This first unit is called “Getting Ready to Use Technology in the Classroom” and discusses how educators must have clear learning goals for their students before implementing technology into their classrooms. By deciphering what they want to get out of their lessons, teachers can more appropriately select online tools to enhance their classes.

In this unit, we learned about G-Suite and the various tools available within it – Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Hangouts, Blogger, Drive, Maps, YouTube, Calendar, Gmail, etcetera. It explains further how there are three pillars of digital responsibility to consider while using these sorts of technology including copyright and fair use, online safety, and communication. If these guidelines are followed online instruments have the potential to “support the work you currently do”, “prepare for the future”, and “help your students behave responsibly online” (https://teachercenter.withgoogle.com/fundamentals/unit?unit=1).

This was an informative introduction to Google and all of its extended tools, but it definitely took some time to thoroughly work through the entire unit. A helpful addition to the process is a review quiz at the end that helps to ensure you understood all of the information. Despite this and the straightforward instructions throughout the units, this is going to be a larger commitment for us to complete.

– Lauren, Sarah, Heather