In response to the digital demands placed on schools as a result of Covid-19 resulting in a significant change in needs of over 170M+ students and educators across the globe, Google will be launching their next generation of G Suite for Education on April 14th 2021, in a move to provide school communities with tools that elevate teaching, learning, collaboration and productivity.
What’s Changing?
Having recognised that different schools have different requirements, Google Workspace for Education is being introduced to offer greater choice and flexibility and includes 4 editions that are accessible from anywhere and on any device:
Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is the new name for G Suite for Education, the free suite of easy-to-use tools. Schools currently using this edition don’t have to take any action to switch to Fundamentals and won’t experience any changes, except a new name and logo.
Tools to empower your school with 3 new paid editions:
Google Workspace for Education Standard builds on Education Fundamentals and is designed to help schools proactively enhance security with tools such as; Security Centre, Advanced App Management, Gmail log and Classroom log for BigQuery, audit logs for Drive to track usage to help give the controls needed to make the digital learning environment safe and secure.
Teaching and Learning Upgrade builds on Fundamentals or Education Standard to offer advanced digital learning and critical thinking capabilities by providing; originality reports, increased meeting capacity for Google Meet and premium engagement features in Google Meet such as breakout rooms and polls to enrich the class experience.
Google Workspace for Education Plus replaces the current Enterprise Edition (available to purchase today) and is the most comprehensive package which includes all the features from Education Fundamentals, Education Standard and Teaching and Learning Upgrade plus extra features such as; increased live stream, personalised Cloud search, faster response time from support team to help transform and revolutionise the digital learning environment.
Finding the Right Edition for Your School
So you’ve decided to switch to Google Workspace for Education or perhaps upgrade your existing edition but not sure which is the right one for you? Our guide is designed to help you choose the features best suited to your institution, where you can compare editions and get a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does each edition cost?
Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is free for all qualifying institutions. Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus are paid editions. Take a look at our calculator for
Are there differences in storage across the editions?
All editions provide schools with 100 TB of storage shared across the institution ensuring enough space to save recorded lessons and more in Google Photos, Drive, or Gmail.
Additional storage is provided with the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus editions based on the number of licences purchased.
What is the duration of a paid Google Workspace for Education subscription?
All paid Google Workspace for Education editions are annual subscriptions, and pricing is locked for the duration of the subscription term.
Is it possible to trial the paid editions?
Yes, we can provision 60-day trials for Education Plus, Education Standard and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. 50 licences are provided for the trial. See our pricing page for more details or contact us at North27 to get a quote from us.
What’s Next for Google Workspace for Education?
Google has continued to invest in and develop new and existing features and have already hinted at further enhancements for example, saved drafts in Google Forms coming to Education Fundamentals and Google Meet meeting transcripts being introduced to the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. Choice, flexibility and simplicity will no doubt continue to be the central theme for Google Workspace for Education, reflecting the changing needs and greater digital demands of schools, now and in the future.
