Years ago, several homeschool co-ops contacted HSLDA regarding Google Workspace for Education (at that time called G Suite for Education), Google’s collection of productivity and collaboration tools geared toward educational organizations. (The tools include Google Classroom, Meet, Docs, Forms, and Chat.) When the co-ops applied to get G Suite, Google refused, saying that the service was only available to accredited schools.
HSLDA advocated on behalf of homeschool groups for access to G Suite, and after negotiations and revisions, Google opened the service to homeschool organizations in June 2018. At the time, local homeschool groups that wanted to participate in G Suite had to obtain a code from a state or regional homeschool organization to participate; this was Google’s attempt to approximate the school accreditation requirement.
How to Get Access
Now the process is even easier. As of 2022, local homeschool groups can create their own Google Workspace for Education accounts without obtaining codes from state or regional organizations.
For instructions on how to access the service, read Google’s help article “Get started with Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals for homeschools.” The two most important instructions are that groups must obtain or already own their own domain name, and they must include “(Homeschool)” at the end of their name when applying for the service.
Privacy Concerns
Privacy has been a longtime concern for parents—homeschooling parents especially. Google Workspace for Education’s privacy policies assure users that Google does not own their data, will not sell or share it, will keep the data only as long as the users request it, and will not use the data for advertising or show any ads in Google Classroom.
However, please keep in mind that Google does collect a significant amount of data from its users. Data collected includes which programs are being used, how they are being used, and information on the group directors, students, and teachers using the programs. This data can potentially come from anything being stored on Google by users, as well as from their activity on other apps, their browsers, and their devices. So, although Google Workspace for Education is a voluntary and free program, your homeschool group should consider the cost when deciding whether to use it.