How Google G Suite for Education is protecting teacher-student privacy

As several schools are now using G Suite for Education owing to coronavirus lockdowns, Google has strengthened security and privacy to protect teachers and students from hackers.

Google said in a statement that its engineers are working around the clock to ensure the security of its products and quickly respond to any threats that may emerge, according to news agency IANS.


"We also provide all G Suite for Education administrators with extensive security capabilities to protect sensitive information, including Data Loss Prevention. For customers interested in enhanced security capabilities, please check out G Suite Enterprise for Education," said the tech giant.

"Schools own their G Suite for Education data, and it's Google's responsibility to keep it safe and secure. Our systems and data centers are among the industry's most secure and G Suite for Education data gets the same multi-layer safeguards that Google uses for our own operations," it added.

G Suite for Education offers two categories of services: G Suite Core Services and Additional Services.

G Suite Core Services include products like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Forms, Slides, Meet, and Classroom, which helps educators easily distribute assignments, grade and send feedback, and communicate with students in one place.

Additional Services, like Google Books, Google Earth, and Google Search, are designed for consumer users and can be used with G Suite for Education accounts if enabled by a school's domain administrator, after obtaining parental consent where appropriate.

G Suite for Education provides school-managed Google accounts specifically for students, faculty and staff.

According to Google, school administrators can delete their entire domain, delete specific accounts at any time, or export their data at any time.

"If a school decides to stop using G Suite for Education, all their user accounts and G Suite customer data will be deleted. When users graduate or move to a different school, we provide a Takeout tool students can use to take their data with them," informed Google.

If you're a parent or guardian of a student in primary or secondary school (K-12), you can access your child's personal information or request that it be deleted through the school administrator.

If a parent wishes to stop any further collection or use of the child's information, the parent can request that the school administrator limit the child's access to features or services, or delete the child's account entirely.

Google said there are no ads running in G Suite for Education's Core Services.

"For G Suite for Education users in primary and secondary (K-12) schools, Google does not use any user personal information (or any information associated with the G Suite for Education account) to target ads," said the company.

Additional Services (like YouTube, Maps, and Blogger) that are designed for consumers can also be used with G Suite for Education accounts for primary and secondary schools (K-12), if the school's domain administrator enables access to the services.

G Suite for Education supports compliance with privacy laws around the world like the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

"We also signed the Student Privacy Pledge in connection with G Suite for Education Core Services so that educators and parents would know that we follow industry-leading practices," said Google.

Andhra Pradesh school education body chief urges parents to admit wards in governmentt schools

Andhra Pradesh School Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APSERMC) Chairman Justice R Kantha Rao has taken exception to private educational institutions forcing parents — by sending SMSes or WhatsApp —  to pay fee for conducting online classes.

Addressing a press conference at Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) office here on Wednesday, Justice Rao said several parents are not in a position to pay the school fee for their children. Already many schools have started sending messages to the parents for payment of transportation fee and others though the academic year is yet to be completed due to lockdown.

Stating that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is spending crores of rupees under the Nadu-Nedu scheme to improve educational standards in the State, he said, "I suggest those parents not in a position to pay fee in private schools can join their children in government schools."

The APSERMC chief opined that conducting online classes is not an effective mode of teaching, since several students do not have access to mobile phones and laptops. "We suggested the government to go for conventional method of teaching as online teaching is only a temporary alternative. It is effective for students of higher classes. Steps should be taken by the educational institutions to reduce the number of students in each class from the next academic year," he said.

Proposals are also under consideration to introduce classes on ‘honesty and integrity’, especially on curbing corruption.

The APSERMC chairman said, "Unnecessary ruckus is being created by some educational institutions regarding a notification issued to gather details about available infrastructure, teachers and others. A section of managements has even approached the judiciary. They are circulating false propaganda against the commission. They have the right to approach the judiciary, but the commission’s intention is to improve the educational standards in schools and there is no intention to cause any inconvenience to the institutions."

