On Friday, September 26th our staff had an amazing training session on the Google products currently offered free to educators. One of the most exciting applications from Google is called Google Classroom. This application allows teachers at Lutheran East to operate a virtual classroom as a supplement to the traditional classroom, and it is a great way to enhance and extend the learning that is already taking place in school. The benefit to the students is that it immerses them in a technology that is used by many colleges under the name of Moodle or Blackboard. Students have the opportunity to be better prepared to work in the online environment embraced by many colleges.

Google also offers a full complement of products that perform many of the same functions as Microsoft programs, but at no cost to users. Students benefit from these programs as part of cloud computing because the changes are saved on the Google servers and are accessible from anywhere, including cell phones. These programs also offer the opportunity for students to collaborate on a project even though they may live miles apart. Additionally, students can also receive teacher comments on assignments and correct them from within Google.