For the vast majority of Earth’s existence, our planet functioned as the quintessential circular system. The Sun’s energy nourished trees into life, and once they fell, microorganisms broke them down into soil and nutrients, fuelling the next generation of growth. The notion of ‘waste’ did not exist—everything had a use.
It is only in the past few hundred years that humans have interrupted this cycle. With the rise of the Industrial Age came a linear economy built around the consumption of natural resources.Energy was turned into goods and products that we used—and then threw away.
This sliver of Earth’s history improved the lives of billions of people, but it came at a tremendous cost to the planet’s future. At our current pace, humanity needs 1.75 Earths to sustain our consumption of natural resources. We have been running a resource deficit since the 1970s that accelerates every year according to the Global Footprint Network, and by 2050, humanity will generate 3.5 Gt of solid waste annually1.
To protect our planet while continuing to Excellerate lives, we need to decouple economic growth from the consumption and disposal of finite resources. That is the core premise of the circular economy, which aims to minimize waste and maximize reuse of existing materials.
The circular economy also offers a critical pathway to mitigate climate change, because recycled and reused resources have lower carbon footprints. For example, improving the circulation and reuse of uncontaminated steel would avoid 500 Mt of new steel production by 2050, saving more than 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions per year2.
Fortunately, the opportunity is as vast as the need. By making the most of our finite resources, we can not only thrive within planetary boundaries, but we can also generate an estimated US$4.5 trillion3 in new economic output by 2030 and support efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across the economy.
Google is committed to accelerating the transition to a circular economy in which business creates environmental, economic and community value through the maximum reuse of finite resources. To help inspire others toward a similar goal, we are sharing some of the lessons we have learned from our circularity programme—and the challenges that remain.
Our three circularity principles
Since our founding, Google has made it a core value to operate our business in an environmentally sustainable way. In 2007, we became the first major company to be carbon neutral for our operations. As of 2022, oursustainability programme takes a comprehensive view across carbon, water, ecology and circularity. We aim to achieve net-zero emissions across all of our operations and value chain—including our consumer hardware products—by 2030, to replenish 120% of the water we consume by the same year, and to become a circular Google within this more sustainable world.
Our approach to circularity is anchored around three core principles:
1. Design-out waste and pollution. This means designing for circularity from the start, enabling existing products to become future resources.
2. Keep products and materials in use. This means extending the effective life of products or materials as long as is safely possible, to make the most of all the resources that went into their creation.
3. Promote safe and healthy materials. This means designing products with materials that are safe for both people and the planet, recognizing that these materials will be used and reused long into the future.
These foundations are embedded into all aspects of our business operations, from the data centres we operate to the campuses we build, the products we create, the suppliers we work with, and the culture we encourage. The following section describes some of the progress we have made in each of these areas.
Zero-waste data centres
Google owns and operates 23 global data centres filled with servers and other equipment that provide reliable service to the billions of people who use our products every day. Our circularity goal for these centres is to achieve ‘zero waste’, defined as minimizing waste generation and maximizing the reuse of products and materials as much as possible while diverting 90% or more of solid waste from landfills.
As of 2022, seven of our 23 data centres have met this zero waste to landfill target and we are continuously making investments to advance waste diversion and recycling across our operations (Fig. 1). Additionally, since 2015, 32.6 million hardware components have been resold into the secondary market, and in 2021, 27% of upgrade components were from refurbished inventory4,5.
Our approach to data-centre circularity starts with identifying the life-cycle stage of data-centre components. From there we apply several circularity strategies:
• Maintain. Whenever possible, we repair components to extend the life of servers.
• Refurbish. When a server or equipment is decommissioned, we create an inventory of usable, refurbished components that are stored for future reuse.
• Reuse. Any excess components are resold on the secondary market, following a rigorous security process.
• Recycle. Components that cannot be reused or resold are sent to an electronics waste-recycling partner.
Proof point: European data centre in Denmark.One of our latest European data centres, located in the Danish town of Fredericia, achieved zero-waste to landfill from day one—and continues to make important progress. Site management is working with a waste partner to recycle additional material that is otherwise sent to waste-to-energy recovery. This has required close partnership with staff and our vendors to find innovative solutions for waste collection and separation.
Circular campuses
Google has offices in over 180 cities spanning nearly 60 countries. We take a holistic approach to circularity in our offices and campuses, which starts by designing buildings with healthy materials and continues with reducing food and plastic waste in our workspaces. Our three key areas of office circularity are:
• Food waste. Our food programme aims to reduce waste through composting, donation and tracking use to right-size orders. We recently announced a goal of sending zero food waste to landfills—and cutting food waste in half for each Google employee—by 2025. We also use behavioural nudges that encourage Googlers to take only the food they will eat. For example, by reducing the depth of our cafeteria bowls by an inch, we found that Googlers took smaller portion sizes, which reduced leftover plate waste by 30–50% (ref. 6).
• Plastics waste. We work to reduce single-use plastics and other plastic waste through a series of interventions, including procurement, operational changes and workspace design. These efforts include eliminating the purchase of single-use plastics wherever possible and making reusable drinking options (like our sustainable hydration stations) easy to use in our micro-kitchens.
• Building and construction materials. In developing our office spaces, we promote circularity through a number of practices, including procuring salvaged and reused materials in construction projects, designing our facilities to enable zero-waste operations, and setting ambitious waste- diversion targets to keep material out of landfills. For example, since 2012, we have had a robust salvage programme, working with non-profits to find new homes for usable building components such as doors, plumbing fixtures and tiles.
Proof point: Bay View and Charleston East campuses. Our new Bay View and Charleston East campuses mark significant steps forward for our circularity programme (Fig. 2). At both locations, we vetted thousands of building materials against the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List to eliminate ‘worst in class’ materials and chemicals with the goal of creating a safer, more circular environment. Both campuses incorporated salvaged materials into the building design, and both aim to reduce future renovation waste through highly flexible and reconfigurable work areas. At Charleston East, in particular, more than 22,000 imperial tons of construction waste had been diverted as of October 2021, and 530,000 pounds of drywall waste was recycled as part of a closed-loop wallboard initiative. With these efforts, Charleston East is set to be one of the largest projects ever to attain an LBC Materials Petal certification for healthy building materials.
