The Use of Google Apps to Support Teaching and Learning: A UAE Case Study

This study was designed to examine pre-service teachers' proficiency, use, and their perceptions of the benefits and barriers to the use of Google Apps to support their teaching and learning practices. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The findings showed that almost two-thirds (63%) of participants were advanced or expert users of Google Apps whereas almost one-fourth (24%) reported that they had intermediate experience and 13% reported possessing poor experience. It was found also that participants used Google Apps the most for communication purposes, backing up and sharing data, and accessing teaching materials. The findings also revealed that participants perceived Google Apps as a valuable tool to improve teaching and learning. However, their use of Google Apps was hindered by several barriers, such as deficiency of access to reliable technology, increasing workload, lack of collaboration skills, cheating and plagiarism, and lack of integration skills.

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