In making this move, he noticed substantial savings from migrating to Google Meet. “I looked at the cost of my videoconferencing license, which was the same as upgrading to the Google Workplace Plus agreement,” Pitzer says. “We got all the advanced Google Meet features. I didn’t have to request additional funds, and I got access to a lot of other features with Google Workplace Plus.”
These other features include advanced security and privacy controls — such as centralized visibility and additional artificial intelligence-powered protections for detection, prevention and remediation — and powerful teaching and learning capabilities. Google Workspace Plus helps teachers personalize learning and manage classrooms efficiently.
Pitzer adds that the district also benefited from features such as increased Drive storage space; integrations such as breakout rooms, Q&As, polls, transcripts and recordings in Google Meet and Google Classroom; and the automatic roster capabilities of Google Classroom.
Eliminate Inefficiencies That Keep IT Staff and Admins from Their Jobs
Through tech consolidation, IT leaders can lessen the crunch of their numerous responsibilities. Only 50 percent of K–12 IT teams report having adequate staffing to integrate technology into the classroom, according to CoSN’s 2023 State of EdTech Leadership survey of more than 1,200 respondents.
In addition, “installing apps” was the IT function for which schools felt the most appropriately staffed, and “providing instructional support around classroom use” was the top area in which schools felt the staffing strain. The researchers indicate that “it could be that districts are dedicating precious staff time to providing tools to teachers that the teachers cannot effectively use in their classrooms.” Having all the tools in one program with Google Workspace for Education can free up time for IT staff to work more closely with teachers.