Product and hardware design
Millions of people use Google products like Pixel, Nest, Home and Fitbit every day, making these products a circularity priority area. Our product circularity approach involves several strategies:
• Using recycled materials. We are committed to using recycled or renewable content in at least 50% of plastic across the product portfolio by 2025, prioritizing recycled plastic wherever possible. For example, the Nest Audio enclosure—which is composed of fabric, housing, a foot and a few smaller parts—is made from 70% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. Our materials scientists and design engineers developed a custom PCR plastic in partnership with our suppliers, and we work closely with them to expand the market for recycled materials, including those we develop specifically for our products.
• Practicing circular design. We focus on material reuse and extending the useful life of our products as part of the fundamental design process. For example, we have a goal of making all packaging plastic- free and 100% recyclable by 2025. We also provide a number of repair options, such as making a full range of spare parts for Pixel 2 through Pixel 6 Pro products, including batteries, replacement displays and cameras, and we will provide at least five years of security updates for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, as well as future Pixel phones, from the date we start selling them on the US Google Store. Additionally, for Google Nest, we issue critical bug fixes and patches for at least five years after launch.
• Eliminating waste. We are committed to achieving Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 2799 Zero Waste to Landfill certification at all final assembly manufacturing sites by 2022. We are also reducing packaging waste from our suppliers when they ship parts to our manufacturing sites. Additionally, for consumers, we are developing tools and programmes to help people properly recycle electronic goods. For example, we recently made it easier for people to find out where they can recycle or dispose of electronic goods using Google Maps and Search. And we continue to research and pilot new ways for customers to recycle e-waste, including through a doorstep- recycling pilot programme in Denver, Colorado.
• Promoting safer chemistry. We strive to select materials to use in our products that have a chemical composition that is safe for both people and the planet—both now and far into the future. For example, we make our restricted substances specification publicly available while also aiming to use safer flame retardants and eliminate antimicrobials across all of our products by 2023.
Proof point: recycled aluminium.
As part of our work toward a more circular Google, we developed a 100% recycled aluminium alloy to meet our Google Pixel performance standards, validated by a third-party certifier (Fig. 3). The Pixel 5 was our first phone to incorporate this recycled aluminium, which not only eliminates the use of mined aluminium in the enclosure and reduces waste but also lowers the carbon footprint of manufacturing the enclosure by 35% (based on a third-party- Tested life-cycle assessment) compared to using virgin aluminium. At the time of writing, the aluminium inside the back housing of the Pixel 5, 6 and 6 Pro is made with 100% recycled content. We also want other companies to benefit from our work and for other manufacturers to use this alloy in their products. That is why we require our suppliers to make this alloy available to manufacturers across the electronics industry.
For more information about our sustainability claims, please visit https://store.google.com/magazine/sustainability.
Enabling everyone
Even as we work to build a more circular Google, we recognize that realizing a circular economy will take everyone’s participation. To support broader adoption of core circularity practices, we are building tools and partnerships that enable and empower others to reduce waste and reuse materials. A few notable efforts are as follows:
• Enabling better recycling. We have now made it easier for people to find out where they can recycle electronics, batteries, glass bottles, clothing and other goods using Google Maps and Search. Local merchants and shops can show the recycling services they offer, and more people can find these options just by searching something like “battery recycling near me” (Fig. 4). People can also suggest edits to the available recycling options at a location, helping others in their community find the right place for them.
• Helping officials cut plastic pollution. Every year, rivers carry millions of tonnes of plastic into oceans. We partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a new machine-learning model that shows a highly accurate view of plastic pollution, with a launch demo focused on the Mekong River in Thailand. This open-source model empowers local government to take action and scale new solutions.
• Facilitating household circularity. We have empowered people to take action on circularity in their everyday lives with our interactive tool, Your Plan, Your Planet. The tool features lessons on extending the life of household goods, along with a teachers’ companion guide for schools. It also includes tips around water conservation, energy savings and more.
Circularity’s role in climate change
While the circular economy is critical from a global resource perspective, it is also essential to addressing climate change. Simply put, the world cannot achieve a net-zero carbon-emissions target without the circular economy.
Global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to reach 51 Gt by 2050 (ref. 7). About 45% of that comes from ‘embodied’ emissions, or carbon generated from the production of new buildings, cars, clothing, food and other common goods or products. The circular economy has a key role in stopping the disposal of embodied carbon en route to a net-zero world. Every piece of waste represents a new product that will be created from scratch—and thus a missed opportunity to cut embodied emissions.
We can seize that opportunity and cut up to 10 Gt of carbon by 2050 (ref. 7) through several circular strategies described in greater detail elsewhere in this article, including:
• Deconstruction. Make better use of buildings through practices like deconstruction and reuse, low-carbon construction materials such as mass timber, and retrofitting or repurposing existing spaces.
• Circular design. Reduce the need for new products and materials by supporting longer product lifecycles, reuse programmes and recycling.
• Recycled materials. Use recycled materials to create new goods and products, as recycled resources generate significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions than virgin resources during production.
Emerging opportunities
As we build on our progress in the years to come, we see a number of exciting areas with the potential to further accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Artifical intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a tool to help address challenges facing many industries, and waste is no exception. Recent estimates suggest that AI’s ability to design-out food waste can create US$127 billion in annual value by 2030, and its ability to Excellerate consumer electronics is valued at US$90 billion a year8. Our 2019 white paper identified three primary ways that AI can support circularity:
• Design circular products, components and materials. For example, AI can generate insights that help significantly shorten the design timeline of microchips, which reduces the total amount of materials needed for research and development.
• Operate circular business models. For example, our food team, in collaboration with X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, is using AI to speed up the food-inspection process, strengthening the supply chain and reducing waste.
