New Updates to Google

 Updates to Google

Last week, Google came out with some exciting new updates involving G Suite for Education. First, G Suite for Education will now be called Google Workspace for Education. These new updates will apply to Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Google Drive/Forms.

Google Classroom Updates

1) Rich Text Formatting: 

Teachers & students will be able to use rich text formatting in posts and assignments: Bullet points, bold, italicize, underline, and align text. This is coming soon, so be on the lookout for it!

Image Credits: Google

2) Submit Better Pictures:

Soon, it will be easier for students to take and attach pictures to an assignment. Students will be able to combine photos into a single document, crop or rotate images, and adjust lighting. This is coming later this year.

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3) Work Offline:

Coming later this year, students will be able to access assignments, open Drive attachments, and work offline. 

4) Track Student Engagement:

Teachers will be able to see statistics about how students interact with Google Classroom. This is coming later this year.

                                                                     Image Credits: Google

5) Improved Grading on Mobile:
This update will include the ability to switch between student submissions, grade while viewing an assignment, and share feedback.

6) Improved Meet Integration:
This one will be a very important update.... students will not be able to join meets generated from Google Classroom until their teacher has arrived!

Google Drive Updates

1) Save Form Draft Responses:
Forms will automatically save draft responses for 30 days. If students doesn't finish the form assignment in one sitting, they can reopen it at a later time and their previous work will be saved. This is coming later this year.

                                                                        Image Credits: Google

2) Revision History in Jamboard:

This update is coming soon. You will be able to see the revision history in Jamboard, just like you can see revision history in Google Docs, Slides, etc. 

3) Document Approvals:

Have everyone attached to the document sign off on important document changes. Coming later this year. 

Google Meet Updates

1) Multiple Meeting Moderators:
Teachers and their co-teachers listed in Google Classroom will be able to have moderator privileges on Google Meets. Coming later this year.

2) Virtual Meeting Rosters:
If you create your Meet link through Google Classroom, it will restrict the Meet to only those listed on your Classroom roster. This is coming later this year.

3) Scheduled Breakout Rooms:
Using Google Calendar, you can set up breakout rooms ahead of time. ** This is only for Google Workspace for Education Plus Users.

4) Improved Meeting Controls:
There will be new meeting controls of the host, including the ability to end the meeting for everyone, mute all at one time, control whether students can unmute themselves, and some new emoji reactions. These are rolling out at various times in the coming months. 

Image Credits: Google

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There are so many great updates coming to Google in the next few months, so be on the look out for them! Which update are you looking forward to the most? 

If you want to watch the Google Event with more information on all the updates, click here!