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Google for Education Partner Forum 2023 North America
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Google for Education Partner Forum 2023 North America

North America Partner Forum

This is the North America Partner Forum where leaders across Google Workspace for Education Channel, Technical and Marketing teams come together to share ideas and learn from one another to take their Education business to the next level this year.

State of the North American Google for Education Business

  • James Leonard leads Google Workspace for Education Channel.
  • The next year is critical for joint business, and now is the time to double down on customer success and invest energy into new sales motions with Google for Education.
  • Key trends in the market will be highlighted by James Leonard.

AI and Personalized Learning

  • Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow in technology industry at pace, with AI being incorporated into an increasing number of products and services we're using in our everyday lives.
  • At Google, product teams are driving thoughtful integration of artificial intelligence into our education product portfolio.
  • AI has potential to further personalize learning experience, provide real-time feedback and support, enhance efficiency and effectiveness of educational system.
  • Practice sets is an intelligent tool integrated into Google Classroom that can transform new and existing teaching content into engaging interactive assignments that give educators valuable insights and guide students as they work.

Technology Tools Designed for Teachers

  • After two-plus years of COVID-19 pandemic, teachers need access to technology tools that are reliable, secure, specifically designed for them.
  • Across our product portfolio, we've doubled down developing great teacher tools to drive educational outcomes in the classroom.

New Market Conditions

  • 2023 has ushered in new market conditions. Many customers are facing new economic and budgetary challenges.
  • A focus on customer success to secure renewals and refreshes is paramount this year.
  • Securing renewals starts by ensuring that customers are realizing value from their investment in Google tools and intentionally working alongside them to deepen their adoption across the Google for Education product portfolio.

Partner Resources for 2023

  • Alex Diaz from our Education Marketing team will share Partner Resources for 2023, a collection of key tools to help you go to market faster.

The content in this presentation is confidential and should not be shared outside of our organization.

Screencast to Chromebooks

In this section, the speaker talks about how Google has launched Screencast to Chromebooks, which makes video creation more accessible to everyone. Educators can record, trim, transcribe and share lessons or demos to build a custom library of videos.

Key Points:

  • Screencast is a tool that allows educators to create videos on Chromebooks.
  • An AI-generated transcript is automatically created for every video and is searchable.
  • Google is bringing intelligence into their products to save teachers time and improve learner experiences.

Purpose-built tools for teachers

In this section, the speaker discusses how teachers need purpose-built tools for their job. Across Google's product portfolio, they have doubled down on developing great teacher tools.

Key Points:

  • Teachers are navigating many challenges and ChromeOS has an opportunity to provide elegant device solutions.
  • Cross-functional teams at Google developed a go-to-market plan for teacher devices in North America.
  • New tools like Cast Moderator give teachers advanced control over sharing content with students.

Improvements in Google Workspace for Education

In this section, the speaker talks about how Google Workspace for Education continues its focus on teacher tools by making improvements across core services such as Meet, Slides, Docs, Classroom and more.

Key Points:

  • Improvements are being made across core services in Google Workspace for Education.
  • Many customers are taking a critical look at their expenses and technology investments striving for cost-effectiveness and better learning outcomes.
  • Ensuring customers are realizing value in Google tools needs to be a top priority.

G Suite Enterprise for Education Transition

In this section, the speaker talks about how thousands of customers are transitioning off of a discounted subscription of G Suite Enterprise for Education and evaluating a move to the new Google Workspace for Education paid editions.

Key Points:

  • Thousands of customers are transitioning off of a discounted subscription of G Suite Enterprise for Education.
  • The transition will require significant customer coordination and communication.
  • Tools and sales motions like Pricing Calculators and Product Usage Reviews have been developed to help partners leverage their strategy.

Chromebook Refresh

In this section, the speaker talks about how approximately nine million Chromebooks are eligible for refresh in 2023.

Key Points:

  • Approximately nine million Chromebooks are eligible for refresh in 2023.
  • With budgetary pressures, demonstrating the value of reinvesting in Chrome is important.
  • (timestamp not provided): A typical year sees an average refresh rate of 90%.

Chrome and Workspace Market Position and Expectations

This section discusses the market position and expectations for Chrome and Workspace.

ChromeOS

  • Chrome continues to be the number one OS in Education K-12 globally.
  • North America shipped 1.5M more units in 2022 than in 2019, despite the volatile market.
  • The install base has continued to grow, outpacing notebooks and tablets.
  • The forecast for Chromebooks remains resilient, with a focus on new growth opportunities such as teacher devices, high school, charter schools, private schools, and higher education.

