If you missed Part 1 of this series, click here to learn about more Google Updates! Now let’s jump right into Part 2! First off, Google is coming out with a built in screen recorder for Chromebooks! No more having to use third party extensions to record. This will be such a great tool for students and teachers alike.
Next is a very exciting update to Google Forms – save progress!! No more splitting an activity into parts. No more waiting until after lunch to start an assessment. No more Internet cutting out and having to start completely over on a Form. Students can save their Form as a draft and come back to it later. This is huge! I’ve had so many teachers ask about this feature for a long time. I’m so glad it’s finally happened.
The last new feature that I think is really noteworthy is the option for families to add their students’ school accounts to their FamilyLink account. If you aren’t familiar with FamilyLink, it is a tool to help parents set digital ground rules for their kids. FamilyLink is very parent-facing and up to them to manage. Before, they could only use it to help keep their kids safe on a personal Google account. Now, they can add school accounts to manage their students’ online activities while they are logged into a school account. For example, they can block them from certain sites while they are doing schoolwork to help keep them focused. Go here for more information on initial FamilyLink setup, and go here for information on linking a school account.
Now, as I said in my last post, there were A LOT of updates, and not all of them apply to Google Workspace for Education free users 🙋♀️. Other free updates include revision history for Jamboard, improved Accessibility features, and a lot of more behind the scenes upgrades to make our experience better. Click here to read all the details!
Lastly, I will leave you with a reminder that Google tends to do all of these updates because we educators suggest them. Whenever you have an idea for a new feature, click on the question mark icon in the bottom corner of the app you are using or click on the Help option in the tool and there is always a send feedback option. People at Google DO read these! The more they see a request, the more likely it is they will come up with a solution for it, so keep making those suggestions!
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