Google offers several ways to help educators across school districts use digital classroom tools in their physical classrooms. By installing Google Classroom add-ons directly into your school account, teachers can easily access the tools they want to use. It’s also possible to download the add-on to your computer and upload it to a Google Drive folder shared with your school. Once installed, each teacher can manage the add-ons associated with his or her class.
What are Google Classroom add-ons?
Google Classroom is a cloud-based digital learning management system (LMS). It comes with add-on options that enable educators to utilize additional educational tech tools without having to set up separate accounts. These popular learning platform add-ons are compatible with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, and Android browsers.
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What tools are available from Google Classroom add-ons?
Some of the best tools available from Google Classroom add-ons include:
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Auto graded results: If a teacher chooses to enable automatic grading for his or her class, students receive automated grades based on the criteria chosen by the teacher. This is a huge time saver and it gives students real-time grade returns.
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Grade syncing: Grades are synchronized across devices and platforms, allowing you to easily convey grade levels to students. This allows students to access their grades regardless of where they are.
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Personalized feedback: When a teacher shares a grade with a student, he/she can include personalized comments and feedback within the classroom about how well the lesson was covered.
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Customizable assignments: Teachers can customize the assignment type, length, and due date for each assignment, allowing the creation of more interactive assignments.
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Assignment types: Assignments can be either quizzes, tests, projects, or essays.
How to use Google Classroom add-ons
Before you start teaching, make sure you know how to use add-ons in Google Classroom as well as all the basic features. There are several classroom features that allow educators to collaborate within Google Classroom. For example, you can invite students to view documents, work together on projects, and even send assignments directly to their inboxes.
However, if you want to give students access to additional tools such as add-ons, you must do some research beforehand. To begin using add-ons, you need to check with your school administration to see what options are available for your classroom. You will likely need to contact your district IT department to learn about the different types of add-ons that are available.
Once you have determined what type of add-on you want to try out, you will need to request permission from your principal. After that, you will need to contact your district’s technology team to set up the add-on for your class. Eventually, once everything is ready, you will need to teach your students about the add-ons.
The next step is to open the add-ons screen in Google Classroom. From here, you can choose to install an add-on that you found online or you can select one that is already installed in the system. To do this, click the down arrow icon located above the Add button. Then, scroll down to where you see the list of add-ons that the administrators have selected for your specific school. Select the one you wish to use and click Install.
Once you have added an add-on to your classroom, you will need to tell your students about the tool. First, you need to explain why the tool is helpful. Next, you will need to let them know how they can use the tool. Finally, you will need to provide instructions on how to activate the add-on. If you are still struggling to use Google Classroom, we recommend consulting a Google classroom user guide.
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Tips and tricks for Google Classroom add-ons
There are a seemingly endless number of add-ons features in any Google Classroom workspace. Once you get the hang of the tools in the classroom, you will be able to elevate the teaching and learning experience.
Integration with digital planners
The fact that you can integrate Google Classroom with digital planners is one of the biggest strengths of the platform. It aims to make the experience for students as seamless as possible, offering them every opportunity to thrive. You can sync Google Classroom with a digital planner such as Today to make keeping on top of school work 100 times easier.
Studyo digitizes your students' weekly planner, making it easy for them to track all the work they have to do. When synced with Google Classroom, this becomes even easier as tasks are automatically drawn from Classroom and entered into their planners.
Make your own slideshows
Slide decks are a great way to present material to your students but sometimes creating slides manually isn’t practical. Instead, you'll find it far easier to create a slideshow within Google Classroom. You can even embed YouTube videos into the slide deck and control playback directly from inside the document. You can also create an interactive presentation that gets students involved.
Create custom forms
While forms are already built into Google Classroom, you can still use the tool to create custom ones. You can design your own surveys or quizzes. Plus, you can include questions that aren’t part of the standard set of options. This comes in handy when you want to test whether students understood what they learned during a lesson.
Classroom chat extension
This extension adds a chat box to your classroom so that you can talk directly with your students. Students can ask questions, give suggestions, and provide feedback. They can also request help from teachers or classmates. Teachers can respond to requests for help, and mark homework assignments as complete.
Track class performance
Google Classroom allows you to see how your students' progress throughout the course. You can also view the overall average score for each student, and compare scores across different classes. If you're looking for individualized feedback, check out the gradebook viewer extension. It lets you see what each student is getting wrong, and provides detailed comments about why something isn't working.
Teacher newsletter
Teacher newsletter allows teachers to create unique newsletters, which are customized for individual students. It includes features that enable teachers to praise each student, outline individual student goals, and automatically email newsletters to parents. Once you have created the Google Docs template, it is extremely simple to use.
Why are planners helpful for students?
Organize your classroom
Students succeed when they have a clear idea of what is expected of them. It is with this in mind that we, at Studyo, developed our state-of-the-art digital school planner. Through features like progress tracking, customizable layouts, and step-by-step breakdown, students can stay organized and manage their workload. In addition, digital planners facilitate communication between teachers and students, and ensure that parents are up to date on their children’s progress.