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Posted

Morning All.

 

We’re posting this from inside Google HQ in London, invited down here for the day to learn more about the benefits of Chrome O/S and Chromebooks in general.

 

Our day will be spent learning more about the deployment, integration and management of Google Chrome across all aspects of Education…and possibly sitting on the odd bean bag. We’ll be posting some pics to our twitter feed @HapticNetworks

 

As Google Education Partners we are now able to supply Chrome Management Licences as well as the devices and installation/support services.

 

We wanted to take the opportunity to ask anyone to post their questions, comments or feedback regarding Google Chrome OS and we’ll gladly fire them at Google directly at some point during the day. We’ll post the responses a little later/tomorrow.

 

(crouches down, covers intimate areas and awaits onslaught)

 

Chris & Mark @ Haptic

  • Thanks 1
Posted
I assume "Do you have any nice shiny servers going begging, would you mind if we took them back with us for a nearby school?" is out of the question? ;)

 

Hmm, tough call. We might be able to swipe a flapjack/croissant?

 

Joe

Posted

Please could you ask:

 

1) When can we disable bluetooth on Chromebooks using the management console ? Bluetooth really isn't very helpful from a wifi perspective when devices are searching as it causes masses of interference!

2) is peer to peer chromebook updates going to be available anytime ? Again, bandwidth sucking.

3) It would be useful to be able to have CB's in the management console AND have developer mode on. Lots of students want to run Linux.

4) PLEASE let us have an inhouse only G+ site with no external contacts

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Posted (edited)
1) When will Youtube for schools signup be fixed?

 

This. Or as google reps alluded to me at Bett - What is going to replace Youtube for schools, and when will it be released?

 

And - can we please have a mechanism for schools to register 'Google Search for Schools' and allow us to quickly and easily monitor searches?

Edited by IrritableTech
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Posted
1) When will Youtube for schools signup be fixed?

2) Why do education projects only ever launch fully in the US and not UK?

 

I think when will youtube for schools actually work again. Development on that side seems to be non-existent. It would be nice to have teachers being able to manage their own playlists. We haven't gone down the google apps route but just trying to get a new account to link to the main school's account is neigh on impossible. It must be possible as the word impossible broken down reads "im possible".

Posted
Can I have a set of Chromebooks to try out and can they put me in contact with a Google "Evangelist" to come and give a GAFE demo (minus Gmail) to our staff, I love the Google stuff (although we are still using mail in 365 and the SLT won't let me change at the mo) but I want someone else to sing the praises and give a 1 or 2 hour practical sessions with lots of suggestions and demonstrations :-)
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Posted
Can I have a set of Chromebooks to try out and can they put me in contact with a Google "Evangelist" to come and give a GAFE demo (minus Gmail) to our staff, I love the Google stuff (although we are still using mail in 365 and the SLT won't let me change at the mo) but I want someone else to sing the praises and give a 1 or 2 hour practical sessions with lots of suggestions and demonstrations :-)

 

Certainly, if you PM your details we can facilitate this, it's going to be the main way to inform sites of the benefits of GAFE, Google Chrome and Chromebooks in general.

 

We're happy to help you with this.

 

Mark

Posted
I think when will youtube for schools actually work again. Development on that side seems to be non-existent. It would be nice to have teachers being able to manage their own playlists. We haven't gone down the google apps route but just trying to get a new account to link to the main school's account is neigh on impossible. It must be possible as the word impossible broken down reads "im possible".

 

 

The initial sign is is (admittedly, even by Google themselves) a little difficult. However you receive 24/7 support from Google included in the one off £19 management fee per device. Again we can help you with log ins/putting you in contact with the right people. Feel free to PM

 

Chris

Posted (edited)

Why can't personal gmail accounts use Outlook as their client!

 

Paid Gmail services can just not the free ones, If not we need a free local google app that does everything outlook does, for all my mail accounts, including export/import.

