ZAHS Tech Letter to Parents2

jeffrey.lofting
Published on November 20, 2014

What is Google apps? In an attempt to provide opportunities for collaboration and communication, DoDEA has implemented Google Apps for Education . This provides two services for student use: Google Mail (Gmail) - students’ official school e-mail service, maintained and monitored by DoDEA, that includes a directory of teacher and student Google Mail e-mail addresses. Google Drive - provides students the ability to:  Store files in the ‘cloud’ where they can access them anywhere they have Internet access. They can upload a file to Drive at school and access it at home, or vice versa. This is especially useful considering that students are unable to use USB ‘thumb’ drives on the school network.  Create and collaborate on documents on the Internet. Not only can students create and work on documents, presentations, and spreadsheets online without having software like Microsoft Office, but they can also collaborate in real-time with others on the same document while in different locations. (You really have to see it to believe it!) Google Drive and Gmail Mobile Access: Google also has great apps for these services for students who have an Android, iOS, or Windows smartphone or tablet. They can be downloaded for free on the respective app store. FAQS [ Frequently Asked Questions ] Q: How does my student login to Google Apps and Schoology? A: Direct links to both services are located on the ZAHS website ( www.zama-hs.pac.dodea.edu ) in the quick links section at top. As far as their account information goes, Google allows other ‘third- party’ services - like Schoology - to use Google accounts to login to their ‘third-party’ websites. That means that students simply use their Google Apps username and password to login to both services (see below for the username and password patterns). Q: Can I, as a parent, access my student’s Schoology account? A: Schoology does have a feature to allow for parents to have their own account to access their student’s progress and activities within Schoology; however, DoDEA has not yet ‘turned on’ this feature. Currently, the only way for parents to access Schoology is by having their student log in. Q: Is the overall grade that my student sees in Schoology their actual course grade? A: Though Schoology has a gradebook within it for assignments/activities completed using Schoology, Gradespeed is DoDEA’s official gradebook. The overall grade within the Schoology gradebook is NOT the student’s actual grade. Teachers transfer grades from Schoology to Gradespeed, where students overall course grade can be found.