Using Gmail in the classroom

i teach small groups of several students in two different schools.  Creating email groups for each class--one for parents and one for students helps in communication.  I can easily send class updates, field trip permission forms, pictures from special events, and videos of classroom activities to parents.  

For students, I'd like to use gmail to communicate on a more regular basis. This would help so that they could ask questions when I am not available in the building.  I'd also like to see students use it to collaborate on group projects (ie. using the "chat" or google hangouts).  In a few of my classes, we end the semester with a large group activity involving many students from a variety of schools.  It would be interesting to start the communication earlier in the semester via email so that they would have a stronger connection to the others in the final large group project.  I have done this before using a discussion board.  I like using discussion boards best because I am able to monitor the communication.

Getting students used to using the task list would be helpful in completing long term assignments.  Individual checkpoints with due dates could be entered and students could check them off when completed.  

I had never heard about the translation feature.  I teach at a school with a large ELL population.  This would be a wonderful resource!