Other Google tools

As of September 2021, Google no longer permits student education accounts to use Blogger due to privacy & safety concerns. SFUSD teachers & staff can continue to use Blogger themselves, but students will not be able to access or publish to Blogger.

NOTE: Without a signed opt-in form from a student's parents/guardians, no identifiable student work may be posted publicly, which includes names, work, and handwriting. For questions about publicly sharing or posting student work, please contact your site admin or the SFUSD Communications Department.

Looking for alternatives to Blogger for students?

• Seesaw offers blogs with an authentic audience of classmates, families and other students. Learn more about Seesaw's blogs feature.
• If students have a signed opt-in media release form on file with their school site, teachers can still access Blogger with their staff account to post students' written work. We highly recommend students choose a "pen name" for teachers to use, rather than listing the student's real name as the author.
• Google Sites is another more "public" publishing space.
  Please note: Sites typically need to earn Digital Agency Certification for students first to be able to create their own websites on Google Sites. Work with your site administrator and DLeaFs/tech lead teachers to find out if your site is Digital Agency certified.
• Consider "publishing" student writing in a more traditional way, by posting written work in the hallway or in a booklet that's shared with other teachers and/or classes.

While staff may use Google Earth, this tool is not enabled for students at SFUSD due to privacy concerns and a student’s ability to unknowingly create and share personal and/or private, geo-specific information that is searchable on the Internet. Learn more about the Google Earth privacy policy and additional terms of service. 

Check out our Google Earth educator resources.

Looking for alternatives to Google Earth for students?

• Google Maps
• Google My Maps

Google Photos is not enabled for students at SFUSD due to the ability to share photos publicly with anyone in the world. Students can still view public albums and/or photos shared by staff members.

NOTE: Without a signed opt-in form from a student's parents/guardians, no identifiable images may be posted publicly, which includes faces, names, work, and handwriting. For questions about sharing or posting images, please contact your site admin or the SFUSD Communications Department.

Looking for alternatives to Google Photos for students?

• Google Drive
• Google Drawings

Google Voice is not enabled at SFUSD because it is no longer a free service. Some SFUSD employees may still have a legacy number from when the service was free, but all new Voice numbers are now subject to billing from Google. Departments can request to have Google Voice numbers issued to specific staff members if the department is willing to pay for the service for those staff members. You can contact Help Desk to request Google Voice numbers, to find out about pricing, or to learn more about if Google Voice is the right solution for your staff.

Looking for alternatives to Google Voice?

• Google Meet
  • You can place outgoing phone calls on Google Meet.
  • Each Meet link also has a corresponding phone number, so people can also call into the Meet.
  • Resource: Making phone calls with Meet
• SFUSD phone system
  • There are several pilots in progress at the moment to test various systems.

Google Tour Creator was a virtual reality tool used to build 360-degree tours, but it has been discontinued by Google as of June 30th, 2021.

There are no known alternatives to Tour Creator at this time.