Using Google Classroom to Enhance Teaching and Learning
Students can collaborate on projects asynchronously or synchronously, using Google Docs and Sheets. Educators can also add YouTube videos or create and distribute quizzes through Google Classroom.
Teachers can invite guardians to Google Classroom to receive email summaries of their student’s upcoming work. Teachers can also utilize the class stream for announcements and question-driven discussions.
Stream
Google Classroom is a tool for educators to communicate with students outside of class. It allows them to organize assignments and discussions, and it has a mobile app that works on different devices. This makes it easy to use from anywhere, and it is free to schools. However, it also comes with privacy and security risks that parents should watch out for.
The Stream is the classroom’s feed where teachers and students can post announcements and comments. Its default setting allows all users to post, but teachers can control who has permission to comment in a specific class. This can be done by going to the class settings and clicking on the drop-down menu next to Stream.
Adding an image to a Stream announcement can help students see it better. This can be a good way to remind them of an important item or activity. Students can also view their upcoming assignments in the Stream by clicking on a bubble. This will display a list of assignments with due dates in the next week.
Another feature of google classroom is the ability to share files and videos from the web. This is useful for instructors who want to include visuals in their lessons. Google classroom also allows teachers to grade student work and provide feedback using the grading rubric. In addition, it supports the transfer of grades to a student information system (SIS).
Announcements
Google Classroom is one of the most popular edtech tools in education today. It’s part of the Google Workspace suite, which teachers use to organize class materials and share them with students. It’s designed with feedback from the educational community and integrates with other Google apps to allow educators to create engaging learning experiences for their students.
Google classroom features a social hub where teachers can post announcements for their students. Announcements are posts that don’t have an assignment attached and are posted on the class stream, where students can ask questions and share resources. When a teacher posts an announcement, students can comment on it (if they have their notifications turned on).
Teachers can also upload images to Stream announcements to better communicate with their students. They can also edit or delete an announcement and send a link to multiple students by clicking on the More button. They can also choose to add or remove the first image attachment as the post’s display image.
In addition to announcements, teachers can also post a quiz on the Stream to test students’ understanding of key concepts. They can even share Boom cards, which are digital, self-checking interactive activities that provide students with immediate feedback. Google Classroom also has features that allow students to collaborate with each other on projects and assessments. It can also integrate with student information systems (SIS) like Skyward 2.0, Skyward Qmlativ, Follett Aspen, and Infinite Campus.
Assignments
Google Classroom helps students work remotely or in hybrid environments by providing a central location for assignments and supplemental information. The platform also gives teachers a consistent spot to assign and assess digital submissions. Teachers can create assignments that clearly indicate what work is expected and due. They can also schedule assignments to be automatically sent to students. This feature allows for more sophisticated lesson planning and better time management.
When creating an assignment, the teacher can select a question type (short answer, paragraph or multiple choice) and an attachment type, such as a video, PDF, link or document. The teacher can also add a grade category. The teacher can use total points grading, weighted by category grading or no overall grade at all.
The teacher can also create a quiz as an assignment. A student can then complete the quiz, and the teacher can see the results. The teacher can also choose whether to assign a score and comment.
The teachers can also assign a Google Form as an assignment. The students can fill out the form and submit it. The teacher can then view the results and comments. They can even ask a question and get an instant response from their students. This is a great way to get feedback on an essay or paper, and it saves time grading.
Discussions
When used appropriately, Google Classroom can make learning more personal. For instance, teachers can invite a guest speaker through a Video Chat to talk about the importance of science or ask students to work together online to debate the pros and cons of a topic. This kind of interactive, personalized learning can be more productive than a traditional paper assignment and may encourage higher achievement in students.
Stream is the central hub for classroom activities, with daily agendas, announcements, and upcoming assignments posted to a feed that students see first thing when they log in. Teachers can also set up discussion boards to engage students and promote collaboration. These online discussions can also serve as formative assessments for a writing assignment or help students organize their ideas in preparation for a longer essay.
The discussion board feature in Stream can be created as a spreadsheet and made public or private to the class. The default setting is for students to view and comment, but it can be changed to “students can edit file.” This will explicitly share the spreadsheet with the student and track their revision history. It will also allow students to use sentence stems, which can help them stay on-topic.
Other features of Google Classroom include the ability to create a poll and use multiple choice questions. Moreover, teachers can create private, student-only discussions to promote thoughtful debate or focus on specific curriculum topics. Teachers can even turn discussions into a graded assignment. Google Classroom also includes a tool called Originality Reports, which can help students avoid plagiarism.