GEGs ramp up distance learning around the world

During the ongoing global health crisis, GEGs are increasingly offering their services to support those schools and teachers who really need help. We are seeing support delivered in such a wide variety of ways: virtual staff rooms, 121 support live-streamed sessions, synchronous Google Meet training sessions, go-slows and advanced support to name just a few. Please help to capture this by submitting your GEG webinars to this form.

GEG Community Map Update

It is that time again - please submit your updated map information to this form. Please note that to be shown on the map GEGs must also submit the link to the GEG Google Group.

The GEG map will link to the GEG Group and other social link - if these were submitted.

Once again - please do submit your Google Group to this form to be fully included in the directory!

EDU Community in Australia and New Zealand offer 1 on 1 support to teachers

The GEG Leaders in Australia and New Zealand, along with members of the ANZ Google Certified Innovator and Google Certified Trainer Communities, have launched a website where teachers in the region can request personal 1 on 1 mentoring and coaching.

With so many teachers suddenly expected to work in a remote teaching scenario, the ANZ Edu Community concluded that the best thing they could offer these teachers was personal support. Teachers can visit the website at https://sites.google.com/corp/view/anzedu/home, where they fill out a simple form and one of the Edu Community will get in touch with them to make time for a Meet call.

As the community was thinking about ways they could help teachers impacted by CoVID-19, New Zealand GEG Leader Andrew Corney suggested “It is not lack of resources that is the issue. There are lots of blog posts, quick start guides, and video tutorials about various tools that we can share. What seems to be of more value is one on one support. So I'd like to suggest something that we as a group could do. Think of a call centre where an expert (Trainer, Innovator or GEG Leader) is just one click away from a teacher in need.”

Other members of the community quickly jumped in to help, and they quickly designed a Site, Form and whole backend workflow using Google tools. It’s a great example of how GEGs, Innovators and Trainers can mobilise to support their local communities in times of need.

Ask an Expert

GEG APAC Connect

What: Three days of G Suite for Education online workshops, live on YouTube.
When: April 17-19
Where: See GEG APAC site below for streaming locations:
https://sites.google.com/view/gegasia/2020-online-live-event?authuser=0

Welcome new GEGs!

We would like to welcome all the following new GEGs to the Global community:

• GEG Aracaju
• GEG Brasília
• GEG Congonhinhas
• GEG Florida
• GEG Fortaleza
• GEG Georgia
• GEG Guaratinguetá
• GEG Hitachi
• GEG HK-Macao SAR
• GEG Ipatinga
• GEG Ji-Paraná
• GEG Londrina
• GEG Louisiana
• GEG Marau
• GEG Massachusetts
• GEG Michigan
• GEG Minnesota Metro Area
• GEG Mogi das Cruzes
• GEG North Texas
• GEG Northern California
• GEG NORTX
• GEG Obregón
• GEG Ohio
• GEG Ourinhos
• GEG Passo Fundo
• GEG Quixadá
• GEG Rio de Janeiro
• GEG South Carolina
• GEG Toyama
• GEG Uberaba
• GEG Urawa
• GEG Villa Mercedes
• GEG Volta Redonda
• GEG Wakayama
• GEG-SOUTX

Pedagogic Journey to connect teachers to technology tools

GEG Santo Antônio da Patrulha leads the online event Jornada Pedagógica (Pedagogic Journey), in partnership with the Municipal Secretary of Education and the Santo Antônio University Center. This GEG also has the support of Google Innovator Estêvão Zilioli. The objective is to connect teachers with technology tools to enhance school activities during the social distancing time. This initiative aligns with GEG Brazil and also has the endorsement of GEG Leaders from the whole country, utilising the learning network built since 2014. Thanks to everyone involved and also to Carla Arena, who leads the Brazilian group and constantly move it forwards.

GEG UK nice and slow GSuite sessions

Innovators and trainers, Wendy Peskett, Daren White and Toby Doncaster have been delivering nice and slow sessions for new users of GSuite tools. They have delivered 6 sessions in 2 weeks and had participants from all over the world. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with attendees having plenty of time to ask the basic questions they need to get started.

Jungeun Judy Kim on Korean National TV

Jungeun Judy Kim was recognised this week by being interviewed on Korean National TV. The KBS news team reported on the outstanding job Jungeun has done training 4000 Korean educators in just 2 weeks to improve their use of online learning through GSuite tools. Congratulations Jungeun and what a great job you have done.

Training Program broadcasted on Bolivian TV

GEGs in Bolivia created a training program to support teachers in distance learning and they were invited to broadcast it on national TV.

Congratulations to all the leaders!

Google Meet integrated with Classroom

Google continues to respond to the needs of teachers to help them support their distance learning programmes. Meet has been integrated with Individual Google Classrooms. Here’s a video by Chris Betcher on how it works.

GEG Louisiana Google Educator Group

Looking for ways to incorporate STEM learning into your home? Then make some time to join GEG Louisiana for a webinar with @tylerlovesteach April 30th 10am CST!

Register Here

Learn@Home with YouTube

A resource for families with children of different ages & areas of interest.

As schools around the world close their buildings and families find themselves at home, we want to ensure that learning together continues. So we’re partnering with learning creators to bring parents & families resources and activities. These resources are not meant to replace homework assigned by teachers, but meant to complement that work.

Welcome! We're happy you're here to learn with us.

Learn More

Keeping positive

During the ongoing global health crisis, it is important that we all keep positive. We are seeing a revolution in distance learning and working from home and many new Google users. What we are also seeing is the edtech world, Google Trainers, Innovators and GEGs offering their services to support those schools and teachers who really need help getting started right away. What an amazing group of people they all are.