• Optimize circular infrastructure. For example, AI-powered computer vision can help industrial robots classify waste on assembly lines with very high accuracy, leading to better sorting at recycling facilities.
Deconstruction and reuse
Roughly 11% (ref. 9) of global emissions come from construction and the creation of new building materials—an impact that is locked-in forever and cannot be reduced through technological improvements. Commercial deconstruction and reuse practices can help address this impact by promoting the use of low-carbon materials and encouraging adaptation of commercial buildings. Our 2019 white paper identified the following areas of opportunity for deconstruction and reuse in office development:
• Design and build for circularity. Development projects can prioritize healthy materials (including mass timber where feasible), design adaptable spaces that can change without needing extensive renovations, design for disassembly to avoid demolition waste, and create a deconstruction plan from the start. Regulation has an important role to play in supporting these practices.
• Set-up salvage for success. Cities can support salvage practices by requiring salvage plans during the building permitting phase and otherwise incentivizing the practice. Buildings can develop salvage inventories from the start that can make it easier to reuse or save equipment and materials throughout the life of the space.
• Scale and diversify the deconstruction workforce. Local jurisdictions can require ‘salvage-ready’ contractors for commercial projects and should support workforce training in deconstruction as a specific growth skill.
• Strengthen the regional reuse marketplace. There are a number of ways to strengthen the reuse market and support the circular economy of commercial buildings, including setting salvage targets, embracing virtual salvage marketplaces, and requiring salvage during public project procurement.
Electronic waste
Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams. In 2019, only 17% of e-waste was recycled globally, according to Statistica. The rest often ends up in landfills, is improperly disposed of in the environment, or ‘hibernates’—the practice of keeping a product that is no longer in active or regular use—in our homes. This practice limits the ability to recycle usable materials and e-waste, meaning that more new resources must be consumed to create new products.
In 2021, we conducted an assessment of why consumers engage in product hibernation instead of recycling and identified the following areas of opportunity10 (it should be noted that there are usually multiple factors in a decision to hibernate a product, and that the key factors differ by product, so pursuing all of these areas is critical to maximize electronic recycling):
• Low handoff-option awareness or convenience. Consumers may lack information about proper recycling methods or facilities or find that option inconvenient. Google is working to address this problem through Maps and Search programmes (described earlier) that help identify and access local e-waste recycling options.
• Compensation expectations (financial or social). Consumers often expect compensation for their e-waste, although this exchange can be social in nature, taking the form of product donations.
• Keeping spare products. Consumers often keep old products in case they need to replace a broken one. Stronger repair programmes can help, such as our programme for the Google Pixel described earlier.
• Data retrieval and removal. Consumers often hold on to products because they lack easy or reliable ways to transfer or erase data from the devices.
• Device nostalgia. Consumers often feel an emotional attachment to their devices, which causes reluctance to part with them.
Challenges ahead
We are excited by the progress made by Google’s circularity programme to date, as well as by the opportunities on the horizon. We also recognize the many systemic challenges hindering even greater progress—some of which we identify below. Overcoming these and other barriers will be critical to realizing the circular economy as soon as possible.
Improving data availability
The circular economy aims to make the most of every resource we use. To do that requires high-quality, standardized data enabling the market to identify, manage and value all the resources available at any given time. For example, rather than seeing a piece of plastic as an item to use and discard, we should see it as bits of information that tell us how it can be reused, what it is worth in terms of recycling, and where it is needed. Such data should inform capital investments, infrastructure priorities, business plans, policy interventions and more—as such, we view data availability as a key to accelerating the transition toward the circular economy. This challenge is one we feel particularly inspired to help solve as a data company, working alongside others.
Scaling innovation
The circular economy is in a similar place to where renewable energy was a few decades ago: we knew where we needed to go but often lacked the right technologies to help companies, governments and households get there in a cost- competitive way. Innovation helped bridge that gap, with the rise of advances such as new silicon systems to capture sunlight, larger wind turbines to capture energy and longer- lasting batteries to power electric vehicles. We need similar innovation around the way products and materials are designed, manufactured, used, reused, or recycled back into the economy. We need accelerators, venture funding and other forms of support focused on turning great circularity ideas into leading technologies. We plan to leverage Google’s ingenuity, technical leadership, cultural influence and talented people to help do just that.
Embracing the future
Meeting this moment demands a spirit of exploration and discovery. In nature’s circular system, it is the novel adaptations that pave a new path. Similarly, we need innovative thinkers to inspire a shared sense of purpose around this new direction and rally collective action. For our part, we can help by connecting billions of people every day and sharing our own lessons and experiences.
Moving forward together
The circular economy, by definition, connects everyone. It is in that spirit of cooperation that we describe the approach Google is currently taking, recognizing that we do not have all the solutions and that true progress will span the global economy. We need business leaders to partner across industries and reduce costs, governments to incentivize action and protect the public good, innovators to keep looking ahead and thinking big, and people everywhere to know that no action is too small.
References
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Chen, D.M-C. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, 074021 (2020).
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Material Economics. https://materialeconomics.com/publications/the-circular-economy-a-powerful-force-for-climate-mitigation-1 (2018).
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Lacy, P. et al. Waste to Wealth: The Circular Economy Advantage. Palgrave Macmillan London (2015).
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Google. https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2019-environmental-report.pdf (2019).
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Google. https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2022-environmental-report.pdf (2022).
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Peters, A. https://www.fastcompany.com/90728148/google-says-its-reduced-food-waste-just-by-using-different-bowls (2022).
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation. https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/articles/building-a-world-free-from-waste-and-pollution (2021).
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Ellen MacArthur Foundation. https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/artificial-intelligence-and-the-circular-economy (2019).
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Puettmann, M. et al. Sustainability. 13, 13987 (2021).
-
Bourne, D. et al. https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/electronics-hibernation.pdf (2021).
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Google Docs is an excellent tool for anyone that works with documents often. It's a word processor that resembles classic tools like Microsoft Word. Docs has become popular because of its unique features and simple user interface. Whether you use it on a computer or one of the best new Android phones, it's a great option. Plus, you can use it for free! It helps to start by looking at what Google Docs is, what it does, and how to use it.
