When schools across Australia and New Zealand were closed, the local GEG Leaders, together with Google Certified Innovators and Trainers from the ANZ region, stepped up to provide their expertise. They quickly mobilized to create a way for teachers to get some free 1 on 1 guidance to deal with the sudden shift to remote learning.
They started with a brainstorming session over Meet and decided that a “helpdesk” model, where teachers could get advice and ideas from an experienced Google Educator would be something that teachers would find really helpful. They quickly set up a
Google Site with a Google Form, created a Google Group, and used social media and word of mouth to let educators know about it. The system is simple - teachers fill in a form to request assistance, which emails the Group, then someone from the Group picks up the request and makes an appointment to help them.
In its first week of operation, the group has provided over 7 hours of remote support, and the demand continues to grow as more teachers find out about the service. Over 70% of requests are responded to within an hour, and the feedback from teachers so far rates the service as 4.86 out of 5.
Some of the comments from teachers include…
“Super efficient service provided with step by step instructions. A fabulous service to teachers who are struggling to assist students with remote learning.”
“Your support today was invaluable and will save me many hours of frustration in the future”
“Knowing there is this support makes working online inspiring!”
“This really was excellent advice and support. I really appreciate the quick response and willingness to demonstrate how to set up and use Google products. Thank you!”
Their work has attracted the attention of Googlers and the interest of other GEG groups around the world. Stay tuned for more from this amazing ANZ Google Educator Community!