GEG Scotland - Educator meetup

GEG Scotland held an educators meetup last 26th March. The recording will be made available on https://www.gegscotland.com/.

Webinar: Distance Learning Strategies to Educational Leaders

On Feb 24th, Google for Education teams in Brazil and Mexico conducted two webinars for the countries in Latin America. Delivered in Portuguese and Spanish the discussions were about Distance Learning tips and Strategies. In Brazil, we had the participation of Estêvão Zilioli, Google Innovator and Leader of GEG Ourinhos, and Gisele Santos, EDU Product Specialist, and Google Innovator. This is the first of a webinar series that will support educators with the challenges of going online after the Coronavirus pandemic. In LatAm, we had 24k live views in total and the audience was able to interact with questions, testimonials, and suggestions. If you missed it, click on the image and watch it on demand.

Special thanks to Giselle, Estêvão, Marici, Andrea, Ariel, Fernanda, and Leonor. This team made this amazing Webinar possible in such record time!

GEG CDMX and GEG Buenos Aires in the New GCTs Workshop #MEXGCT2020

COVID-19 didn’t stop our 2nd New GCTs Workshop in Mexico! People from Peru, Argentina and Mexico attended our online workshop to guide educators preparing their application to become Google Certified Trainers.

Gustavo Mañón and Adriana Lara from GEG CDMX and Belén Carreira from GEG Buenos Aires had an active participation in all activities.

We wish good luck with their GCT application!

GEG Malaysia

From 18 March - 14 April 2020, GEG Leaders in Malaysia, together with a host of professional development partners, (such as Arus Academy, iTrainKids, SOLS 24/7, RumahKod, Eduspec, and Chumbaka) launched a series of 72 webinars. These webinars have collectively reached out to over 100,000 viewers and covered a range of topics from focusing on GSuite’s productivity tools and coding initiatives on CS First.

GEG Japan

On April 2nd and 3rd, GEG Leaders and Certified Innovators gathered and provided a distance learning webinar for schools starting to use the tools online.

Asia Pacific GEGs are also hosting GEG Connect Live on April 17-19. Please stay tuned for more details.

Find out about South Texas GEG

South Texas covers three educational service regions. In the times of Google Plus, our Google Educator Group was a strong community that stemmed from the Texas GEG. However, with the fall of G+, our GEG took a hit that sent us to hibernation. But we never stopped. Our former leader, Efren Rodriguez, kept it alive despite adversity. However, his duties as a teacher in a new school district were keeping him from continuing leadership. In his wisdom, he saw it necessary to pass the leadership to an educator who was also a Google Enthusiast.

After watching the emergence of @GEGProgram Twitter account, Carlos Garza started conversations with Mr. Rodriguez on how to bring our GEG back from slumber.

It has been an exciting time for GEG-SOUTX. Especially because it is the only active one in Texas (and some surrounding states). We are taking members from all over the world. Thus, our mission is now to share ideas to meet the needs of students through technology, both in the classroom and beyond, to grow in the global economy. We are still small and humble, but we are growing and proud.

With three regions to manage and a growing GEG, better leadership was required. That’s when Mr.G started recruiting Captains. Since he needed a Co-Leader, he seeked an Empower Captain that was already a leader in the Ed Tech community. That is when Maggie Ojeda came into the picture. As Empower Captain, she will have two roles, Co-Leader and Regional Captain. Next was seeking the other two Regional Captains. However, an amazing member of the GEG was suitable for Share Captain. Mr.G put on hold the search for the other Regional Captains and brought aboard Alfonso Mendoza Jr. as the Share Captain of GEG-SOUTX.

We hold monthly virtual meetings using Hangouts. However we had our first HIRL when Fonz, our Share Captain, was to be trained as captain. GEG-SOUTX is one of the few original GEGs in existence. That is why our name is different from others and uses the term HIRL. That term comes from the days of G+ communities where people would use Hangouts on Air. Once in a while, they would meetup in person, or Hangout In Real Life (or HIRL).

We are excited to see what the future holds for GEG-SOUTX! Learn more at GEG.SOUTX.us

Pedagogic Journey to connect teachers to technology tools

GEG Santo Antônio da Patrulha is leading the online event Jornada Pedagógica (Pedagogic Journey), with the partnership of the Municipal Secretary of Education and the Santo Antônio University Center. The objective is to connect teachers with technology tools to take back school activities during the social distancing time. This GEG had the support of Estêvão Zilioli, Google Innovator, that delighted the audience. This initiative is aligned with GEG Brazil and also had the endorsement of GEG Leaders from the whole country, utilizing the learning network built since 2014. Thanks to everyone involved and also to Carla Arena, which leads the Brazilian group and constantly moves it forwards.

Google Teach from Home

As many educational institutions around the globe are undergoing, extending or planning closures due to COVID-19, half of the world’s student population is unable to attend school. Educators face the challenge of teaching remotely at an unprecedented scale, and in some cases, for the first time.
In the last week we’ve created new distance learning resources including a collection of training materials, a list of useful apps, a new Learn@Home YouTube resource designed for families, as well as a series of blog posts and webinars. We’ve also made our premium Meet features free for schools through July 1, 2020. This includes the ability to have 250 people in a call together, record lessons and livestream. And thanks to feedback from educators, we’re also constantly making product improvements, like these new educator controls for Hangouts Meet.

Avni Shah
VP, Google for Education