Google Classroom | Online Tools for Teaching & Learning

Google Classroom is a free application designed to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, ... OnlineToolsforTeaching&Learning DesignedbystudentsinEDUC390D,592A,&692DattheUniversityofMassachusettsAmherst GoogleClassroomisalearningmanagementsystem(LMS)thataimstosimplifycreating,distributing,andgradingassignmentsandengagingstudentsinlearningonlineorremotely.GoogleClassroomisafreeapplicationdesignedtohelpstudentsandteacherscommunicate,collaborate,organizeandmanageassignments,gopaperless,andmuchmore!ItwasintroducedasafeatureofGoogleAppsforEducationfollowingitspublicreleaseonAugust12,2014.  CheckoutthisamazingoverviewofGoogleClassroombyAmyFlynnandBrandonLutz. ToolSnapshot Price Free Learning Behaviorism,SocialConstructivism EaseofUse ★★★★☆ Privacy ★★★★☆ Accessibility ★★★★★ ClassSize Unlimited ISTE*S EmpoweredLearner COPPA/ FERPA YeswithGoogleAppsforEducationaccounts ThisistheonlyapplicationthatGooglehasdevelopedspecificallyforstudentsandteachers,andtheywantittobeyourgo-toassignmentmanagerforGoogleDriveandbeyond.AssignmentcreationanddistributionisaccomplishedthroughGoogleDrivewhileGmailisusedtoprovideclassroomcommunication.Studentscanbeinvitedtoclassroomsthroughtheinstitution’sdatabasethroughaprivatecodethatcanthenbeaddedinthestudentinterfaceorautomaticallyimportedfromaSchoolInformationManagementSystem. GoogleClassroomintegrateswithstudents’andteachers’GoogleCalendars.EachclasscreatedwithGoogleClassroomcreatesaseparatefolderintherespectiveGoogleservicewherethestudentcansubmitworktobegradedbyateacher.CommunicationthroughGmailallowsteacherstomakeannouncementsandaskquestionstotheirstudentsineachoftheirclasses.TeacherscanaddstudentsdirectlyfromtheGoogleAppsdirectoryorcanprovideacodethatcanbeenteredforaccesstotheclassbystudents. IncontrasttoGoogle’sregularservices,GoogleClassroomdoesnotshowanyadsinitsinterfaceforstudents,faculty,andteachers,anduserdataisnotscannedorusedforadvertisingpurposes. TypeofLearning:Allowsforstreamlinedfeedbackandonlinecollaboration.Booststhesociallearningaspectofonlineeducation,enablinglearnerstobenefitfromtheexperienceandskillsoftheirpeers.Allowsteachertodesigndigitalteambasedlearningactivities. EaseofUse: Quickandconvenientsetup,easytologin,easytoreceiveandturninassignments. Accessibility: Allowsfortheuseofscreenreadersforlowvisionusers.GoogleclassroomMobileappworkswithVoiceOveroniOSandTalkBackonAndroid. Access: Toolisaccessiblefromallcomputers,mobilephones,andtablets. GoogleClassroomOverviewVideo *ViewTranscriptforGoogleclassroomvideohere* GoogleClassroom &theSAMRModel Dr.RubenPuentedura’sSAMRmodeloffersalensforexamininghowtechnologyisadoptedinaclassroom.Asyoustrivetoincorporateonlinetoolsintoyourclassroom,weencourageyoutousethismodelasananalytictool. SinceGoogleClassroomisanLMSthatintegratesGoogleAppsforEducation,ItwilltieinGoogleDocs,GoogleSlidesandotherGoogleappsalongwithotherGradingtools(exclusivetoGoogleclassroomonly).HerearesomeexamplesofhowusingmultipleGoogleAppsthatmightfitwithintheSAMRmodel: Substitution:  UseGoogleDocstowriteareport(insteadofwritingwithpencilandpaper). Googlesheetstoprovetheconceptofsharedworkspaceandliveupdating. UseGoogleCalendarforduedates,eventsoutsidetheclassroom,andotherimportant“chronologicaldata.” Augmentation:  Trackwhenstudentsturn-inwork. Highlightstudentexemplars:AnannouncementinGoogleClassroomcanattachstudentexemplarsfromtheassignmentfolderinGoogleDrive. Modification:  CreateyourselfgradingassessmentusingGoogleForms.Studentscouldusetheresultstocreatenewlearninggoals. Createclassroomgroupsbasedonreadiness,interest,readinglevel,orotherfactorsforteachingandlearning. GoogleDocstosharedocumentsandworkcollaborativelyonwritingprojects. GoogleDraw todrawcollaboratively. Redefinition:  InviteaGooglerintoyourclasstodoaguestlecturethroughVideoChatontheimportancescience.Orinviteagrandparentwholivesinaanotherstatetoreadtotheclassduringstorytime. Fartoooften,technologyisusedasadirectsubstituteforotherlow-techtools(e.g.,pencilandpaper).Whilesubstitutionhassomebenefits(e.g.,studentsdeveloptheirtechnologyskillsandknowledge),weencourageyoutothinkabouthowyoumightuseGoogleClassroomtomodifyorredefinelearning. LearningActivities ForTeachers WorkonthesamelessonplanatthesametimewithacolleagueusingGoogleDocs. Storeyourlessonplansinyourschool’ssharedGoogleDrivesothatanyoneatyourschoolcanfindandaccessthem. Createafolderforyourgradeleveltoshareresources. ForStudents Math ModelmathematicswithGoogleDrawing:Collaborativelycreatevirtualmanipulatives,suchasAlgebraTiles,inaGoogleDrawing.DistributeGoogleDrawingsforstudentstobuildon.  