What is Google Docs?
Google Docs is a cloud-based word processor. Word processors are tools that can help you create and revise digital documents. If you're familiar with Microsoft Word, you can think of that as the original poster child for word processors. Cloud-based means that everything is stored in the Google cloud instead of on your computer.
You may have heard of Google Sheets or Google Slides. These productivity tools are similar to Excel and PowerPoint in the same way that Docs is similar to Word. There are other productivity brands, but Microsoft Office is the most recognizable. Google's analog to Office is Google Workspace. This paid service includes all of Google's productivity tools and more. You don't need to pay for Workspace to use the individual tools. Google Docs is at the top of the list for free Google software that's worth using.
What can you do with Google Docs?
Google Docs can be boiled down to a pretty simple workflow. It's best used for creating, editing, and sharing documents. Here's a brief look at the key features of this software.
Create documents in Google Docs
Creating documents is pivotal for making the Google Docs workflow hum. Generally, Docs has a + icon in the lower-right corner that you can click at any time. Once you do, it generates a blank document for you to start on.
This document is stored in Google's servers, so it doesn't take up space on your computer. It is only accessible by you unless you choose to share it. Documents you create in Google Docs display on the main page under Recent documents. It helps to deliver documents names that you can easily recognize later.
Edit documents in Google Docs
Document editing is the bread and butter of word processors. Docs is neat because any edits you make are automatically saved. It's worth looking into the specifics of how to edit using Google Docs. If you're new to word processors, start with simple things like how to check your word count and how to adjust the margins. There are more complex features if you want to do something like use text boxes in documents or insert a personal signature. Learning a few keyboard shortcuts speeds up the editing process.
Share documents and work with others
The document-sharing features in Google Docs are exceptional. Native integration with Google Drive and Gmail means sharing documents is quick and easy. You can also import Word documents and other Microsoft Word files. Docs is compatible with various file types, including DOCX, HTML, RTF, ODT, PDF, and more. No matter how you want to share your work, there's a convenient option.
You can customize sharing permissions when sharing a direct link for a Google Docs document. This involves choosing who you will share the document with and what they can do (view, comment, or edit). Once shared, you can collaborate with others on that document in real-time. These options make collaboration precise and simple.
Edit documents while offline
Since this software relies on storage in Google's servers, you generally need an internet connection while working. The good news is that you can use Google Docs offline. Google has some tutorials for how to use Google Docs offline, but the gist is that you need to enable offline access in Google Drive. Before doing any offline work, you may also need to prepare and check some specific document settings in Google Docs.
Download add-ons for Google Docs
Docs can add extra features, known as add-ons. Add-ons make Google Docs a versatile word processor. You can obtain hundreds of add-ons for free from the Google Workspace Marketplace. These add-on features range from simple things like adding more fonts to more complex tools. For example, the table of contents add-on is great for anyone working on longer documents with many subheadings. There are helpful add-ons available for all kinds of document work.
How to use Google Docs in the web browser
Using Google Docs through the web browser is a common way to get work done from anywhere. These steps outline the basics of using Google Docs on the web.
- Create or sign in to your Google account.
- Visit the Google Docs web page and click Go to Docs. You can also go straight to docs.google.com.
- Click the + icon in the lower-right corner to create a new document. You can start with a blank document or a template.
- If you want to import a document file, click the folder icon in the upper-right corner, navigate to where the file is located, and then select the file.
- Give your document a title.
- Experiment with the writing and editing tools visible in the toolbar at the top.
- Click the Share button in the upper-right corner.
- Use the drop-down menus to customize your sharing settings.
- Click Done.
- Click the triple lines icon in the upper-left corner of the main page for more options.
Once you've completed these steps, you're ready to move forward with document work and collaboration. The most convenient browser is usually Google Chrome, but Docs works with most browser options.
How to use Google Docs on your mobile device
You can use Google Docs on Android or iOS as well. The Google Docs app is similar on both platforms. These steps should help you get started using the Docs app on most mobile devices.
- Download the Google Docs app.
- Open the app, then create or sign in to your Google account.
- Tap the + icon in the lower-right corner to create a new document. You can start with a blank document or a template.
- If you want to import a document file, tap the folder icon in the upper-right corner, navigate to where the file is located, and then select the file.
Close
- Give your document a title.
Close
- Tap the pencil icon in the lower-right corner to use the writing and editing tools.
- Tap the checkmark icon in the upper-left corner when you are finished writing and editing.
Close
- Tap the Share icon in the upper-right corner.
- Customize your sharing settings.
Close
- Tap the back arrow in the upper-left corner to return to your document, and tap it again to return to the Docs main page.
- Tap the triple lines icon in the upper-left corner for more options.
Close
You have now been introduced to using Google Docs on your mobile device. You're ready to get work done from your phone, no matter where you are.
A useful tool for productivity and collaboration
Google Docs is one of the best free word processors currently available. It's great for creating, editing, and sharing documents. Add-ons only make it a more versatile tool. If your documents are littered with spreadsheets, there are great add-ons for Google Sheets. With a little help, your most productive days are just around the corner.
There’s still the free version for education, known as Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, which offers Google’s suite of collaboration and communication tools, including Classroom, Sheets, Docs, Meet and Gmail. In addition, there’s now the Google Workplace for Education Standard upgrade, which includes a security center to mitigate threats and advanced device and app management solutions.
Another new edition, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, adds premium engagement features to the Fundamentals version. These include breakout rooms, polls and Q&As in Google Meet, along with the ability to hold meetings with up to 250 participants. This upgrade also comes with unlimited Originality Reports, a feature that uses Google Search to help students keep their writing original and avoid plagiarism.
Finally, Google Workspace for Education Plus includes everything in the standard edition and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade with the further addition of customizable Cloud Search as well as the ability to hold meetings of up to 500 participants, sync rosters directly to Classroom and use document approvals. Core licenses with AppSheet, a no-code development platform, are included at no additional cost.
