if the school has set up the Education Edition.
David Noller
Mon, Feb 1, 2010 : 11:34 a.m.
Traverse City Area Public Schools rolled out our "Student Portal" -- a partnership with GoogleDocs -- this fall, and the results have been fantastic: More students willing to complete work since they like the tool. More students doing more collaboration since it's easy to do. More opportunities for teachers to customize comments without getting "writer's cramp." I'll be visiting Saline Schools this Wednesday with the Google Docs conference. I can't wait to see the applications being used and take some knowledge back home.
Salinedad
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 1 p.m.
Lisa, I would encourage you to ignore that rumor. I understand that the School Administration has not proposed this and the School Board has not heard this either. I would encourage you to reach out to Mr. Graden directly for accurate information regarding this rumor.
Lisa Starrfield
Tue, Jan 5, 2010 : 11:16 a.m.
And step 2 of their brilliant plan... lay off all Math teachers because everyone knows online classes are better than real teachers.
AMOC
Fri, Jan 1, 2010 : 11:14 p.m.
@Scott - Thank you for that clarification. That's reassuring re. the Saline plan. About what AAPS wanted to do with my kid, not so much.
Scot Graden
Wed, Dec 30, 2009 : 2:27 p.m.
There are no ads in the Google Apps Education Edition http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/alloftheabove.html "Building a 21st century school now has an easy answer: Google Apps Education Edition No hardware to maintain, no software to install, no ads, and no cost for schools."
AMOC
Tue, Dec 29, 2009 : 1:33 p.m.
All of you Saline parents cheering this move should aware that GoogleApps and G-Mail display on-screen ads to their users which are targeted by using the contents of any and all of the documents or chat sessions a user and his or her correspondents have shared via Google. Depending on the contents of documents and e-mails, ads for adult products and services may appear on the screen. These are text-only; they do not include pictures. But text ads could still involve inappropriate material. The ads displayed by Google are NOT, according to Gaggle's web site, filtered by Gaggle. Blocking or filtering the ads displayed by G-mail or GoogleDocs is not permitted under Google's Terms of Service. My personal experience with G-mail led me to veto a plan for my elementary school child with a learning disability in written expression to use G-mail and GoogleDocs to send written work back and forth between the school computer and home. Because even given on-line safety training and parental check ups, an e-mail discussion between my son and his brother about "whipping the butt" of the imaginary opponent in a video game they both play might result in the display of ads for whips or adult-content web sites. A student's access to those web sites would (probably) be blocked by the school's filtering software when he or she is at school, but what about their access when at home? At the home of a friend? At the library or local cafe's WiFi hotspot? The ubiquitous access Google provides to *all* a user's documents works both ways.
Ben Lilley
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 5:19 p.m.
We purchased our house in Saline school district for just this reason!! Way to go Saline. My kids (2 and 4) are looking forward to attending!
DPL
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 11:08 a.m.
Saline consists of a broad range of socio-economic conditions; not all students have access to computing capabilities and/or high speed internet at home. How does the administration propose to remedy this condition and afford those without means the opportunity to use the new tools? Will teachers support parallel paper-based methods with the new e-methods?
jondhall
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 11:01 a.m.
When I moved into this area twenty years ago it was for the GREAT SCHOOLS some thing never "change" even as much as some want them to. My daughter graduated from Saline Schools and has went on to a fulfilling life any parent would be proud of. Everyone that has anything to do with SAS right down to the groundskeeper(s) That you very much!
Renee Badall
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 10 a.m.
Thank you Saline Area Schools for staying on the forefront of technology and engaging and exciting your students!
Renee Badall
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 9:45 a.m.
Congratulations Saline for staying in the forefront of technology and keeping your students engaged and excited!
DadR
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 9:38 a.m.
Good for the Saline School District. It seems as if they are often the first to institute new ideas after carefully studying them to ensure they will work. My congratulations to not only Scot Graden and his administrators but also to the students who will benefit from the school's forward thinking.
Sherry Knight
Mon, Dec 28, 2009 : 9:36 a.m.
Thank you, SAS, for finding cost-effective ways to stay in the forefront of education. This is a tremendous way to give our kids MORE despite the economic challenges.