Chromebooks and Google Apps

Chromebooks hit the market in limited numbers in 2010 and took off when Samsung introduced the Series 5 in 2011. In the years since Chromebooks have managed to grab 20% of the mobile computing market in education (Rolfe Winkler, WSJ). The features, collaboration tools, durability, and price point all make Chromebooks an attractive option for student and teacher devices.

The original intent of the Google Apps for Education project was to focus on the rollout, and management, of the Google Apps District domain. As our journey has progressed it's become clear that device management, in particular Chromebooks, and Google Apps cannot be easily separated into two different conversations. We are now gathering information to help inform policy and procedures for asset and device management. Below are some photos from a recent school visit.

Visiting Boise-Eliot to take a look at their recently purchased
cart of Samsung Series 3 Chromebooks.

A combination of staff from IT met with Sarah Dyste to refine
the domain enrollment process.

We have also updated the IT purchasing standards to reflect the current Chromebook offerings. Schools will now be able to purchase both Samsung Series 3 and Dell Chromebook 11!

SketchUp Pro for Oregon K-12 Districts

Oregon Virtual School District is excited to provide access to SketchUp Pro at no cost to Oregon school districts. They are a grantee under the Statewide License Grant Program.

To request your license keys, please go to this link. http://www.oregonteaches.com/2014/05/sketchup-pro/

SketchUp Pro is  software that you can use to create 3D models of anything you like. Educators are using it on many grade levels and in many subject areas from computer technology to math, geography, and science. The SketchUp Pro Statewide K-12 License Grant is an opportunity for public K-12 schools to have access to the pro product at absolutely no cost.

View training resources or answers to frequently asked questions.

The Northeast Side or ‘Back’ Side of the House by Darren Barefoot is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Google Apps for Ed Training Modules

If you'd like to learn more about Google Apps, check out these awesome training modules. These modules can be used to deliver training to a group or serve as an independent professional learning experience. Each training session could be facilitated in a one and a half hour workshop with your staff. Most of the modules are 'Make It and Take It' resulting in a created artifact from the participant as various skills are practiced. All the Google Apps are covered and there are also lots of different resources to check out and explore. Thanks to Allison Mollica for sharing her training modules template!

Soft Launch is Live!

Image is from Resnick Unplugged via Google image search. Link.

The Google Apps Soft Launch is live! The email communication below was sent to participating schools on Friday, May 9th.

Hello,

This message is only being sent to the building principal, the Google Apps Administrator and the Google Apps Guide for participating soft launch schools. Your principal may have recommended you for one of these roles. You will need to communicate the login information below to your staff.

Welcome to the Google Apps for Education soft launch! As of today, you now have access to the district Google Apps domain. To access the domain, log out of your existing Google account and then go to the following site:http://www.google.com/a/apps4pps.net.

It is recommended that you download and use the Chrome browser when you access Google Apps for Ed.

To login, please replace the ppsusername in the user ID with your PPS username and the XXXX with the last four digits of your PPS employee ID.

User ID : ppsusername@apps4pps.net

Password : Pps_XXXX

The Google Apps Administrator has special privileges  that include: 

·         creating and modifying groups

·         resetting student and staff passwords

The document linked here will explain the steps that need to be followed to perform the actions listed above. 

If you need general information about the PPS Google Apps for Ed project, please visit the website athttp://bit.ly/ppsgafesite. From here you can read about the soft launch schools support and complete Google Apps training modules.

We are excited to launch Google Apps for Ed and appreciate your partnership! Please feel free to contact us with any feedback.

Thanks!

The Google Apps for Education Team

Google Classroom Announced!

Preview of the Google Classroom interface.

As I'm sure many of you have heard, Google announced a new tool for the Google Apps for Education suite: Google Classroom! Classroom is meant to help teachers organize their class and make effective use of Google Apps in the classroom. I have applied for a preview on behalf of the District and hope to learn more about how we can leverage this tool over the coming months. Here is a brief write up from Engadget.

Kick off!

Tauntaun guarding the library at Lewis Elementary.

Welcome to the Portland Public Schools (PPS) blog for the rollout of Google Apps for Education. We will use this blog to communicate project progress and updates. I want to kick the blog off by providing background on the project and an update on the state of Google Apps in the District.

On April 15, 2010 the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) entered into a contract with Google for statewide use of the Google Apps for Education platform. This groundbreaking agreement included the necessary language to provide Oregon students with sufficient legal protections from digital prying (in particular, strong FERPA language). The ODE agreement allows districts to enter into an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with ODE and piggy back on their contract with Google. PPS took advantage of this opportunity and entered into an IGA with ODE on July 23, 2013.

As many of you know schools within PPS have been leaders in the Google Apps space. I was put in charge of the Google Apps rollout and over the winter we formed a project team within IT. We solicited school interest in participation via an Admin Connect article. Twenty schools replied and interest has continued to grow. We identified six schools to partner with for a soft launch during the Spring. Five of the six schools already have Google domains and will be migrating to the District domain. These schools have provided critical input for the project by sharing their experiences, use of the platform, and potential issues with a District wide rollout.

Today marked a major milestone for the project with the first accounts created on the District domain, apps4pps.net.  Our six partner schools will begin setting up their portion of the District domain next week. We have technical work to complete before all staff, and students, have accounts created. This work will continue through the summer and culminate with all staff accounts being created in August and student accounts following registration.

We are also forming a Google Apps for Education Steering Committee comprised of stakeholders from schools and central office. This group will oversee the project, school prioritization for implementation, and distribution of Hapara licenses. District wide adoption will be an exciting journey and I look forward to working with all of you!

Brett Luelling
Director of System Development & Integration
Information Technology