With more editions, schools have more flexibility. IT departments used to have the binary choice between paid and unpaid. Now, they can say, “Well, which cool stuff do I need? Do I need it for the teaching and learning side? Or do I want it for the management and security side of things? Do I want both? Then, I’ll level up.”
DISCOVER: Learn more about the benefits of a Google Workspace for Education audit.
Changing Features Offer More Interaction and Oversight
Three years ago, Workspace offered Meet for online interaction and Classroom to facilitate online lectures. Now, with the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, the features have become more robust.
Through Meet, educators can leverage breakout rooms, use attendance trackers and access transcripts of each lecture. Meet also allows for more interaction with the ability to create polls, quizzes and Q&As.
Originality Reports in Classroom and Assignments are unlimited with this upgrade, and educators can use student-to-student matching to detect plagiarism within their own domain. Google has also added external livestreaming capabilities to its Workspace platform.
Security Improvements Keep Online Environments Safe
Google has additionally bolstered security and IT features on the administrative side of Workspace. The security center prevents threats and automates monitoring, while the security investigation tool remediates phishing, spam and other threats.
The investigation tool is a unified way to look at what’s going in within your Google environment and investigate things from a data perspective. With this tool, you can see everything going on within your domain, and you can take both individual and bulk actions on emails and files to mitigate threats, including quarantining emails and changing sharing permissions.
Google has also added the Gmail Security Sandbox, which automatically scans all email attachments to ensure they’re safe, adding an extra security layer to your environment.
IT admins can learn more and evaluate which edition is right for their district with the CDW Education experts at Amplified IT.
This article is part of the “ConnectIT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology” series. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the #ConnectIT hashtag.
![[title]Connect IT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology](http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/sites/default/files/articles/2014/05/connectit.jpg)
Mozilla, publishers of Firefox, acquired the team behind AI-based workplace collaboration product Pulse, announcing that they will work on Mozilla’s growing portfolio of products.
Pulse Team
The Pulse workplace collaboration product helped teams collaborate better by automatically managing their Slack presence, creating “focus times” that allow users to work without interruption, and display color-coded do no disturb notices when team members were in meetings.
Pulse was a product created specifically for today’s hybrid workplaces.
According to the archived Pulse page:
“Adjusts with your work hours
Pulse puts an end to the ‘Always On’ culture by helping manage your team’s expectations around your availability — so teammates know when is best to connect with you and respect your boundaries.Pulse uses AI to automatically display when you enter a focused state so your teammates know not to disturb.
You can also set calendar rules which change your status to show you’re focusing during blocked focus time or events marked as focus.”
The announcement did not hint at the future direction the new team will take within Mozilla.
However the fact that Pulse was a workplace collaboration product is notable.
It makes for interesting speculation that the acquisition may help Mozilla to begin introducing business-oriented products.
The quality that sets Mozilla apart from other companies is their commitment to creating products that don’t spy on or turn their users into a product to resell to marketers.
Free is increasingly common. Any product that can deliver quality at a free or near-free price and also respect user privacy would be increasing their value over more established products from companies like Google or Microsoft.
Google rapidly grew their email product by offering staggering amounts of storage space for free. Mozilla is doing with privacy what Google did with free, using it as a value-add that other companies do not offer.
And that edge is what makes the Pulse acquisition interesting because their machine learning expertise can be used to build privacy-forward consumer (and maybe business) products.
Ethical Machine Learning
The Pulse service used machine learning to help learn a user’s work patterns but in a way that respected their privacy, what Mozilla referred to as “applied ethical machine learning.”
According to Mozilla:
“Machine learning (ML) has become a powerful driver of product experience. At its best, it helps all of us to have better, richer experiences across the web.
Building ML models to drive these experiences requires data on people’s preferences, behaviors, and actions online, and that’s why Mozilla has taken a very cautious approach in applying ML in our own product experiences.
It is possible to build machine learning models that act in service of the people on the internet, transparently, respectful of privacy, and built from the start with a focus on equity and inclusion.”
First Project Announced
The first project the team will work on is improving Mozilla’s social sharing app called, Pocket.
Pocket is an app for saving content as well as sharing it with others. The app is available on a mobile device or desktop.
The author of the Mozilla announcement is Chief Product Officer, Steve Teixeira. He was hired by Mozilla in August 2022. Steve formerly worked at Twitter as Vice President of Product for their Machine Learning and Data platforms, and before that led the infrastructure Product Management, Design and Research team at Facebook.
Mozilla Chief Product Officer, Steve Teixeira, wrote:
“I’m particularly excited to enhance our machine learning capabilities, including personalization, in Pocket, a fantastic product that has only just scratched the surface of its ultimate potential.”
Mozilla offered no hint of future products beyond working on Pocket. They only published that they are looking forward to adding the Pulse team’s expertise to their growing suite of products.
Teixeira wrote:
“We are energized by the chance to work together, and I can’t wait to see what we build.”
It will be very interesting to see what Mozilla comes up with with the team acquired with Pulse.
Read the official announcement:
Pulse Joins the Mozilla Family to Help Develop a New Approach to Machine Learning
Featured image by Shutterstock/Kateryna Onyshchuk
An upcoming collaboration between UCLA Extension and Google will provide a no-cost career service program structured to support underserved communities in Los Angeles.
The collaboration will launch in 2023, offering career services and courses in high-demand STEM fields – including data analytics, information technology support, project management and computer automation – through the Python programming language and various design program platforms.
The initiative extends from the current UCLAxCareerBridge program, which launched in 2021 and was funded by a $2.9 million grant from the state of California and Grow with Google , an online Google-run extension school that partners with different university campuses and businesses. Both programs share a common mission to provide low- to no-cost certifications and resources to in-demand fields, according to the UCLAxCareerBridge and Grow with Google websites.
Over half of Grow with Google’s 70,000 graduates are from underrepresented groups, and it partners specifically with groups such as women-owned businesses, veterans, Latino communities and justice-impacted groups, according to its website
To qualify for the program, students would need a GED or high school diploma, though some specialized certifications may require other prerequisites, according to the program’s website.
