Tag Archives: Google Classroom

Google Classroom now supports exporting grades and importing rosters and grade settings with PowerSchool SIS

What’s changing

Google Classroom teachers can now export and import select information via the new integration with PowerSchool SIS, a third-party student information system (SIS) that provides innovative K-12 software and cloud-based solutions to improve educational outcomes and simplify school operations. 

Once an admin establishes a connection between PowerSchool SIS and Classroom, teachers will be able to export grades from Classroom to PowerTeacher Pro Gradebook. Teachers can also import useful information, such as student rosters, co-teachers and grading categories, from PowerSchool SIS into Classroom. 
Classroom integration with PowerSchool SIS



Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 

Resources 

Adding a ‘missing’ grade state to Gradebook in Google Classroom

What’s changing 

In the last year, we’ve added new features, such as disabling submissions after a due date in Google Classroom and excusing assignments in Google Classroom, in order to give teachers even more flexibility when it comes to grading for assignments and classwork. 

Today, we're improving support for missing assignments in gradebook by giving teachers the ability to manually mark an assignment as ‘missing’ or ‘complete’ and automatically add a default draft score. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • By default, all missing assignments will automatically receive a draft score of ‘0’. However, teachers can adjust the default draft score or turn OFF the automated scoring feature. 
    • Assignments that displayed the ‘missing’ labels prior to this update will be automatically updated and receive the draft score. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about grading & returning an assignment. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 2, 2024 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources 

Grading periods API for Google Classroom is now available in Developer Preview

What’s changing

Last year, we introduced grading periods, an option that allows administrators and teachers to define and apply grading periods segmented from the entire school year to their Google Classroom assignments. 

Today, we’re excited to announce grading period endpoints and capabilities in the Classroom API, available through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. Specifically, developers can now: 

  • Create, modify, and delete grading periods on courses 
  • Read grading periods on courses 
  • Reference and set/read grading periods on CourseWork resources
  • Apply grading period settings to existing coursework items

Who’s impacted 

Developers 


Why you’d use it 

The new grading periods endpoints allows developers to create, modify, and read grading periods in Classroom on behalf of administrators and teachers. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: The Classroom API provides a RESTful interface for you to manage courses and rosters in Google Classroom. Learn more about the Classroom API overview. 
  • Developers: 
    • To use the grading periods API, developers can apply for access through our Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. 
    • Application developers can use the Classroom API to integrate their apps with Classroom. These apps need to use OAuth 2.0 to request permission to view classes and rosters from teachers. Admins can restrict whether teachers and students in their domain can authorize apps to access their Google Classroom data. 
    • All API and Classroom share button integrations should follow the Classroom brand guidelines. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
  • Education Plus 

Resources 

Google Classroom add-ons now generally available to Google Workspace developers

What’s changing

In 2022, we made it easy to seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom. We partnered with 20+ EdTech companies, including Kahoot!, Pear Deck, IXL, ReadWorks, and Nearpod, to build Google Classroom add-ons. These new integrations let educators and students easily find, use, and grade great content in their favorite EdTech tools without having to navigate to external websites and apps. 


Today, we’re excited to make Classroom add-ons generally available to all developers. Now, developers can build an add-on to allow teachers to do the following within Classroom: 

  • Discover and attach content to coursework 
  • Preview content from student perspective 
  • Review student responses to activities 
  • Save time with automatic grading of student responses 

    • Google Classroom add-ons now generally available to Google Workspace developers

    Who’s impacted 

    Admins, end users, and developers 


    Why it’s important 

    Add-ons complement other Classroom API features and let educators and students experience content without having to leave Google Classroom. In addition, Classroom add-ons show up directly in Google Classroom as well on the Google Workspace Marketplace, which is the hub for administrators to manage tools across all of their Google products. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    • This feature is now available 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 

    Resources 

    Create interactive YouTube assignments in Google Classroom more quickly and efficiently, with the help of AI

    What’s changing

    Last year, we introduced interactive questions for YouTube videos in Google Classroom. Since then, educators have been able to turn a passive watching experience into an engaging one, while improving students’ understanding of a subject. 

    The current process to create interactive questions requires an educator to manually choose a timestamp, come up with questions, and insert correct answers and distractors. To improve upon this experience and save educators time, we’re introducing AI-suggested questions that educators can easily attach to the video based on its content. 

