Google Classroom Changes Coming for Fall

Google Classroom Changes Coming for Fall

Google is rolling out some fantastic changes to Google Classroom with the expectation that they will be up and running for fall 2021.  Keep providing your suggestions to Google via the question mark icon in the bottom left corner of Google Classrom; we have more proof that the Engineers at Google are listening to us!

 

Google Classroom Student Data - fall 2021

Student Data

Perhaps the most exciting of the new features is the improvement to the student metrics. In the updated Google Classroom, teachers will be able to see when a student was last active in Google Classroom, what and when their last submitted assignment was, as well as the most recent comment (which are often questions from students) from students.

This feature is a class-by-class feature that will provide teachers with some excellent data for both in-person learning as well as online!

Improved Photo Tools in the Google Classroom app

Thanks, in large part, to feedback from teachers around the world using Google Classroom, they are adding camera access inside the Google Classroom app. So, students who operate their Google Classroom through their phone will be better equipped to photograph (it will be built more as a scanning type app that utilizes the phone’s camera) completed work and easily submit it to the teacher for grading.  At first, this will only be on Android devices, but will come to Apple devices once the Android app is running smoothly with this new feature.

Offline Mode

Many of our rural students who live in areas with limited wifi access already use offline mode with their Google Drive. Now this feature is going to include Google Classroom. Students will be able to access classroom while at school, and then when they get home, their device will have retained the data to allow them to have access to this important data while at home, or away from wifi.

Originality Reports

Teachers and students will both have access to enhanced originality reports. Students can run a report prior to submitting a written assignment so as to have clarity as to the success of their personal writing.  

Rubrics

The creation of rubrics in Google Classroom has also improved – teachers can now export their rubric to sheets, or import a rubric from sheets.

Full Webinar

Below is the full 30-minute webinar that Google offered this morning to bring us all up-to-date with respect to the changes to Google Classroom!

Combatting Online Learning Fatigue

Combatting Online Learning Fatigue

Keeping students engaged in online learning can be challenging. The Google Meet Fatigue is real, and teachers experience it too. Online fatigue is real. Distracted students are real. Teacher frustration is real. So what do we do?!?!

Thankfully there are a few ideas and techniques teachers can bring to bear to try to spice it up and keep both ourselves and our students engaged.

The infographic presented here was built from a variety of resources, including the book Engaging Learners Through Zoom.

Click the image below to access the .pdf of ideas!!

Putting Work Online

Putting Work Online

There’s an old saying: “There is more than one way to skin a cat”.  This is true of putting work online for students.  We are going to look at pen-and-paper type work in this post.

First, there is the .pdf way. A worksheet can be scanned on your school’s copier to .pdf and loaded to Google Drive. Staff and students have access to Kami for annotating on .pdf files. If you choose “Create Kami Assignment” on your classwork tab in Google Classroom, that should force the assignment to open in Kami for all students. If you’re not familiar with Kami, I did a 15 minute crash course blog entry recently.

A screenshot set as the background in a Google Slide is another way to make a paper-and-pen assignment accessible for students to respond to. (Taking a screenshot on a chromebook is easy) and once you’ve got that screenshot, you can set it as a background image and students can apply textboxes over it as needed.

z-ETTTH Emails

10 Tips for Online Instruction

10 Tips for Online Instruction

Teaching in a distributed learning environment (formerly called a blended learning environment), has its own pedagogical rules. While many scenarios translate easily from classroom teaching to online teaching, there are some aspects of instruction and learning that are different.

In conversation with teachers, administrators, parents and students, coupled with the educational research on distributed learning environments, we have compiled these ten tips for teachers to improve everyone’s experience when using Google Classroom.

The CESD Resource site (Teachers Share) is a brand new endeavour (#10 in the above image). To ease the burden of distributed teaching, we ask that teachers share assignments they have created (share to Michelle Baragar), and take what you can need from this site. The more we share, the lighter the load for everyone!