The courses are taught by specialized Google employees and are structured to be time efficient, with students receiving a certification in around three to six months, according to the Grow with Google website. Each course provides hands-on labs, interactive assessments and additional services including orientation, interview preparation and point-of-contact advisement supported by Grow with Google and UCLA Extension.
Layla Banu, a student enrolled in UCLAxCareerBridge’s data science program, said in an emailed statement that she found the online certification process to be convenient, offering work-life balance as she completes the course alongside her current position as an AmeriCorps researcher.
“This program offers online learning which is a great cost-effective option for students with added comfort of studying at (a) self-paced environment,” Banu said in the statement.
The program plans to expand from UCLAxCareerBridge’s current certifications in data science, substance abuse counseling and early childhood education through the collaboration. After Google Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Gevelber met with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block in May, they decided on the benefits of a partnership that would directly target the LA community, said Emily Olson, a UCLA Extension spokesperson.
Olsen added that UCLAxCareerBridge would work with local community organizations in LA to qualify students who otherwise would not be able to afford UCLA Extension’s current programs.
UCLA Extension Dean Eric Bullard said the co-branded trainings strive to broaden inclusive access to education.
“Google’s top-notch tech training and UCLA Extension’s high quality student support and career services complement each other well, providing a unique collaboration to support student success, expand job opportunities and stimulate continued lifelong learning,” said Bullard in an emailed statement.
The program hopes to help graduates get jobs and higher pay as they enter the workforce, according to Grow with Google’s website. Graduates will have access to an employer association with membership from companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Verizon and Google through the Google platform.
For students like Banu, who hope to advance their careers in highly competitive fields, this kind of exposure provides opportunities for networking and job placement upon receiving a cost-free certificate.
“When Google and UCLA Extension are agreed to join hands towards a common goal of providing high in-demand training to underserved communities … this collaborative effort would be a resounding success,” Banu said in the emailed statement.
Last month, leaders from Accenture, Dropbox and Walmart met at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit—a forum that connects, inspires and equips the next generation of female leaders—to explore learning cultures within the workplace.
Fostering a learning culture can benefit everyone within your organization—from employees to ... [+]
gettyThe panelists emphasized the importance of a culture of learning in which leaders actively encourage their teams to take risks, be curious and ask questions. Leaders can do this by introducing new tools and technologies to allow employees to work smarter, not harder; providing access to helpful resources and training materials; and fostering a supportive environment that encourages open dialogue. The panelists also agreed that organizations benefit greatly from a culture of experimentation, flexibility, collaboration and innovation. Because by doing so, companies can unlock the potential of their people and create an environment where employees can reach their highest potential.
Courtney Rose, vice president of services sector at Google
GoogleCourtney Rose, vice president of services sector at Google, believes that leaders should create environments for learning and growth; instead of handing over a playbook, if there even is one. In an interview, she said, “give your teams a goal and let them set the agenda to get there. That way, they can own the objective and learn as they set the path towards achieving it.” Rose advocated that the key to success is empowering teams to come up with creative solutions and not disregard the voices of those on their team. “It’s the same mindset I apply to customers—the better we understand their objectives, the better we can help them connect the dots,” she added.
Her view is shared by Josh Hester, CEO of The Story Teller Studios, who suggested in an interview that leaders should create a narrative for the entire team and deliver them a goal to achieve. “When everyone is on the same page, it’s easier for them to understand why they are doing what they are doing and how their efforts contribute to the bigger picture,” he added. Here are five techniques that may help.
1. Encourage and support continued learning
Try to provide resources and opportunities that enable your team to stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends. After all, the better informed they are, the more agile their decision-making. Make sure that your team members have the opportunity to continue learning new things, which could include providing access to online courses, attending conferences or workshops, or simply encouraging them to read relevant industry news and articles. You could even deliver bonuses to team members who complete specific courses.
2. Create an open and supportive environment
Encourage conversations and idea-sharing among your team members so that everyone can learn from each other and collaborate in a meaningful way. Make sure that all ideas are welcome, no matter how absurd they may seem at first glance—some of the most innovative concepts have come from seemingly random thoughts, according to research. Also, provide an open and comfortable space for team members to express their opinions and ask questions without feeling judged. For example, you could create a virtual forum or discussion board where everyone can come together to express their thoughts and ideas.
3. Encourage social learning
Social learning is a type of learning that takes place between people. It’s an effective way for employees to share knowledge and learn from each other. After all, no one knows everything, and the collective expertise of a team can be much more potent than any singularity. Encourage your team to ask questions, build relationships, and help each other whenever possible. This approach will benefit employees’ professional development and foster better working relationships among team members. For example, you might create a team chat room or initiate “lunch and learn” sessions where employees can discuss Topics of mutual interest—helping ensure everyone is on the same page and has access to the resources they need to succeed.
4. Provide feedback
Give employees regular feedback on their performance. This feedback should be both positive and constructive, and it should be specific and actionable. Additionally, make sure to allow employees to provide feedback on their development and growth. For example, you might ask them what skills they’d like to develop or how they think their job can be improved. By doing this, you create an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated while also being able to grow professionally.
5. Set realistic goals
Set clear expectations for employee performance by setting SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This lets employees know exactly what they’re working towards and how they can best use their time and resources to reach those goals. Additionally, ensure that the goals you set are realistic—if they are overly ambitious or unattainable, it can create frustration for employees who feel like they’re set up for failure. After all, it’s only natural for people to strive for success, so ensure your team has the tools and support they need to reach their goals.
In summary, if you want to create a learning culture in your workplace, you should encourage and support continued learning, view failure as an opportunity to learn, encourage social learning, and provide feedback. Taking these steps will help you foster a more positive and productive environment within your organization. In addition, with the right approach, you’ll be able to foster a learning culture that encourages employees to grow and develop their skills. This will help employees become more successful in their current roles and potentially open up new job opportunities for them as they expand their skill set. Fostering a learning culture can benefit everyone within your organization—from employees to customers—and ultimately lead to tremendous success.
