Most students are back to school or are about to start but we know this year is different. It’s not the same not just for the students and teachers but also for parents. For many of us, it’s challenging to handle work and then having to help kids with school. Many of us are forced to homeschool. There is no point in complaining. Good thing we have more advanced technology these days. The Internet allows people to work and study from home.
But of course, parents still need all the help. Google is working on making our lives easier. The search giant has been introducing improvements, new features, and new products that will make staying at home more enjoyable. We may be done with fighting boredom so let us focus on things that will make school fun even when at home.
The Google for Education team recently held ‘The Anywhere School’. It’s a back-to-school event where products and services were launched for the children and parents. The first improvement is noise cancellation in Google Meeting. It’s a special option that lets users cancel the noise so audio will be better.
Google has the Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians. More resources are made available, covering more topics and more subjects. A video series has been shared by Google to help parents help their kids. Google explains the new products and features that the whole family can use to ensure efficiency and safety.
Google Search is able to connect students to potential explanations for their STEM homework. For example, complex math equations can be explained with detailed information. Such features can greatly help students understand core topics and improve comprehension.
Some other changes include more learning tools to visualizing STEM concepts, 3D content on Search for some 100 STEM concepts, Google Lens to capture an equation or problem, and the Socratic homework helper. There’s also Diya (in-app reading buddy) and Read Along.
Google Meet has live captions. Google Classroom remains to be a major app schools use. We also mentioned the Family Bell on your smart display or smart speaker which can alert you that it’s time to start a class, for reading time, or take a break.
As always, Family Link is useful to parents and guardians. It keeps an eye on the children while online. It sets time limits, content filters, and approve apps and extensions. Family Link also now allows adding of a school account so the kid has ground rules.
Google has also introduced Be Internet Awesome to teach kids internet safety and password security among others. It also offers tips from teachers, free family guides, a fun game called ‘Interland’.