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Google announced new updates on Wednesday that are intended to advance education in both online and offline scenarios. These will be beneficial to people in classes and remote learning environments.

The most important update has to be the launch of Google Workspace for Education. It is meant to align the education tools provided with the new Google Workspace product, which was launched last year.

Before the update, it was known as G Suite for Education and offered Google’s full suite of productivity tools like Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Gmail, Docs, and Classroom.

Free and premium

The product comes in four editions. There is a free version called Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals. For institutions that want better security and better tools, the remaining three editions are available. They are premium and will require payment.

The tiers are Google Workspace for Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Google Workspace for Education Plus.

With the Education Standard edition, users will have access to Google Security Center and have better visibility using tools like audit logs and advanced mobile management. The Teaching and Learning Upgrade builds on the free version and the Education Standard edition, providing advanced video communications in Google Meet.

More features

There are additional features in Classroom, according to Shantanu Sinha, the Google for Education product and design leader, which will make the class experience richer.

With Google Workspace for Education Plus, the users will have a comprehensive version that includes advanced security and analytics and teaching and learning features. Sinha says that the Education Fundamentals and Education Plus editions are available.

The Education Standard and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade editions will be available starting April.

There is also a new resource for schools that want to know the best Chromebooks to use.