Spring 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians:

This year we will be supplying our students with a new resource, Google Apps.

Google Apps is a set of online tools for communication, collaboration, time-management, and document storage. Provided by Google to the district at no cost. To see what tools students have access to please check out the 'Student' page. Google continues to add new tools and the district will evaluate each for its educational potential

These tools are housed on the Internet and can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer with a web-browser. No special software is required. It should also be noted that these accounts are specifically set up under the control of Adams12. They not regular Google account, and the district has oversight of each account.

Our primary reasons for supplying these tools to students are:

• To give our students practice in using current technology applications and tools
• To give students the ability to work on common, no-cost tools on their own documents both at school and outside of school
• To facilitate “paperless” transfer of work between students and teachers
• To provide adequate (seven gigabyte) long-term storage space for student work
• To help students work collaboratively, engage in peer-editing of documents, and publish for a wider audience

We will be reviewing our district’s acceptable use policy (you can find the district 5035 Student AUP and 8200 Internet Safety policy here) and Internet safety guidelines when introducing these tools to students. Using online tools responsibly will be an important part of the learning experience.

Please ask your student about this new resource and have him/her demonstrate how it works to you. And please contact me if you have questions about Google Apps.

 
Sincerely,

(Special thanks to Doug Johnson for the original variation of this letter)