Workspace

  • Historically strong year-over-year growth is expected to continue in 2023 for Workspace for Education.
  • A target renewal rate of 90% across all paid editions is being aimed for with considerable upside in uncapped renewals because of the GSEfE Transition.
  • Early success has been seen with these GSEfE transitions resulting in meaningful revenue uplift on prior year but it will be important to work together to maintain our target renewal rate of 90%.

Storage

  • Pooled storage has officially been moved to after two years since talking about the change to our storage model. Many partners are helping customers manage this change by actively running campaigns to assist customers over their storage quota. Customers are evaluating their storage environment and taking action which is proving successful door openers to Education Plus opportunities and partner services.
  • Customers are reducing their storage footprints often upgrading to Education Plus or even considering Workspace Additional Storage which was launched last year all with the help and guidance of a partner.

Product Roadmap Preview

This section provides a preview of the roadmap and long-term product vision for Google for Education.

  • The speaker introduces himself as a customer engineer supporting schools technically to implement Google for Education.
  • Partners are seen as an extension of the Google team, and their close partnership is invaluable.
  • A preview of the roadmap and long-term product vision is shared under NDA, subject to change.

The Impact of Learning Loss

In this section, the speaker discusses the impact of learning loss on students and communities.

Steep Declines in Reading and Math

  • Massive learning loss has occurred in recent years.
  • There have been steep declines in reading and math scores.
  • This is a global phenomenon that is impacting under-resourced communities the hardest.

Challenges for Teachers, Students, and Education Leaders

  • Different challenges are faced by teachers, students, and education leaders to address the learning loss that has occurred.
  • It is important to figure out how to best integrate technology back into their core workflows in this new reality.

Imagining a Better Future for Education

In this section, the speaker encourages us to imagine what education could look like if we all come together to support schools and communities.

Tools and Insights for Education Leaders

  • Education leaders would have tools and insights at their fingertips to best support teacher success.
  • They would be able to visit virtual classrooms and provide teachers with coaching, support, and resources from anywhere.
  • They would have real-time visibility into which students were struggling and could easily collaborate with teams of educators.

Personalized Learning for Students

  • Teachers would be able to meet each student where they are with experiences tailored to their needs.
  • Students' learning would feel personal, practical, and relevant.

Adaptive Learning Technology

In this section, the speaker discusses how adaptive learning technology can make learning more personal for all students.

Challenge of Personalized Support

  • Making learning more personal for all students has consistently been a challenge for educators around the world.
  • With large classes of students at different skill levels, it's difficult to provide personalized support for students struggling with a particular concept.

New Feature: Questions on YouTube Videos

  • A new feature will allow teachers to create and add questions to a YouTube video and assign it to students, all within Classroom.
  • Questions will pop up as the video plays, and just like practice sets, students will have their answers validated in real-time.
  • Teachers will see an overview of their students' progress and insights.

Practice Sets

  • Practice sets use AI to help educators transform their existing teaching content into interactive assignments and provide more personalized support.
  • Based on the skills selected, students will receive helpful hints if they get stuck.
  • Through auto-generated insights, practice sets also help educators quickly identify gaps in understanding at both the class and student level so they can tailor their approach.

Chromebooks for Educators

In this section, the speaker discusses how Chromebooks are being used by educators.

Ease of Use

  • Educators are choosing Chromebooks because of their ease of use.

Chromebook for Education: What's New

In this section, the speaker talks about how teachers are using convertible devices with touch and stylus to move freely in the classroom. The speaker also discusses the improvements made to ChromeOS software for teaching and learning.

Convertible Devices and ChromeOS Software

  • Teachers are loving the convertible devices with touch so they can move freely about the classroom untethered from their desks.
  • Teachers are using the stylus for wireless white-boarding, and with an all-day battery, they can get through the day without having to charge.
  • Google is always working to make ChromeOS software even better for teaching and learning.

Cast Moderator

  • Cast moderator allows educators and students to share their screen wirelessly to a central display using a secure access code.
  • Teachers will soon have the ability to freeze the screen that they are casting so that they can keep projecting while simultaneously working on a different screen on their computer.
  • Teachers will be able to switch which tab is being cast without needing to end the cast session.

