Google’s recent focus on the field of education and e-learning has left educators looking forward to its maneuvers with something akin to awe. But what are the innovations Google has brought to the hallowed field of education in general and e-learning in particular?
Revolutionizing the E-learning
In order to give you a thorough incite to Google’s reach in the field on online education, let us place our focus on the three major strata of education namely; primary. Secondary and tertiary education. For primary education or students in the k-6 bracket, the Google Play Store for Education launched sometime in 2013 makes a statement on how Google plans to make use of apps and its vibrant tech ecosystem to change how we learn right from the grass root.
The play store provides the infrastructure Educators and developers need to create educational apps that can be used directly in the class room or through virtual learning platforms—LMS—to educate children who fall under this bracket. A majority of the apps on Google Play Store for Education integrate the principles of higher learning—which includes the ability to learn by doing—and Gamification—the ability to learn by gaming—into their user interfaces and features. These educational tools sit at the cutting edge of technology and are sure to drive how kids learn in the nearest future.
The introduction of wearables—Google glass in particular—to the general public has been received with both admiration as well as it fair share of vilification which gives it the tag of been a disruptive technology. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Google has pitched the technical uses of the Google glass to the educational community who have grabbed the opportunity with open arms. Now, students at the higher end of the k-12 bracket make use of this wearable computer to capture real-life moments when going on field trips and during practical/laboratory work. And coupling the viewing, storage and recording features of the glass with Google extensive search features makes this wearable a powerful educative tool of the future.
Not to be outdone by its tech rivals, Google hangouts, Google circle and Google+ were launched as communicative/collaborative tools built with extensive features to support both domestic and commercial forms of communication. These communication tools have since been accepted into the e-learning community as staple tools for educators looking to organize online workshops and virtual classes and record as video lectures/tutorials for their students. The best part of this collaborative effort is that participants in a circle can easily create their own hangouts, and share information securely through the use of Gmail or work as a group using Google drive and its documenting features as the perfect conduit.
For educators who have not yet jumped into the Google bandwagon, now is the perfect time to explore the possibilities and features Google offers and if they are a perfect fit, your teaching methods will be greatly enhanced but if not, we advise that you study the educational features other tech houses provide in order to stay at the cutting edge of educational technology.
