Google Classroom - The Life Blood of the Classroom

An Overview
GOOGLE CLASSROOM
- The Lifeblood of the Classroom

WHAT IS GOOGLE CLASSROOM

Google Classroom is an online platform that allows teachers and educators to create an online classroom area where they can interact with students online while also managing all the documents that the students need; with the ability to submit finished assignments 

URL: https://classroom.google.com/

Learning Strategy: Retrieval Practice 

Since Google Classroom primarily is being used as a testing resource, students will retrieve information that they have learned from class whether in class or online, and utilize this in practice. 

Pedagogical Function:

Category of Technology:

• Organizational Technologies 
• Presentation Technologies
• Communication and Collaboration Technologies 

Google Classroom provides a variety of features designed specifically for the classroom including:

• Teachers can manage and grade assignments 
• Class Resource Page
• Virtual Classroom Learning with Google Meet
• Teachers can add new assignments and return corrected assignments 
• Teachers can track the progress of students 
• ... and much more 

WHAT IS THE COST?

Google Classroom is part of a bigger package of Google Workspace which includes:

• Gmail
• Google Drive
• Google Calendar
• .. and other apps

Google Workspace for Education has four plans 

• Plan A Fundamentals - the plan is FREE for qualifying institutions
• Plan B Standard - $3.00/student per year 
• Plan C Teaching and Learning Upgrade- $48.00/licence per year
• Plan D Education Plus- $5.00/student per year 

What is the Platform?

Google Classroom is a cloud-based digital tool that works on all browsers and devices. Google Classroom is designed for teachers and students at all levels (Elementary and Higher Education).

The biggest selling feature is it allows and encourages collaboration between the teacher and student(s). 

What are the Pros and Cons of Google Classroom?

Pros/ Advantages
It is gaining popularity as more teachers are using technology to supplement their teaching. 

1. Very User Friendly
the program is easy to use and navigate

2. Offers a wide variety of Features
offers variety of features to help teachers plan efficiently and students ability to complete with ease 
3. Can be used with other learning platforms
Google Classroom can be used with other learning platforms such as Google Drive. 

Cons/Disadvantages
There are always disadvantages to any product.

1. Some features are difficult to locate
if not familiar with the advanced program, and some features are not easy to locate

2. Not all features are available on the app
some features such as videos are not currently available

More Information

Google Classroom gained more popularity, especially during the time of COVID-19 when more schools had to transition to online learning.

The benefit from this was that teachers were able to quickly implement paperless instruction, and since have continued to use the program to set assignments, and have work submitted by students to mark and return graded assignments as well. 

Google Classrooms works with other products such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar and Gmail. 

Example of Teaching/Training Resource 

For an example of a Teaching/Training Resource that has been used in the classroom and was successful, please see the link provided:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340175152_Evaluating_Google_Classroom_in_Teaching_and_Learning_Writing_at

Copyright and Intellectual Property

Instructors maintain the copyright use of any questions or tests that the instructors create.
However, any data that is collected by Google is subject to their privacy policy. 

Further details  related to copyright use, licensing, and intellectual property, please see the link provided:

https://workspace.google.com/intl/en/terms/education_terms.html?_ga=2.209993301.1155973646.1572699485-364497742.1572699485

CONCLUSION

Google Classroom is a powerful online resource that is easy to use and designed for schools, colleges and universities. This product allows lessons to be available online regardless if the class is in person or online and makes learning and teaching much easier. 

STUDENT/TEACHER RATING

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐= 5/5

SOURCES

Caines , J. (2016, March). What is Google Classroom?. dummies. https://www.dummies.com/article/technology/software/google-products/what-is-google-classroom-144820/

Jackman, D. (2020, August 31). Teach smarter with 22 free tech tools for teachers. EdApp. https://www.edapp.com/blog/22-free-teacher-tools/

Syafi’i, A. (2020). Google Classroom as learning platform in teaching writing. British (Jurnal Bahasa Dan Sastra Inggris), 9(1), 48. https://doi.org/10.31314/british.9.1.48-64.2020