Hi, I'm Lewis from the Google Play for Education team.
In my experience, as both a former middle school teacher
and in working with thousands of teachers over the past 10 years
to integrate technology, I've learned
that schools and classrooms are a pretty unique environment.
Vibrant, supportive, collaborative, nurturing, busy,
perhaps even a bit chaotic, are some words that come to mind.
And diverse.
Curriculum, classroom environments,
and teaching and learning styles vary dramatically.
Google Play for Education is a dedicated store, designed just
for educators, that works hand in hand
with our tablet program.
Its features make it a great opportunity for educational app
developers.
Your app's success depends on whether it
pays careful attention to the demands
of the unique environment.
Many of the principles involved in developing
an app for consumers at home need
to be rethought for the classroom.
So in this video, I'd like to share five key considerations
for optimizing your app for the classroom.
I'll also tell you about some of the top requested features
we've heard from educators.
So let's get started.
First, simplify your app by focusing deeply
on a few aspects of the user experience.
Here's why.
Students will have very limited time to learn and use your app,
and will often need to access your app quickly
from multiple devices.
For example, if a device has a problem,
many schools keep a stash of extras on hand
to distribute on the fly, or students
might use a different device at home.
So here's a few aspects of your user experience
to be sure to focus on.
First, make sure your app can be learned without instructions
or has a quick onboarding experience.
Teachers won't have time to teach students individually
how to use your app.
Next, make sure your app works well in bite-sized chunks,
and that students can quickly pick up where they left off.
Students need to be able to get in, use it
for five to 10 minutes, and then move on
to another part of the lesson.
Be sure to test how well students can transition
from one device to the next.
So if you have a website that complements your app,
be sure students can move back and forth,
from tablet to laptop and back, really easily.
Google Sign-in is a great way to do
this, which I'll talk about later.
And finally, clean up your UI.
Don't forget that if your app might be used by little kids,
say, in Kindergarten, make your touch targets large,
to help their little fingers out.
Also, many students even older ones,
might not be able to read, or might
be English language learners.
So use lots of visual cues or audio prompts.
Walk into a classroom with an amazing teacher,
you'll immediately see students that are deeply engaged.
But where does technology fit in?
We asked schools, and they told us,
using Google tools is about more than technology.
It's about adopting a culture that
extends beyond the classroom walls.
It's about openness, curiosity, and working together.
Plus, learning should be fun.
So to make sure your app supports
an open and engaging classroom culture, consider this.
Since students using your app will all be using tablets,
are you taking enough advantage of the hardware's
unique capabilities?
Are you using the touch screen in interesting ways?
What about the camera, the microphone, or other sensors?
Students should not just be staring at a screen.
Does your app work well in highly collaborative
environments?
You might see a few students gather
around a tablet, or maybe five students each
with their own tablet, working together on a project.
And lastly, can students use your app to learn by creating?
Students need to apply their learning,
by building, being creative, and expressing what they know.
Apps that enable this are much more engaging, and also
give teachers an authentic assessment
of what students are mastering.
So whether it's the sensors that are being
used to take measurements for an experiment in science class,
or students in English class that
are making a video with their own dramatic interpretation
of Shakespeare, be sure your app fosters student engagement.
Teachers and students will use a variety of apps and tools,
so be sure your app isn't an island
by integrating with Google's platform APIs.
The most common request we hear from teachers
is that apps must integrate Google Sign-in.
Imagine for a moment that you teach middle school math--
which is what I taught-- and have 180 students going
through your doors every day-- which is what I had,
by the way-- and what it'd be like to manage
that if the kids had separate usernames
and passwords for each app they used.
Google Sign-in helps solve that problem.
We've literally had teachers tell us
that when they're looking for apps to buy,
they start by first looking at only those with Google Sign-in.
Easy authentication, it makes that big of a difference.
Here's why.
All students will already be logged into their tablet
with a Google account.
It's required as part of our tablets' set up process.
So if your app authenticates with Google Sign-in,
students can log into it with just a couple clicks.
And 30 million students across the world
use Google accounts as part of our Google Apps
for Education offering for schools.
So integrating Sign-in is also a great way
to appeal to that huge base of users.
The details on this OAuth-based approach are on our website,
at this link.
Oh, and don't forget.
If you're apps reads or writes files,
be sure to also integrate with Google Drive,
as Drive is incredibly popular among those 30 million students
and teachers I mentioned.
Many teachers use Drive's sharing features
as a way for students to collaborate with each other
and to turn in assignments for grading.
Teachers have incredibly hard and busy jobs,
with tons of constraints and demands.
Even if your app's primarily focused on students,
the more it can also meet the unique needs of teachers,
the more likely they'll keep using it.
So be sure your app aligns to the Common Core State Standards
in the US, and especially the increased rigor and application
of knowledge that they represent.
Common core standards are learning
goals adopted by 44 states that outline what a student should
know and be able to do at the end of each grade.
Our educator review process explicitly
looks to see that apps align well to the common core.
Plus, this'll make it easier for teachers to find your app,
as teachers can filter by standard,
right there in the store.
So the next three suggestions go hand in hand.
Support differentiation, progress monitoring,
and feedback.
This type of personalization allows
students to work at their own pace,
but with support from their teacher.
A great book reading app, for example,
might allow a teacher to assign different students
to different books, based on their reading level.
Then, teachers should be able to see key metrics
for each individual student, such as what
concepts they've mastered, which books they've read,
or how much time they've spent on different topics.
And allow teachers to give meaningful feedback
to students, right there in the app.
Lastly, have an educator friendly app description.
Be sure to highlight standards alignment,
differentiation capabilities, any other teacher
features, right there in your app description.
For example, the description for slice fractions
highlights the specific fractions concepts covered
by the game, and it also includes a note to teachers.
Lastly, this hopefully goes without saying,
but be sure to test, test, test.
Try your app on the various Google
Play for Education devices.
As of this video, there's four supported tablets, but be
sure to check out our site for the latest.
And be sure to try your app with real kids and teachers,
and iterate constantly based on their feedback.
Also be sure to check out our Google Plus education
communities, too, as they're a great place
to connect with educators who would
love to share their ideas with you.
So to recap, here are five things
to keep in mind to supercharge your app for the classroom
and help teachers and students transform learning.
Be sure to check out our site, with even more info,
with details about topics, like safety, privacy,
and data, monetizing and ads, more information about app
quality and testing, and our Google Play for Education
review process.
Now, I can't wait to see your amazing educational app.
We'll see you in the classroom.