Collaborativereasoning:Priortoprovidingstudentsthealgorithmforsolvingaproblem,studentscanuseacollaborativeGoogleDocumentorSlidespresentationtoreasonoutpossiblesolutionstoaproblem.AttachadocumentinGoogleClassroomas“Studentscaneditfile.” Providepeertutoring:StudentsinuppergradescantutorandsupportstudentsinlowergradesthroughthecreationofaGoogleClassroomclassforthispurpose. Science CreateaDiscussiononSpecificTopic: InGoogleClassroom,youhaveastreamthatappearsbydefaultwhenyoulogintoyourclass.Thisstreamcanbeutilizedtocollectstudentopinionsbycreating discussiontopicsandnewposts. Weather/environmentlab.Scienceclassescanconnectwithoneormoreclassesinanothercity,state,provinceorcountryandgatherdataabouttheweatherorenvironmentaroundthem.LogitinaGoogleSpreadsheetwithapageforeachlocation.Compareandcontrasttheworldaroundyou. Reading Weeklyreadingrecord: Thestudentsintheschoolusuallyhaveareadingdiarythattheyusetorecordinformationabouttimesthattheyreadduringtheweek.Theytakeithomeaswellasusingitatschool.Aformcanbecreated(Seeexample:GoogleForm)bythechildrenasaplacetoenterdataabouttheirreading.Wehear“Ihaven’tgotmyreadingdiary,”somanytimesduringtheyear,thiswaytheyhavenoexcusesandcanaccessitfromanycomputer.Alternativelyaclassformcouldalsobesetuptogathertogethereveryone’srecord. Writing Studentcollaborationonwritingprojects: GoogleClassroomdoesn’tonlysupportusinge-portfolios,butwiththepowerofGoogleDocs,thestudentscanalsoworktogetherinnewwaysonGoogleDocs. SpellingTests: Foryourweeklyspellingtestusesimple1-10or1-20numberedGoogleForm(Seeexample: numberedform)withanamequestionandaskthechildrentotypeintheiranswersasyoureadoutthelistofwords.Oncethesearesubmittedapplyformulatojudgeiftheyarecorrectornotanditbecomesselfmarking. Other E-Portfolio: AstheplatformisbasedonGoogleDriveforuploadingdocumentsandassignments,itcanalsoserveasadigitalportfolioforstudents.Bothteachersandstudentscancreatefoldersanddocumentsthatcanbesharedbetweeneachother.Ifthestudentsworkingroups,theycancreatetheirownsharedfolder.Thiswaythegroup’s’workwillbeavailabletoallthemembersofthegroup,evenifoneormoreareabsent.Aseverythinghappensinthecloud,everythingcanbedoneasynchronous. ResponsetoIntervention: DifferentGoogleClassroomscanbecreatedforstudentstojoinbasedonstudentneeds.StudentsneedingadditionalsupportorstudentsneedingadditionalchallengescanjoinaGoogleClassroomclassaroundinterventionofaparticulartopic. Resources TheClassroomoftheFuture Google-Classroom-Help-and-Support Startup_guide_for_google_classrooms_for_students.pdf Tips-for-getting-startedwith-googleclassroom-g-.jpg Awesome-apps-that-integrate-withgoogleclassroom/ 125+GoogleClassroomTipsandResources(Pinterest) HowtoCreateaClassWithGoogleClassroom CreatingclassesisthefirststepforteacherswhowanttosetupanonlinespacewithGoogleClassroom.Thankfully,thisiseasytodo.Here’show. Navigatetohttps://classroom.google.com Choosethe“IamaTeacher”option Clickthe“+”signinthetopright-handcornernexttoyourGoogleaccount Select“CreateClass”,thengiveitanameandasection,andclick“Create”. Customizetheappearanceofyourclass: Whenyoucreateyourclassforthefirsttime,youaregivenadefaultheaderimage.Thisistheimagethatstudentswillseewhentheyclickonyourclasstoaccessassignmentsandannouncements.Youcancustomizethisimagewithafewquicksteps. Hoveryourmouseoverthebannerimage LookfortheSelectThemelinkinthebottomright-handcorner ClickSelectThemetoopenagalleryofphotosyoucanchooseforyourclass. Chooseaphotofromthegallery,thenclickSelectClassThemetochangeyourheaderimage. Research Izenstark,A.,&Leahy,K.L.(2015).Googleclassroomforlibrarians:featuresandopportunities.LibraryHiTechNews,32(9),1-3. Adjunct,Brown,M.E.,Hocutt,D.L.,&Manager,W..(2015).LearningtoUse,UsefulforLearning:AUsabilityStudyofGoogleAppsforEducation.