• Google Apps for Education is a set of free, customizable tools that will provide opportunities for students and faculty to work more effectively in a collaborative environment. This comprehensive, cost-effective I.T. solution is entirely browser-based, making it easier for students to work from any Internet-accessible computer, without having to purchase expensive software to communicate or do their homework. Click here to access the Google Apps for Education website.

Why Google Apps:

• Click here for the top 10 reasons for deploying Google Apps for Education

• Students can manage their documents without having to be logged into the school’s network. – With a Google App account, students have their document storage accessible through the Internet from any computer or mobile device.  Students will no longer need to have Microsoft Office or a similar product installed to create and save documents or presentations.  They can choose to use the free Google Doc tools to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations and then collaborate with each other or the teacher in real-time right inside the browser window.  Students will no longer need to transport documents to school via flash drives or by attaching them to emails that they send to themselves.

• Students will be better prepared for college or the workplace. – Thousands of universities and colleges have already migrated to Google Apps and these types of shared, collaborative communication systems are becoming standard in the business office and other work environments.  Students can use Google sites to begin preparing e-portfolios early in their student careers.

• Click here to see who is using Google Apps for Education in Illinois (mid 2011)

• 61 of the top 100 Universities (from U.S. News and World Report) have chosen Google Apps for Education to help improve communication and collaboration on campus." Click here to read more.
  
  
• All 10 of the top 10 colleges/universities BHS students attended in 2011 use Google Apps for Education
  

About Google Apps for Education:

• Google Apps for Education allows schools to give Google's communication and collaboration applications to their entire education community for free. All services are hosted by Google and are available to users via any Internet-connected computer or mobile device. Google Apps for Education includes, but is not limited to, the following services:

• Google Docs - allows users to create and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings in real-time as well as upload and share any file type

• Google Sites - gives users the ability to develop and customize rich websites and embed Google Docs, Google Calendars, videos and other media -- all without requiring any technical expertise
  

Student Login Instructions:

• login name:  Students will use their Novell username to log into Google Apps for Education.  Typically, it is their first initial followed by their last name

• password:  bsd followed by 6 digit ID# (ID# starts with a 0)

• link for login: http://bsd220.org
  

Will there be advertisements with Google Apps?

• There are no advertisements used with Google Apps for Education.  It is completely ad-free - which means our school's content is not processed by Google's advertising systems.

How secure is Google Apps?

Click here to access Google Apps for Education Privacy and Security webpage.

• "Google Apps is designed to provide educational institutions with a safe, reliable platform...offering better security and reliability than most schools could achieve on their own."
  
  
• It's your content, not ours. Your Apps content belongs to your school, or individual users at your school. Not Google.
  
  
• We don't look at your content. Google employees will only access content that you store on Apps when an administrator from your domain grants Google employees explicit permission to do so for troubleshooting.
  
  
• We don't share your content. Google does not share personal information with advertisers or other 3rd parties without your consent.
  
  
• We sometimes scan content. And for very good reasons, like spam filtering, anti-virus protection, or malware detection. Our systems scan content to make Apps work better for users, enabling unique functionality like powerful search in Gmail and Google Docs. This is completely automated and involves no humans.
  
  
• More Security FAQs found here
  

Google Apps for Education Resources:

• Click here to see how educators are using Google Apps for Education in the classroom

• Classroom Activities
  
  
• Classroom Posters
  
  
• Additional Resources here