The Coronavirus is causing the number of students who are teaching from home to skyrocket. There are many alternatives for online distance teaching , but one of the most popular in recent days is Google Classroom . We explain how to use it and all its details.
Google Classroom was launched in August 2014, and since 2017 it can be used by personal Google accounts without having to have a G Suite subscription. Initially it was designed with the aim of saving paper, but its usefulness has surpassed its initial use to distribute tasks or evaluate content. As its name indicates, it allows to have virtual classrooms, allowing not only teachers and students a more fluid interaction at a distance, but parents can be more informed of the entire educational process. And as we are going to see, it is probably the best tool we have to teach online, since it also allows us to join Hangouts Meet for video calls and have a complete virtual classroom experience.
How to create a class with Google Classroom
Accessing Google Classroom is really easy. We just have to create access to classroom.google.com with our email, either our personal account or one that we have created specifically for classes if we do not want to reveal ours. From there, we will already be inside.
In the upper right part we get an icon of “+”, in which we can join a class if we are a student, or create a class if we are a teacher. In the case that we are a teacher, it is important that we know that if we are going to teach in an educational center with students, we will have to have an account created for G Suite for Educational Centers, which is free.
To create a class, we can create a class, section, subject, and classroom name. Thanks to this, students can easily identify subjects and classes. From there, we will already have our class created, with the Class Code that we will have to give the students so that they can get into it.
In the panel we can select the subject of the class, upload a personalized photo, send messages to all students, create class work with tasks and questions and organize the work. We can also manage students and teachers with access from people, and finally also can judge the work of students in Grade section.
In the section to create jobs we can choose Tasks, questionnaires, questions, materials, etc. We can assign points to each task, and set delivery dates. In the case of the tasks with questionnaires, they can be done using the Google questionnaires.
Entering as a student is even easier
For students, the process is easier, since they only have to click on Sign up for a class, and enter the code provided by the teacher. Once we enter as a student, we will be able to access all the tasks that are available in the virtual classroom.
In short, we have many ways to continue evaluating students from home with all kinds of daily tasks and homework, although unfortunately exams cannot be done remotely in the same way that they can be done in class. Despite this, as a temporary solution for the next weeks (and probably months) that lie ahead, it will help children to keep up with class. It is also important to remember not to overload children with homework.
In the event that you want to use a tool for video calls together with Google Classroom, Hangouts Meet , by Google, it will be available free until July 1, 2020 , so it can be used by teachers at no cost to communicate with students and give distance classes.