The science news of 2022 has been strange, dramatic, intriguing and more than occasionally alarming—but the year also saw awe-inspiring breakthroughs and heartwarming successes. Here we’ve pulled together some of the most interesting positive stories of the year, plus a couple that are just plain cool. As Scientific American’s editors wrote in an August editorial, “Exploration is science in its most basic form—asking questions of the natural world and, we hope, using the answers for the betterment of everything on Earth.”
Folding Frenzy
Proteins perform crucial functions across the human body, and the twisty molecules’ actions are intimately tied to their intricate shapes. Researchers have sometimes spent years trying to determine individual protein structures. In 2022, however, the artificial intelligence program AlphaFold predicted the 3-D structures of about 200 million proteins—almost every one that is known. Scientific American talked with Demis Hassabis—CEO of the Google-owned company DeepMind, which developed AlphaFold—about the program’s creation, the power of knowing protein shapes and the future of artificial intelligence.
Save Our Snakes
A Texas Facebook group’s goal to identify locally found snakes illustrates a growing trend of wildlife enthusiasts on social media promoting accurate information and shooting down myths about much maligned creatures. Locals are learning which snakes are dangerous and which can be safely removed from the premises—or simply admired from afar. By engaging with such groups, people are learning to be less afraid of their scaly neighbors and to get through encounters without harming them.
Ultimate Selfie
This year researchers released the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at our galaxy’s center. This beast at the heart of the Milky Way was first proposed in the early 1960s. But it took a global network of observational facilities working as one virtual unit, called the Event Horizon Telescope, to pierce the 26,000 light-years’ worth of gas and dust, distorted space and destroyed matter that shrouded its form. The new image shows the ever changing doughnutlike halo of microwaves streaming from just outside the black hole’s event horizon, from which nothing can return.
A Glowing Reveal
Speaking of “milky,” researchers are getting closer to understanding mysterious, transient, miles-long stretches of ocean suffused with steady white light. While these “milky seas” were considered tall tales for more than a century, researchers eventually learned to discern the phenomenon using night-vision satellites and are poised to dispatch divers to explore when a long-lasting one comes along. This large-scale bioluminescence illuminates the vastness of what we still don’t know about Earth’s oceans.
Gut Feeling
Researchers helped revive a failing river near Seattle that urban construction had harshly straightened and narrowed. To do so, they restored its underresearched “gut”—the layer of stones and sediment between a riverbed and groundwater where microbes cycle nutrients and metabolize inorganic compounds into plant and bug food. A deep dive into the process reveals how a comparatively minor addition to restoration can have a major impact on reducing pollution and flooding and on regenerating biodiversity.
Emission Remission
A record-setting boost in renewable energy use helped keep global carbon dioxide emissions from spiking this year despite a global surge in natural gas prices potentially driving the mass use of coal. Energy sources such as wind and solar power may have avoided 600 million metric tons in additional carbon dioxide emissions during 2022. (These sources are also set to generate more power than coal did in the U.S. this year.)
High-Resolution Collab
Museum researchers are partnering with Indigenous North American groups to digitally replicate culturally important artifacts to safeguard them from damage. Such models can be used for preservation and education, as well as the production of physical replicas for display—and even for ritual use when the originals are too delicate, thanks to close collaboration with tribal officials.
Telescope Triumph
After decades of ballooning costs and production delays, the most powerful space observatory ever built launched on Christmas 2021 before beginning an eye-wateringly delicate unfolding process in the depths of space. Finally, the James Webb Space Telescope released its first full set of images this summer, revealing awe-inspiring vistas of the universe we call home and the promise of fascinating science to come.
Teary-Eyed Pups
And finally, this year we learned that dogs’ eyes actually well up with tears when they are reunited with their owners, an oxytocin-driven reaction that seems to spark humans’ caregiving behavior.
Since late 2021, when Google announced that it would impose a 100-terabyte limit on the unlimited free storage it had been offering to higher education institutions through its Google Workspace for Education platform, universities around the country have been paying closer attention to the data stored by their users on Google Cloud.
Google implemented the policy not only because the storage required by universities has grown unmanageable but also because universities — for the most part unwillingly — have strayed from the intended use of Google Workspace for Education. Some users have inadvertently connected their network-shared Google Drive to their desktops, backing up all manner of noneducational files to the cloud. In some cases, inactive users are still taking advantage of the institution’s cloud storage space, years after their affiliation has ended.
Many institutions have not been able to get their total storage under 100TB, but the mere existence of storage limits is forcing colleges and universities to investigate their users’ habits and their own intended-use policies.
First, of course, there is the matter of cutting the current storage load to something more manageable. Once universities have trimmed the fat from their storage drives, new rules need to be implemented, and many institutions will need to find alternative storage options, whether that means paying for additional Google Cloud storage or finding a different provider.
CDW Education Amplified Services has supported Google Workspace for Education for years and has the tools and expertise to help colleges and universities through those steps. Read on to learn more about how you can bring your bloated storage under control, and keep it there.
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Analyzing Shared Storage Drives in Google Workspace for Education
Higher education institutions were initially given until July 2022 to get their storage under the 100TB threshold. But since then, a number have been given extensions, and any institution that purchased the Google Workspace for Education Plus package has also been granted a later deadline.
But deadline day is coming soon enough, and for universities with total storage needs that far exceed the 100TB maximum, the first step is hacking away at the complex, crowded web of directories, users and files that are taking up space.
One way to do that is to use Gopher for Drive, a free tool that takes a deep dive into your users’ storage habits. Through Gopher, administrators can access storage data broken down by user, file type, file size and more.
Armed with that data, admins can then take a close look at the users who are storing the largest amount of data. If those users are inactive, the solution is as easy as clearing them out of the system. If they’re uploading large amounts of data inadvertently — for instance, by syncing their shared drive to back up their desktop — it’s a matter of informing the user and making a change. And if there is something nefarious going on, such as a user selling storage space or the rare case of an unwanted user gaining access to the shared drive, those issues are easier to correct once they have been identified.
