We've recently been informed by the New York State Education Department that we need to make some changes to the way your students access some Google services. This change is being made state-wide to protect the privacy of student data.
What does this mean for your student?
Google Core Services (Gmail, Classroom, Drive, Docs, Slides, Forms, Calendar, Sheets, etc.) are unaffected. Students can continue using these applications as usual.
Google Additional Services (YouTube, Translate, Earth, Photos, etc.) will be disabled for students after the holiday recess. This means that they won't be able to access these services directly. For example, they will not be able to search YouTube for videos on their Chromebook or school email account, even if the videos are educational.
Their teachers will still be able to share YouTube videos with them by embedding them into Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides or other approved platforms such as EdPuzzle.
We will not be restricting student access to YouTube using their personal devices, as long as they are not logged into their school Google account. Students can continue to use YouTube with their personal Google account.
We know this is not welcome news. We're working with other agencies in NYS to try and minimize this impact, but for right now this step is mandatory to protect the privacy of your student’s data.
Scott Gardiner
Director of Technology
on behalf of the IT Department
Greenville CSD