The Google Apps Training just ended over this weekend successfully with an overwhelming attendance. The training, which was part of an information gathering process to make a well informed decision on either to implement Google Apps for Education or not in KNUST, was to have a pilot training session for selected students to expose them to the benefits and features of the platform and, to solicit their feedbacks in making the informed decision.
The team of the University Information Technology Services in collaboration with Google arranged to have two sessions at two different venues on November 16, 2013, to which the expected maximum attendance was 40 students at each session bringing the total to 160 students as the control group. However, the attendance recorded more than twice the number of expected participants altogether from the two venues; the Huawei Computer Lab and the mFriday Tech Hub.
Google partners were available ahead of the scheduled time to work together with the team from UITS to ensure smooth training sessions. Some of the Google Students Ambassadors of KNUST were also available to provide assistance with the training.
The event which started on schedule saw participants taken through the various Google Apps for Education i.e. Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Sites, Google Groups, Google Hangouts, etc with hands-on sessions.
Feedbacks from students highly suggest their endorsement of the Google Apps technology for Education and that it is implemented for all students of KNUST. This would then require further training of the Google Apps for Education, first for students and subsequently KNUST staff. The technology, if agreed would allow partnership with system integrators with whom Google have made provision for APIs integration, which can benefit KNUST UITS’s current in-house application development.