Screencast

  • With Screencast, students and teachers can record, trim, transcribe, and share lessons, video reports or demos to view in school or at home. Screencast makes it easy for every educator to build their own custom library of educational content stored in Google Drive with an automatic transcription powered by speech-to-text tool built into ChromeOS.
  • This year, Google is expanding language support for Screencast to over a dozen new languages including Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, and Italian. A web player for Screencast is also being built so that students and teachers can watch screencasts in any browser on any platform.
  • Demo tools are being added to Screencast, allowing users to animate clicks and taps on screen and show any keyboard shortcuts used onscreen as well.

Classroom Features

  • Google is investing in the needs of education leaders and decision makers who have an increasing need to manage school workflows at scale.
  • A new feature allows admins to grant a substitute teacher access so they can easily pick up where the teacher left off. School staff like guidance counselors and ESL teachers can access student information without interrupting a teacher, and curriculum leaders can support teachers and check in on their progress, just to name a few use cases.
  • Curriculum leaders will be able to create regular Classroom classes with units, assignments, and course materials pre-populated, then distribute read-only links to those classes to specific teachers, grades or departments. Verified teachers will then be able to view the templatized class content and either copy all of the materials into their class or select specific units or assignments they would like to use. All student information will be hidden from viewers in this experience including grades, submissions, and comments. This feature is expected to pilot for back-to-school 2023.

Classroom Analytics and Productivity Tools

In this section, the speaker talks about how Google is giving education leaders new visibility into student performance across all classes with Classroom Analytics. They also discuss plans to build features that connect teaching and learning workflows in 2023.

Classroom Analytics

  • Classroom Analytics provides education leaders with visibility into student performance across all classes.
  • Teachers can intervene and communicate with other stakeholders based on the insights provided by Classroom Analytics.

Building Features for Teaching and Learning Workflows

  • Google plans to build features that offer users connective tissue across teaching and learning workflows in 2023.
  • These features will build upon user love and trust that Google has worked hard to earn.

Improvements to Core Productivity Value

This section discusses improvements being made to core productivity value across editors and workspace. The speaker mentions specific features like seeing Slides speaker notes while presenting in Meet, co-presenting, Speaker Spotlight, Slides recordings, Smart Canvas in Docs and Sheets, custom building blocks, intelligent suggestions for pivot table analysis, Meet LTI integration with external LMS systems.

Improvements to Workspace Integration

  • Google is improving core productivity value across editors and workspace.
  • Users will be able to see Slides speaker notes while presenting in Meet.
  • Co-presenting allows two teachers to manage slides concurrently for a smoother presentation.
  • Speaker Spotlight enables embedding video feeds directly into Slides content.
  • Teachers can record presentations directly in Slides and send these recordings out to students in advance using Slides recordings feature.

Smart Canvas Improvements

  • Smart Canvas in Docs and Sheets is being improved with premium features which help educators save time and support student learning.
  • Custom building blocks allow users to save content as templates that can easily be reused.
  • In Sheets, users will be able to get intelligent suggestions for pivot table analysis.

Meet LTI Integration

  • Google is launching a Meet LTI in 2024 to allow full integration of Meet into external LMS systems.
  • This means that users will be able to start a class meeting directly in their LMS and pre-configure breakout rooms.
  • Content generated from meetings, like recordings and attendance reports, will be directly available with the LMS course.

Device Lifecycle and ChromeOS Flex

This section discusses how Google is thinking about the entire device lifecycle, from creation to usage, repair, and recycling. The speaker also talks about ChromeOS Flex as a sustainable way to modernize devices that schools already own.

Device Lifecycle

  • Google is thinking about the entire device lifecycle, from creation to usage, repair, and recycling.
  • One-to-one deployments are increasing in many regions and students are using devices more often for more things.
  • Greater access to devices is needed when students use them more often for more things.

ChromeOS Flex

  • ChromeOS Flex is a cloud-first, fast, easy-to-manage, and secure operating system for PCs and Macs.
  • It's easy to deploy across a fleet of existing devices while still making use of those devices.

Making Decisions About Devices

This section discusses how Google wants to help schools make informed decisions about which devices to purchase. They have updated their new wayfinding guide for 2023 along with phase 2 of their device discovery site on edu.google.com.

Wayfinding Guide Update

  • Google has updated their new wayfinding guide for 2023.
  • Phase 2 of the device discovery site on edu.google.com is now available.
  • The site surfaces price point, specs, and by age and use case to make it easier to make decisions about which Chromebooks are right for which groups.

New Tier of Chromebooks for Educators

This section discusses a new tier of Chromebooks for educators that have up to twice the speed, storage, and visual quality of today's Chromebooks.