Commenting on the State government’s initiative to introduce English medium, Justice Rao said the court has stalled the GO issued by the government. Around 97 per cent of the parents in the State have given their go-ahead for introduction of English medium for primary classes.

He refuted the allegation that volunteers are forcing the parents to give their consent for English medium education. Responding to a query that the Board of Intermediate Education is providing recognition for the colleges online without inspecting the infrastructure available, he said the matter will be discussed with the officials concerned. 

Shantanu Prakash: ‘Education trends need expansion in India

The founder of Educomp Shantanu Prakash, hints the need of a new approach and innovative trends to ramp digital education for India’s education sector. Majority of the ‘smart’ classes are only concentrated around cities and metropolitan areas, courtesy the larger focus on edtech by the urban diaspora. Although, the utility has to be extended to remote locations as well as rural areas in India – especially the ones that require support to their current infrastructure. To use digital education in the smartest way possible, a network has to be created, which links students, educators, and guardians.A large number of schools are only limiting themselves to an Internet connection, a projector, and simple educational videos. Digital education specialists advise that these schools are only touching the surface. “Smart education is more than just a projector and a computer,” explains a smartclass expert from Educomp Solutions.


Daniel Newman, CEO of the Broadsuit Media Group, counts gamification and artificial intelligence as important facets that need to be explored extensively. Virtual Reality or simply VR, can give students a panoramic view to some of their chapters. For example, a 3-dimensional view of a carbon dioxide molecule will give the students a better understanding of how molecules are formed. Imagine a student surrounded by the 3D models of different microscopic organism. Such an interface has helped middle school students differentiate between bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

There’s more, some schools abroad are using augmented reality where students can create their own devices that obey the laws of physics. To learn better, students in Ivy League schools are using smart boards with augmented virtual reality. There, they can interact with, and create machinations that aid them design cars, complex structures, and various free-body objects.

After Educomp Shantanu Prakash – A Newer Perspective on education

As far as innovation through edtech goes, gamification offers one of the best functionalities to smart education instruments. The mixture of incentivized learning with fun creates a learning-friendly environment while making sure that the allure of tech stays in the process without presenting any capacity for boredom. For instance, consider younger students responding to more a friendly cartoon character who teaches them multiplication step by step. When the students learn the mechanism and concept of a certain topic, questions will follow. When the doubts have been cleared, they’ll have a clearer overview.

Drexel University’s Online Learning Senior Vice President, Susan Alridge explains, “These virtual game worlds provide a unique opportunity to apply new knowledge and make mission-critical decisions, while identifying obstacles, considering multiple perspectives and rehearsing various responses.” Some of the popular educative games like Math Ninja and QuizUp have attracted a huge following from children and adults alike.

https://youtu.be/Ygc7qD3Xrq4

Artificial intelligence gives ‘Siri’-like bots that answer to children’s complex queries. That’s just the outside shell of artificial intelligence. Advanced AI can use machine learning to study a student’s characteristics, and create a personalized report by assessing their weak and strong points. Furthermore, the report can be used to create lesson plans and personalized learning roadmaps for the student.

Even simple edtech ventures that provides a platform to students to learn from teachers online is treasured by the market. Companies like Vedantu and Byju’s have made it easy for the differently-abled to get educated. Now, they don’t have to travel far. Within the comfort of their home, the differently-abled can get better education and receive prestigious distant-learning degrees.

India has a school dropout rate of less than 40%, which is decreasing faster as education standards are bettering. Education in the 76s was hanging between the Macaulay model and new discoveries. In 1962, the establishment of CBSE led to a revolution, prompting new curriculums and subjects to be added. Schools in villages were limited to primary classes. Now, students from different villages can enroll themselves and study for higher classes and board exams.

Shantanu Prakash reveals that at the current pace, it will take 10 years for digital education and smart classes to come to all the schools. For this to increase, the government needs to take a strong initiative in digitizing education apart from making it available everywhere.