DISCOVER: Why your campus needs a Google Workspace for Education audit.
Setting Policies to Manage Storage in Google Workspace for Education
When storage was free, universities could be more relaxed about offering access to Google Workspace for Education and its wide array of tools. We’ve seen some institutions assign email addresses (and Google tools access) to applicants before they even enroll; others had no rules in place for what could or should be backed up to the shared drive.
Now, the threat of having to shell out large sums of money to buy more storage space has universities looking closely at these policies. A few best practices can have a big impact.
First, consider retention policies: Archival data is important in higher education because universities are required by law to keep some student data, and intellectual property developed by former users must be stored somewhere. In both of those cases, we would recommend looking for something more affordable than Google Drive.
With inactive users, the institution may want to continue providing access to email but should cut off access to collaboration tools and storage once the user has graduated or left the institution. Life planning for user accounts is imperative to keep data needs manageable.
The bottom line: Institutions need to set expectations for the use of Google Drive and create an acceptable use policy to support that. Laying out clearly what Google Workspace for Education should be used for is an exercise worth doing almost everywhere.
CDW Education Amplified services can help. Our higher education tools and experts can dive as deeply as you need to go to see what’s going on with Google Drive at your institution, and we can recommend policies to help you keep your storage requirements under control.
UP NEXT: Debunking five security myths about Google Workspace for Education.
This article is part of EdTech: Focus on Higher Education’s UniversITy blog series.
Research & Trends
New Report from Global Google Research Project Considers the 'Future of Education'
Global Trends and 'Preparing for the Future' Highlighted in First of Three Reports
Google for Education has released the first report from a massive, two-year study considering the role of education in a “radically different future,” and what that might look like.
Part 1 of Google’s Future of Education report focuses on big-picture themes seen as most likely to impact education and the future workforce in the coming years and decades.
Google for Education undertook the project to better understand the complexities and current challenges facing the education system post-pandemic, to better “position ourselves as not just thought leaders but as partners” for educators, Global Head of Education Impact Jennie Magiera told THE Journal. Magiera introduced the report and offered background in a recent blog post.
“With teachers and students coming back after COVID-19, there’s a lot of challenges to overcome, and there’s been an accelerated rate of technological innovation and adoption particularly in education,” Magiera said in an interview with THE Journal. “The classroom has changed drastically and very quickly in the past few years, and as we look toward this future that is radically different from the past 100 years, we’re asking ourselves, what should the role of education be, and how might that look?”
Parts two and three of the Future of Education project will be released in the coming months, said Magiera, who was a K–12 classroom teacher for a decade in New York City and Chicago before working as a district leader, a chief information officer, and as an advisor for the Obama administration’s ed tech planning efforts. Part two will focus on “evolving how we teach and learn” and part three will be about “reimagining the learning ecosystems and the spaces,” she said.
“These reports are not intended to say, ‘this is the exact roadmap of how to do this or what the future is,’” Magiera explained. “These are more about what we are hearing these thought leaders saying from around the world and coalescing around these points, and here's how Google sees our role in it, and here's some exemplars of how it's already happening.”
The report, “Preparing for a New Future,” covers three trends identified during the project research, wrote Google for Education Vice President Shantanu Sinha in the foreword. Those trends are:
- Rising demand for global problem-solvers
- Change in the skill sets required for work
- Shift to a lifelong learning mindset
Google for Education leaders partnered with researchers at Canvas8 and the nonprofit American Institutes for Research to find common threads and actionable principles among insights from 94 educational experts, two years of peer-reviewed academic literature, and an analysis of education media reports and narratives.
Each trend is explained in the context of exact and historical developments worldwide, in society at large and in economic and educational settings.
For example, the discussion of Trend 1, the “rising demand for global problem-solvers,” kicks off with the question “How can educators prepare tomorrow’s leaders to address global challenges?”
The report continues: “The issues of our day, such as equitable access to education, digital literacy, sustainability, and economic volatility, are only getting more complex. In order for today’s students — tomorrow’s leaders — to address these challenges on a global scale, the experts we spoke to expressed a need for both global mindsets and multidisciplinary skill sets. Specifically, they highlighted the role of educators in helping students become civic-minded, collaborative problem solvers. ”
Several “Ideas In Action” — specific examples of how schools, public agencies, and education nonprofits are addressing the needs of each trend — are offered throughout the discussions.
A Trend 1 Idea in Action, this one from Canada:
“Developing global mindsets: Belfountain Public School in Canada launched the Sustainable Future Schools pilot program in 2020, which allows students to align their course content and projects to one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the duration of the school year. The program helps students Excellerate their global problem-solving skills through both independent and collaborative work. Students of the program experience improved learning outcomes, and gain the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to create positive changes in their communities.”
The discussion of Trend 2 identified in the Future of Education report begins with the question: “In the age of automation, which skills will be in high demand?”
Noting the World Economic Forum projections that by 2025, “technological change may see 97 million new jobs created, while 85 million existing roles may disappear,” the report acknowledges that anticipating what skills are needed for jobs and tech that don’t exist yet is challenging at best, and statistical forecasting is slow, expensive, and not always accurate.
One Idea in Action offered, from Sweden , called “Using big data to map future skills ,” explains how the Swedish Public Employment Service’s JobTech Development initiative “uses AI to integrate previously siloed data sets (such as job advertisements and forecasts for future in-demand skills) from 500 different organizations into one place, providing a highly accurate, real-time forecast of the skills Sweden’s workforce needs in the future.”
Google for Education emphasizes the top five in-demand skills by 2025 listed by the World Economic Forum:
- Analytical thinking and innovation: The capacity to solve novel, ill-defined problems in the real world.
- Active learning and learning strategies: Understanding of the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex problem-solving: Abilities that influence the acquisition and application of knowledge in problem-solving.
- Critical thinking and analysis: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems, as well as assessing performance of yourself, other individuals or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Creativity, originality and initiative: Capacity to analyze information and use logic to address issues and problems, apply alternative thinking to develop new, original ideas and answers.