Edited by GeekyPete
Posted
Why can't personal gmail accounts use Outlook as their client!

 

Actually, stemming from this, why can I use google Apps sync without outlook for the calendars without having gmail active. We don't want to use Gmail but does want to integrate the rest :-(

Posted

@Haptic Did you manage to get any answers about these?

 

Please could you ask:

 

1) When can we disable bluetooth on Chromebooks using the management console ? Bluetooth really isn't very helpful from a wifi perspective when devices are searching as it causes masses of interference!

2) is peer to peer chromebook updates going to be available anytime ? Again, bandwidth sucking.

3) It would be useful to be able to have CB's in the management console AND have developer mode on. Lots of students want to run Linux.

4) PLEASE let us have an inhouse only G+ site with no external contacts

Posted (edited)
@Haptic Did you manage to get any answers about these?

 

Certainly, we've heard some answers for some questions (sadly we didn't get the chance to ask them all) although we're at a Deployment workshop tomorrow with the team from Google so we can pose more then.

 

What we gleaned from today, we asked the below and received some very high praise for the questions you asked. The Google staff were honest and very open with their responses.

 

1) When can we disable bluetooth on Chromebooks using the management console ? Bluetooth really isn't very helpful from a wifi perspective when devices are searching as it causes masses of interference!

Response from Google: This has been logged as a feature request, already on the 'work in progress schedule' - Q4 latest.

 

2) is peer to peer chromebook updates going to be available anytime ? Again, bandwidth sucking

Response: The Google staff were genuinely interested to hear more, they requested more info on the types of update you refer to. However they were quick to highlight the update process is completely configurable by Network Staff, using the admin console and calendar function.

 

3) It would be useful to be able to have CB's in the management console AND have developer mode on. Lots of students want to run Linux.

 

OK, I knew I was heading for a roasting with this one, but after 6 years of supporting this forum, I know you have to back the tough talk...

 

The response I received was truly great, the other partners creased, as did the Google Staff. Ultimately, the main task they've faced (mainly in the US) is network managers asking how to keep Linux OFF CB's. They also hinted at apprenticeships for students deploying Linux on chrome books. Ultimately it doesn't look set to happen any time soon.

 

4) PLEASE let us have an inhouse only G+ site with no external contacts

 

Again, this received high praise as a very straight forward question, response:

Google+ is recommended for 13+ however you can restrict sharing, not outside of the domain. A suggestion was to use Google Sites as an intranet instead?

 

I hope these helped in some way, as we now have direct access to both Google's support and tech dev team we really are interested to hear your views/feedback/hopes/negs about the Google proposition. We will be in a position to handle more questions tomorrow, please keep them coming!

 

Mark

Edited by Haptic
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Posted
ask them "is it true if you google 'google' you break the internet?"

 

I love the IT Crowd, I love Archer more still. Can you smell Ocelot wee?

 

Joe

Posted
1) When will Youtube for schools signup be fixed?

2) Why do education projects only ever launch fully in the US and not UK?

 

Good questions, other partners nodded in agreement to these:

 

1) End of Q3 is the official word

2) Other than Google Play, everything available in the US is available likewise in the UK. Cited were differences in grade structure and curriculum. I'm interested to hear more examples of this, I'll certainly pass them on if you PM them.

Posted (edited)

GAFE already has our students in groups, which allows sharing files in Drive with a class.

 

When in Google Classroom, why can't you invite those existing groups to be students in the class? You either have to invite individual students, or share the class code to them.

 

Also, is it going to be possible to mark Classroom assignments with Grades, not /100 marks.

Edited by howartp
  • Thanks 1
Posted
Good questions, other partners nodded in agreement to these:

 

1) End of Q3 is the official word

2) Other than Google Play, everything available in the US is available likewise in the UK. Cited were differences in grade structure and curriculum. I'm interested to hear more examples of this, I'll certainly pass them on if you PM them.

1) Hooray

2) Didn't Classroom launch in U.S. first?

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