What is it? Google Classroom is an online classroom learning management system. That means that it will allow you to store documents, give assignments, track grades, start discussions, etc. and save it all online in the "cloud." For an introduction to Google Classroom, click on the video below.
Strengths:
- It is simple, streamlined, and organized.
- It works perfectly with GAFE (Google Apps For Education). You can uploads docs, forms, etc. directly from you Google Drive. It also automatically sets up a "classroom" folder for you in your drive and in your students' drive, where all your files can be found.
- Its paperless! You can give tests, quizzes, assignments, and more without having to make a ton of copies. You can also grade and give feedback to students without using paper too.
- You can instantly see who is still working on an assignment and who has submitted it.
- It is easy to upload a computer file, audio file, and YouTube clips right into an announcement or assignment.
- If students are submitting work into Google Classroom from their Google Drive, they need to actually upload it to the classroom. Many students make the mistake of thinking that once it is created in their Google Drive that it automatically gets uploaded to the classroom; that is not the case.
- You can only grade out of increments of 1, 20, 50, 100. So if you use percentages then this is great, but if you use a point system this may be a pain.
- It is still relatively new, so glitches are bound to arise. They still need some time to work out all of the bugs.
- It doesn't sync with Google Calender, Google Sites, Google Blogger, etc. yet.
- Flip your classroom. Upload videos or documents to have students view or read at home, and then have students do hands-on activities in class.
- Have students post questions about assignments or topics they are learning about in class. Often students have the same questions, or are too shy to ask, this enables them to look at your answers in one place.
- Give alerts to students when assignments are due, or if you have an announcement to make.
- Create sub-plans. Every assignment can be added and collected with Google Classroom.
- Get students involved in a classroom discussion online.
Below is a quick glance at some of the features that you can use in Google Classroom:
Let's share! Have you used Google Classroom? Would you be interested in trying Google Classroom out? Do you have any questions or concerns about Google Classroom? Just post a comment or question below to get the conversation going by clicking on "comments."