Blog Recap: A Successful 3-Year Adoption of Google Workspace for Education
Throughout an institution’s Google Workspace for Education journey, it is imperative to know when to take strategic action and implement changes and updates. This will make the ever-evolving adoption process a lot smoother and allow administrators, teachers, and students to find consistent success with this platform. To help Google Admins develop a domain that will optimize teaching and learning at their institution CDW and Amplified IT: A CDW Company collaborated to deliver a 3-year adoption timeline for Google Workspace for Education that maps out the most effective and efficient ways to leverage the Google Cloud.
Year One
The beginning of an institution’s Google Workspace for Education journey sets the foundation they will build on. Without buy-in from users or having the domain configured to meet their needs, Google Admins will run into skewed activity data, misaligned settings, and security vulnerabilities. It is recommended that the first year of adoption should focus on onboarding stakeholders, discovering the solutions the domain has to offer, and mastering the Google Admin console.
To start this journey off on the right foot, institutions will benefit from:
After a year of operating in their Google Workspace for Education domain, Google Admins will have collected enough data to know what settings and processes are working and aren’t working for their stakeholders. Oftentimes, Chrome device deployment, Google Classroom management, stakeholder communication, and security protocols are still a challenge that can easily be solved with valuable add-ons and trainings such as:
At this point in the Google Workspace for Education journey, Google Admins should be knowledgeable in managing their institution’s domain but may find it difficult to keep up with the frequency of Google for Education’s updates and changes being that there can be 250-400 per year. Google experts suggest that domain configurations are reevaluated to ensure they are aligned with current EDU best practices. This can be done with solutions that provide deeper insight such as:
For more details about navigating your adoption process if you are new to Google or how to remap your journey if you are a long-time Google Workspace institution, read the full timeline here.
To learn more about our products and services they can help you get the most out of the Google Cloud, contact an account manager.
Eric serves as the Technology Account Manager for Amplified IT. Previously, he held the title of Director of Technology at two Oklahoma school districts and implemented Google Workspace for EDU at both organizations. He is passionate about education and believes that education is a great equalizer: no matter one’s disadvantage, education provides the opportunity for students to change their trajectory. In his spare time, he enjoys kayaking, having conversations over coffee, and screaming irrationally at the TV when college football is on.
