If you’re looking for a Learning Management System option for a small, intimate classroom setting, Google Classroom may be the right fit. Classroom is Google’s most recent foray into educational technology, acting as hub for all of the work you are already doing with your students using Google Docs and Google Drive.
Here is a 10 minute introduction I created:
[youtube width=”700″ height=”393″]https://youtu.be/A8ecXI3M3YU[/youtube]
The Classroom Stream layout is a chronological feed of the two main types of Google Classroom interactions: Assignments and Announcements. As you add Assignments or Announcements to the Stream, the Stream updates and pushes older Announcements or Assignments lower in the feed. This can be a little time-consuming and distracting especially if you have a larger class with lots of Assignments and Announcements. The layout is currently a little limited, so we would not recommend using this for a class of more than maybe 20. The great thing about the Stream design is the ease with which you can attach supporting documents to an Assignment or Announcement like a rubric or secondary reading source. Even if your students have to scroll a bit to find older posts, the simple design of having attachment support documents for each Assignment or Announcement is really handy.
The best part of Classroom is connecting your students more effectively to your class’s Google Drive. Students can submit Assignments by creating new Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/etc. or by attaching them from their own Drive. It’s that simple! Students we have worked with have responded really well to the simplicity of the Assignment feature as well as the generally pleasing aesthetics of Google’s design, which can be a helpful draw when presenting a new technology to your students.
This is a great new tool with new and intelligent updates coming from Google on a regular basis. To keep up to date with new changes Google is implementing or requests other instructors are making for future changes, follow Google Classroom on Google+ and don’t forget to also download the Google Classroom app for iOS and Android for even more mobilty and ease of use in the classroom.
Here are some more videos, which may be useful for learning more about the Teacher and the Student view of Google Classroom:
Student View of Google Classrooms:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xZm61Z-up0[/youtube]
Teacher View of Classrooms:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd4ko0lsHl4[/youtube]
Using Classrooms as a Teacher:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFbyKp8l3sQ[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RszJuFhyhg[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R8_F1NQ8MQ[/youtube]