New Tier of Chromebooks

  • Google will announce a new tier of Chromebooks for educators in the next year.
  • These devices will have up to twice the speed, storage, and visual quality of today's Chromebooks.
  • They will also have enhanced features like better video conferencing, photo and video editing, offline access, and a customizable user interface.

Bringing EdTech Tools to Google Classroom

In this section, the speaker discusses how Google is working with EdTech partners to create Classroom add-ons that allow educators to easily find, add, use, and grade content from popular EdTech tools right within Google Classroom. The goal is to provide a better end-to-end experience for both educators and students.

Add-Ons for Google Classroom

  • Last year, over 15 EdTech partners worked with Google to create Classroom add-ons.
  • Add-ons provide a better end-to-end experience by saving time for educators and simplifying the digital classroom experience for students.
  • Purchasing, provisioning and managing apps can be challenging when teachers are using many different apps across grade levels and classes.
  • IT admins can provision and manage apps from within Google Admin Console with minimal setup or overhead cost while giving teachers access to a library of high-quality apps that can be used for in-class and extracurricular projects.

App Catalog on Google for Education Website

In this section, the speaker discusses how Google plans to bring all the different apps together with a new app catalog on their website. This will showcase apps that integrate with Chromebook and Workspace for Education along with privacy and accessibility policies of apps.

New App Catalog

  • A new app catalog will be available on the Google for Education website later this year.
  • The app catalog will showcase apps that integrate with Chromebook and Workspace for Education along with privacy and accessibility policies of apps.
  • The new page will help educators and admins alike find apps and make decisions about them for their schools.

Accessibility Features in Google Products

In this section, the speaker discusses how accessibility is at the core of what Google does on the Google for Education team. They are building features into their products to help students learn in the way that works best for them.

Reading Mode

  • Reading mode is a resizable and customizable reader view in the side panel of the Chrome browser.
  • Reading mode enables users to focus on primary content and reduces distracting elements on the screen.
  • Users can customize typeface, font size and spacing, text and background color, etc. to make reading experience more comfortable.
  • Reading mode will be available on Chrome browser in beta in coming weeks and will be available for everyone in May.

Image to Text

  • With image to text, users can convert images to text so that they can access them and read them.
  • This project takes a different approach by using Google's strength in artificial intelligence to fix user's experience of inaccessible sites.
  • Starting with PDF files which are inaccessible, we hope to expand this beyond Chrome browser this year.

Captions

  • Captions are being added across all Google products including Live Captions on Chrome and Screencast on ChromeOS.
  • Additional languages will be added soon.

Safety and Compliance

In this section, the speaker discusses how Google is committed to keeping their customers' data private, safe, and secure. They have addressed regulatory concerns and improved policy support around consent and application controls.

Safety and Compliance

  • Keeping customers' data private, safe, and secure is a top priority for Google.
  • Google has addressed regulatory concerns and improved policy support around consent and application controls.

New Updates for Google Workspace for Education

In this section, the speaker announces new updates to Google Workspace for Education that will give admins greater control over where, when, and how their users can access Workspace services and how other apps access their users' Workspace data through Google APIs.

Third-Party App Control

  • Admins can now block third-party apps at the organizational-unit level in addition to the domain-level block that is available today.

App Access Control Badges

  • App access control badges will help admins evaluate and confirm the authenticity of apps with information like app usage, reputation, and risk directly within Admin Console.

Improvements to Context-Aware Access

  • Context-Aware Access lets admins control which apps can be accessed based on context.
  • Admins can set Context-Aware Access rules for apps that are accessing Workspace data via APIs.
  • Admins can use Context-Aware Access rules to block managed Chrome browsers and set Data Protection rule conditions.
  • Monitor mode shows how many users will be impacted before deploying settings.

Domain-Wide Data Export

  • Advanced domain-wide Data Export allows exporting organization's data by either organizational unit or group. Later this year, you will also be able to export data of an individual user.

Built-in Data Security Controls in ChromeOS

  • ChromeOS data security focuses on monitoring, securing, and managing data so that IT admins can allow employees to safely work anywhere on any network. These new controls will continue to launch over the coming year.

Contractual Privacy Commitments

  • Google will begin offering new contractual privacy commitments for Google Workspace for Education service data, just like we do for customers' data.
  • Developing a version of ChromeOS that will offer similar processor commitments.
  • These new contractual privacy commitments and updated version of ChromeOS to our education customers around the world to help give you greater transparency and control over your data.

Conclusion

  • The updates are a direct result of feedback from customers and partners.
  • Resources are available to help partners go to market more effectively.

