Chapter 9: Using Cloud-based Collaborative Office Productivity Tools (Google Workspace) to Engage Students in Their Learning and Prepare Them for the Workplace

This chapter explores how cloud-based office productivity suite(s) such as Google Workspace have been used to engage students in their learning while also preparing them for the workplace. Using these types of tools can make group-based in-class activities, assignments and projects highly engaging for a diverse student body while also developing skills valued in the workplace. Practical examples are shared regarding how the tools have been used with accounting and business students in courses such as communications and computing, introduction to business, sustainability and leadership. Some examples include how students can use the tools to collaboratively: provide feedback to a post-secondary institution regarding its orientation activities; complete a PESTLE and SWOT analysis of a business; use Google Forms with mobile phones to record observations of the emotional state of individuals and discuss in relation to emotionally intelligent leadership; and create a sustainability report for a post-secondary institution. The examples provided can be adapted as is or modified to engage learners in nearly any discipline at any education level in a face-to-face classroom or via remote delivery.