Lesson 1: What is Google Classroom?

Lesson Objective

The learner will define Google Classroom and identify the benefits of using Google Classroom in the classroom.

Why Use Google Classroom Technology?

As technological advances continue to grow and technology devices continue to improve, more and more schools are staying with the times and taking advantage of these technology devices by making them apart of their education. It is becoming more common for students to use computers or tablets on a weekly, even daily, basis for school work. Google Classroom is a learning management tool for schools that are integrating technology in to the classroom to create a more active learning environment. It was released on August 12, 2014 as a feature of Google Apps for Education. According to Logofatu, Visan, & Ungureanu (2015), it's goal is to "simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments in a paperless way" (p. 494). Today, Google currently dominates k-12 education in the United States (O'Connell, 2016, p.32). Google Classroom provides teachers with a great set of tools to manage classroom activities and assignments. It is often advertised as a tool for core subject areas, but in reality it can be integrated in to any subject area where students are learning.

Education is becoming more reliant and built upon technology. We see this in schools all over! Some teachers, however, are afraid or "don't have time" to use technology in their classrooms. Little do they realize that the days of traditional lecturing are becoming extinct! We live in a digital world and the more technology advancements that are introduced, the younger the kids are going to start using these technology devices in their everyday lives. So in education, why don't we use these technology advancements and devices to our advantage? It not only has benefits for the teachers but or the students as well. Technology in the classroom provides a more active and engaged learning environment for students, which are areas largely being pushed to teachers from state education today.

"There is no teacher who can't implement new technologies in the class as well as there is no student who can't learn. It's time to replace the 'we cannot' with 'let's try it out'..." (Logofatu, Visan, & Ungureanu, 2015, p. 499).

Features of Google Classroom

"Classroom was designed collaboratively with teachers to help them save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students" ( Classroom features and benefits ).

Google Classroom provides many features and benefits that ultimately allow teachers to save time, collaborate, and communicate. These features help teachers save time while giving instruction and after hours while grading or creating assignments. They also allow the capabilities to collaborate with other teachers, to share ideas across members, and communicate with their students and parents. Several of these features allow teachers to:

• Access anytime from anywhere
• Enjoy real-time feedback
• Manage multiple classes at one time
• Co-teach a course with up to 20 instructors
• Add outside materials to assignments (PDFs, YouTube videos, pictures, etc.)
• Create quick exit tickets and view results
• Create class discussions as well as manage the control
• Grade quickly and easily with the organization tools
• Invite parents to sign up for regular communication

Google classroom can also be accessed over the web from any computer with an updated browser, and also on any iOS or Android device. This simply means that Classroom can be accessed anytime, anywhere from a computer, laptop computer, tablets or iPads, and Smart phone devices. This feature makes it very easy for a teacher to monitor student progress while on the move, and a student to easily access their school work using the Google Classroom app (Logofatu, Visan, & Ungureanu, 2015, p.494).

Tasks

Answer the following questions below and then view the video

1. Explain what Google Classroom is.
2. Identify the reasons why using Google Classroom could benefits your classroom or teaching.

Classroom 101 Watch this short video to preview even more of the many features Google Classroom has to offer. This video provides a brief demonstration of how Google Classroom works for teachers and students. It specifically shows how to set up classes, add students, create assignments, and review student work.

Browse the following pages and answer the following questions below

About ClassroomThis page provides some helpful links about the details of Google Classroom. Specifically look at the Common Questions About Classroom page to verify any questions you may currently be having.

1. Do you know or have you seen any teachers use Google Classroom before?
2. Have you used any of the apps or features of Google for Education in the past?
3. Do these features help you understand how simple integrating Google Classroom in to your own classroom can be?

Moving On

Once you have read through and completed the tasks of Lesson 1, move on to Lesson 2: The Impacts of Google Classroom .

Navigation

Home Page

Lesson 1: What is Google Classroom?

Lesson 2: The Impacts of Google Classroom

Lesson 3: Creating a Google Classroom

References

• Catapano, J. Technology in the Classroom: A Look at Google Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/technology-classroom-look-google-classroom.

• Classroom features and benefits. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6376881.

• Logofatu, B., Visan, A., & Ungureanu, C. (2015). Google Classroom - The New Educational Challenge. Pilot Test Within the Department For Distance Learning. Learning & Software For Education, (2), 493-499. doi:10.12753/2066-026x-15-166.

• O'Connell, A. (2016). GETTING SCHOOLED. Fast Company, (209), 31-34.