After a recent discussion on twitter surrounding Google Scripts, I thought it would be wise to take the discussion beyond 140-characters. As much as we all love twitter, without enough space to type up a more formal response, thoughts can can be misconstrued!  Lucky there are blogs…

For many educators and administrators, the suite of tools provided by Google Apps for Education has become something of a must-have. Google Apps for Education is feature rich for everyone involved and unmatched in education today.

As a basic example of its power, the ability to share a Google Doc with students and provide feedback at any point during the day can vastly improve the experience with an assignment. Quick check-ins on key concepts using Google Forms to collect data greatly assists the teacher on what skills need additional support. How about the ability to auto-grade tests with the Google Script Flubaroo or pushing out shared folders through gClassFolders as other available tools… Did I just lose some of you with the last two?

You may have heard them, but the vast majority of Google Apps for Education users are completely unaware of various, invaluable add-ons inside Google Scripts.

The question I keep coming back to surrounding these scripts is; how can tools, that are complete game changers for educators, be tucked away under a “Tools” menu?

Currently, Google Scripts, are rather simple add-ons without a polished or official presentation. There is a “script gallery”, which is lacking in terms of search functionality and style. Scripts are often overlooked by schools using Google Apps for Education and I’m not sure technology departments are to blame. Sure there are awesome twitter users (most script creators are available as well) willing to extend a hand or a YouTube video with a helpful “how-to”, but Google Inc. must bring top-notch, education scripts to the forefront of their sales pitch to schools and out from the menu-bar shadows for all Google Apps for Education users. Scripts are increasing in popularity, but still remain an after thought.

My suggestion for Google is to take a strong stance, promote and support these scripts and apply official branding. Status quo may continue to work, in mediocre fashion, but there are improvements to be made and Google should take these next steps…they are sitting on a small gold mine. Imagine the additional scripts that could be created too!

The current model doesn’t reward script creators and there is always a chance that support through updates could cease, at any time. If certain Google Scripts no longer worked, it would get ugly real fast, for the thousands of administrators, teachers and students who use them everyday.

It’s important to note, there is very strong, professional support by third parties who create scripts that greatly improve the experience, however I think it is time that Google incorporate these tools into the Google Apps for Education realm at a much higher level.

Below are four of my favorite scripts that have been amazing to use and supported extremely well by their creators.

Again, tools this good, shouldn’t be this hard to get your hands on! Trying out these scripts and sharing how powerful they are with others are the only steps we can take at the moment to push forward. Enjoy!