Today I would like to talk about Google Classroom. What is it? Well, it's a platform attached to the Google suite of products (free for educational use) that allows you to organize your classroom, make assignments, announcements, and coordinate with your google drive. To be very up front - as a tool, I would rate it 5 out of 10. Does that mean you should avoid it? Absolutely not.
So, as a technology-oriented teacher, I can be a harsh critic. Google Classroom has some really great functionality. But it's also lacking a tremendous amount. I have set up two classes so far. It's an excellent way to communicate with your students. You can make announcements, send private comments, start discussions, etc. You can also set up assignments with due dates. I have created several, attached rubrics and instructions, graded, and commented on work all through Google Classroom. That stuff works great. You can even export grades into an excel spreadsheet!! Lovely.
Now the bad stuff (sorry, Google). You can't copy assignments from one year to the next. You have to basically recreate everything year after year. When you are in the class, you can't easily sort through the things you have listed. Everything is listed in a 'stream' of posts (like a blog). And (strangely for Google) you can't search the stream. You can pull up a list of assignments through the main menu, but it's not intuitive. You also can't mark assignments as done if the student decides to hand you a paper version. Unless they log in and mark it as done, it will forever be marked as "Late". So, in a nutshell, the teacher has little ability to manipulate their classroom.
Sure you can change the theme. I like having a big frog eye at the top of the page, but that's decorative. If Google wants to make Classroom competitive, they need to start thinking like a teacher. Or hire one. . . I may be available to consult. . . just sayin'.
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