Accessing Google for Education Partner Resources

In this section, the speaker explains how to access Google for Education partner resources and highlights what's new for 2023.

Accessing Google for Education Partner Resources

  • To access Google for Education partner resources, log in to the portal and select "Product" then "Google for Education" from the top-level navigation.
  • If already logged in to the portal, use g.co/educonnect quick link to go directly to the Google for Education page.

What's New for 2023?

  • Changes were announced by Google Cloud in January 2023 regarding the Partner Advantage program.
  • The speaker highlights that service capabilities and deep solution expertise are main drivers when choosing which partners customers prefer to do business with.
  • The partner program is evolving to drive product area focus by raising the bar on credentials and product-specific bookings required to qualify for Premier level.
  • Partners will be rewarded for becoming masters in a product area through differentiated incentives that drive go-to-market alignment.

Partner Support Desk

In this section, the speaker discusses how companies participating in Partner Advantage can now access the Partner Support Desk.

Accessing Partner Support Desk

  • Companies participating in Partner Advantage can now access the Partner Support Desk.
  • The desk allows users to create cases, add collaborators, escalate unresolved issues, and access case history all within it.
  • Specialized agents are available on the desk who can help navigate the portal, understand program requirements and more.
  • The Partner Support Desk can be accessed directly from the "Get Help" section of Partner Advantage.

Certified IT Professionals

In this section, the speaker highlights the benefits of becoming a certified IT professional and how to get certified.

Benefits of Becoming a Certified IT Professional

  • Certified IT professionals earn more than non-certified peers, and the more certifications, the higher the salary.
  • Joining Google's growing community of IT admins who are getting certified to deploy ChromeOS across companies and schools is an excellent way to become a certified IT professional.
  • The professional level exam is free until January 2024.

ChromeOS Partner Training Portal

In this section, the speaker discusses how to access and use the ChromeOS Partner Training Portal.

Accessing ChromeOS Partner Training Portal

  • The ChromeOS Partner Training Portal is accessible via Partner Advantage or directly through a link provided by the speaker.
  • The portal provides access to sales enablement tools and latest training materials that help improve one's ChromeOS skills.

Sales Lead Generation Tool inside ChromeOS Partner Training Portal

  • A new sales lead generation tool has been added inside the ChromeOS partner training portal that allows users to send content from it directly to their contacts and measure their engagement.
  • Sales or pre-sales technical reps can use this tool to share high-quality content with prospects and build their pipeline.
  • Users can track metrics such as content views, email forwards, etc., enabling them to know when and with whom they should continue their sales conversations.

The Google for Education Wayfinding Guide

In this section, the speaker discusses the refreshed version of The Google for Education wayfinding guide.

Refreshed Version of The Google for Education Wayfinding Guide

  • The refreshed version of The Google for Education wayfinding guide showcases the full breadth of Chromebooks and their capabilities.
  • Updates include the latest 2023 devices from each OEM, a new "User Profiles" page has been added to match User profile types with recommended features, and a "Device Highlights" page has been added to showcase devices with features that are most relevant to education along with device images.
  • Schools, staff, and students can use this guide to find the right device for the right use case.

Google Workspace for Education Pitch Deck

In this section, the speaker highlights a new asset now available on the portal - the Google Workspace for Education Pitch Deck.

New Asset: Google Workspace

Google for Education Partner Marketing Studio Pilot Launch

In this section, the speaker announces the launch of the Google for Education Partner Marketing Studio Pilot. The platform is a one-stop-shop for marketing campaign content and execution, providing lightweight marketing automation systems to help partners send emails or publish landing pages within minutes.

Key Features of Partner Marketing Studio

  • The platform is a co-marketing tool that helps highlight partner brands alongside Google's.
  • Content on Partner Marketing Studio comes directly from the Google for Education team.
  • The pilot will be launched in English, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese with plans to expand to additional languages throughout the year.

Conclusion and Next Steps

In this section, the speaker concludes by thanking attendees for participating in the Partner Forum and encourages them to subscribe to their Global Education Partner Newsletter. Attendees are also invited to provide feedback on today's session through a survey.

Key Takeaways

  • A recording of today's session will be available on demand on the website.
  • Subscribing to their Global Education Partner Newsletter is an excellent way to stay up-to-date with future events.
  • Attendees are encouraged to provide feedback on today's session through a survey.

Final Thoughts

  • Thanks attendees for tuning in and hope they have a great rest of their day.