Students in China and WhitMail, GSuite (Google Docs, Drive, etc), and videos

All Google services-- WhitMail (Gmail), Google Drive, Docs, YouTube, etc – are blocked by the Chinese government from being accessed within China. 

What to do about WhitMail (Gmail) access

Students in China should not rely on WhitMail.  They should have their WhitMail account forwarded to another email address that can be accessed reliably in China, such as a qq.com account. Forwarding will provide for the delivery of any messages sent directly by staff, faculty, or classmates, and through the various automated systems and services used by the College. Students should contact the WCTS Helpdesk if they need help setting up email forwarding.

What to do about Gsuite (Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc)

Students in China may not be able to use Google Docs or other Google Apps. Microsoft Office 365 (which Whitman has a campus agreement for) should provide viable alternatives for some kinds of collaborative document editing. Here are some resources on other alternatives: 

• Article in Digitaltrends, 2020

• Video by The Linux Experiment, 2019

What to do about videos you've created or have rights to share

Please refer to Sharing pre-recorded videos with you students through Canvas

What about other services?  What else does the Chinese government block?

Wikipedia provides a list of websites blocked in mainland China. Please check here (and check with your students in China) before adopting an alternative tool.