Characteristics of Google cloud services in aspect of preschool educational institution management

Abstract

The implementation of cloud technologies in education began relatively recently in Ukraine. Particularly in preschool education it is still at an early stage of development and requires further study. Using cloud services releases prospects for improving the quality of preschools’ management processes. Purpose of the study: to describe the characteristics of Google cloud services in terms of preschool educational institution management. Object of study: informatization of preschool education management. Subject of study: the use of cloud services in the preschool educational institution management. Research methods: analysis, generalization and systematization of scientific and methodological sources on the use of cloud technologies in education; study of characteristics, comparison of different vendors’ cloud service to determine the most optimal ones for use in preschool educational institution management. The main results and conclusions: after a preliminary analysis of various cloud services, we have chosen Google services, as optimal for use in preschool educational institution management. Their main advantages which are principal for Ukrainian preschools, were defined: free of charge; ease of use, intuitive interface; availability of universal account that provides access to all services; the use on different platforms (Windows, Android, iOS); the available functionality, required for preschool management; the availability via any digital device connected to the Internet; no need to deploy “cloud”. The characteristics of Google services (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Office suite, Google Sites, Google+, Blogger, Hangouts, Google Forms) in terms of preschool educational institution management were considered.