How Google Play for Education Fits into K–12 Learning

The Google Play for Education store is another source for teachers to find and download student-focused apps that have an impact on learning. The store includes a free recorded webinar, “Getting Started with Google Play for Education,” with four experts, including a technology coordinator and a K–8 technology teacher from a charter school in Colorado. The majority of the educational apps have material that aligns with the standards set for common core. “Google Play for Education also lets educators review an app by looking at grade-level assignments and tips that have been written by teachers who have used the app in their classrooms.”

Having tools such as Google Play to assist teachers in the classroom sounds great. My favorite part about it is “[teachers] can also have a voice in sharing what they did with their classes and how the app either worked or didn’t work for them.” This program isn’t just to be seen as a game stop, but a helpful tool in lesson plans. The schools also use programs on their devices to protect and filter any inappropriate content kids might find while researching on the Internet. The students are aware of the program and this helps hold them accountable to digital citizenship. This school in particular uses LanSchool, which allows the teachers to monitor the students’ computers. “It allows teachers to view our students’ active applications and last-visited websites.”

In this interview the teachers specifically state, “Another thing that has proved effective is that we teach digital citizenship and really stress how every student must do his or her part to make sure that our school remains a safe place to explore the world on the Internet...We believe that our students are taking ownership of our program, and that is why it has been so successful.” This supports the students Standards 1 through 6 as the students are demonstrating the transfer of current knowledge to the learning of new technologies, being digital citizens, critical thinking and problem solving, working with partners in the applications, evaluating and utilizing information properly, as well as using models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. As for the teachers, they are expanding their own knowledge of technology to better inspire students to meet the ISTE standards. The teachers must first fully comprehend their teacher matter (Standard 1) in order to make certain the activities in Google Play correctly apply (Standards 2 and 3). By having the LanSchool program, teachers are encouraging their students to model digital citizenship (Standard 4) and are open to learning and applying new methods, such as these apps, to their classroom (Standard 5).

Conlan, M. (2015) How Google Play for Education Fits into K–12 Learning. EdTech: Focus on K–12