HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The West Ottawa School District is one of the first districts in the country to be designated as a Google Reference District.
The designation will lead West Ottawa to show other districts how to use Google applications in the classroom. Chromebooks were handed out in August to every middle and high school student. Teachers received their chromebooks a year in advance with training provided.
Jordan Beel, West Ottawa’s Director of Instructional Technology says they look like a laptop, but really it’s more like a mobile device.
“It has a small hard drive of only 16 gigs and it really utilizes the web more than like applications that live on the device. It creates more content using google apps and they sort of live in the cloud. Students can have access where ever they are and whatever device they are using. So a lot of the work they do, teachers as well, that work doesn’t live on their computer. It kind of lives in the cloud.”
Beel said he learned about the pilot program at a conference this past summer and applied to become of the initial districts chosen to participate in it. He also gave Google feedback on the process of the program.
He said he will likely use the branding badge it received as one of the reference districts in digital and print materials he makes and distributes to parents/teachers/students regarding Chromebooks and G Suite Apps. Beel is a “Google Certified Trainer” and some of West Ottawa’s teachers have gone through training to become “Google Certified Educators.”
