If a great improvement is made to the school but nobody knows about it, does it really exist?
Many popular innovations have been made this year: The new and improved cell phone policy and late starts every Wednesday have not gone unnoticed by the student body. However, there has been one addition that is vastly underrated and unknown to much of the school. This hidden gem is called Google Apps.
Google Apps has the potential to be a great improvement to the school. It replaced the LHS email service and has so many options beyond just the email feature that are a huge advantage to any student who chooses to use the new tool. However, those students are scarce. Not many people know about Google Apps and if they do, they don’t know how to log in or what to do once it’s pulled up.
For one thing, Google Apps cuts down on time used for partner projects. Because of it, students no longer have to physically meet up with their partner to do a project; they can simply email it. Unlike the old email that required each party to have their own copy of the project, Google Apps allows both students to make changes to the same document. It cuts down on project stress and time; in the long run, that’s really a huge burden off the student body.
Another advantage of the new program is the reliability factor. Who hasn’t emailed themselves a PowerPoint only to realize that it wouldn’t open on the school computer? Because Google Docs is through the school, it’s guaranteed to work without the worry of spam or advertisements.
If you’re finishing a project at the library and the computer you’re using doesn’t have the spreadsheet feature, Google Apps comes in handy. You can also upload documents easily onto your account. It’s like having a school computer wherever you go.
On top of the Docs aspects, there’s also a new and improved email service. If a student is emailing a faculty member or a student, he or she no longer has to go to the LHS website and hunt for the correct email address. They simply have to type in the name and it will automatically give them options of recipients. There is also a calendar, phone book, and place to store images and videos.
Unfortunately, though, most students don’t know about Google Apps, which is a major faux pas on the staff and administration’s part. The only people who really came prepared for the new addition are the freshmen, who learned how to log in during Link Crew, but even that isn’t enough. If the administration wants the program to be used, which they should because it’s a great asset, they need to take on the responsibility of showing the students how to use it.
As a staff, we unanimously agree that the school did little to advertise the new addition. Sure, Google Apps isn’t exactly rocket science, and a lot of students this year have figured it out on their own. However, if a student isn’t shown something, he or she generally won’t go looking for it. It’s a shame because Google Apps is extraordinarily useful to a student. We suggest next year, LHS takes a little time to teach the freshmen during Link Crew beyond how to log in. Take 10 minutes out of the daily activities to show everyone the plethora of features available to them.
For the other three grade levels, a five-minute tutorial during third period would get the necessary information across in a concise way. Or, since the class assemblies have become extinct, include information about Google Apps in an email to the parents. In this new age where technology is as vital as oxygen, it shouldn’t be that difficult to get the word out about the new benefit designed to make a student’s academic life easier.