    Before assigning the interactive video activity, Educators will be able to edit the suggested questions ahead of attaching the YouTube video to the assignment. 


    Who’s impacted 

    Admins and end users 


    Why you’d use it 

    This update helps educators add interactive questions to YouTube videos more quickly and efficiently. 


    Additional details 

    Even when using the suggestions feature, educators can still edit, remove or create their own interactive questions. Note that suggested questions are only available for certain videos in English. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    • This feature is available now. 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 

    Resources 

    Help your students learn to read with Read Along in Classroom

    What’s changing

    In 2019, we launched Read Along as an Android reading app to help young readers have fun while learning to read. Read Along has an in-app reading buddy who guides readers along as they read aloud, offering assistance when they struggle, and rewarding them with stars when they’re successful. 

    Today, we are excited to introduce Read Along in Google Classroom, a new feature that helps students build their independent reading skills by enabling teachers to assign differentiated reading activities, based on Lexile® measure, grade level, or phonics skills. With this feature, a digital reading buddy, Diya, gives students real-time assistance and pronunciation support, with the help of AI. Read Along offers engaging and inspiring reading assignments, while providing educators with insights on students' reading progress over time, including their accuracy, speed, and comprehension.

    Read Along in Classroom
    Educators can also: 
    • Access 800+ fiction and non-fiction books in the Read Along library within Classroom, including texts from publishers like Heggerty and ReadWorks. Each book is categorized by Lexile® level, grade level, or phonics skills and some have comprehension questions. 
    • Personalize the experience for each learner by assigning books with the right difficulty level based on a student’s reading abilities. 
    • Check for understanding by assigning books with comprehension questions. 
    • Read Along in Classroom will be available globally, so students around the world can practice their reading skills in English. 

    Read Along in Classroom Reporting
    Who’s impacted 


    Admins and end users 


    Why you’d use it 

    Read Along in Classroom provides fun and engaging reading assignments for students, while also enabling educators to track performance and more easily identify students who need extra support. Some key highlights include the ability to: 
    • Help boost reading skills with activities for each student based on their reading level or phonics skills. 
    • Provide instant help for students, with the help of AI-powered reading buddy, Diya to give students in-the-moment assistance on correct pronunciation and more. 
    • Get important insights about your students’ progress including their accuracy, speed, and comprehension. 
    • Support English language learners in building their reading skills, with additional support in Spanish 

    Additional details 

    Read Along is now a Workspace Service for Google Workspace for Education customers. Admins will now find this service listed under Workspace Services in Admin Console. Read Along in Classroom will be available to all Google Workspace for Education users with their school issued account and will be governed by the Workspace for Education Terms of Service, with data collection and use being governed by the Google Workspace for Education Privacy Notice. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    • This feature is available now. 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 

    Resources 

    Insert images into practice sets in Google Classroom

    What’s changing

    Since adding practice sets to Google Classroom in 2023, we’ve made numerous improvements such as giving teachers more control over the resources for students in practice sets and adding the option to convert Google Forms into practice sets. 

    Today, we’re excited to introduce a new feature that will enable teachers to visually illustrate concepts being assessed in practice sets. Now, teachers can import images, like graphs, charts or photos, into practice sets using files from Google Drive or directly from their computer. 

    In addition to image editing capabilities within practice sets, this update will be extended to the Forms conversion workflows so if a teacher imports a Form into a practice set any images you have in the Forms will also import. 


    Who’s impacted 

    Admins and end users 


    Why you’d use it 

    Including visuals in practice sets will provide students with more engaging assignments. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade

    Resources 


    Insert images into practice sets in Google Classroom

    What’s changing

    Since adding practice sets to Google Classroom in 2023, we’ve made numerous improvements such as giving teachers more control over the resources for students in practice sets and adding the option to convert Google Forms into practice sets. 

    Today, we’re excited to introduce a new feature that will enable teachers to visually illustrate concepts being assessed in practice sets. Now, teachers can import images, like graphs, charts or photos, into practice sets using files from Google Drive or directly from their computer. 

    In addition to image editing capabilities within practice sets, this update will be extended to the Forms conversion workflows so if a teacher imports a Form into a practice set any images you have in the Forms will also import. 


    Who’s impacted 

    Admins and end users 


    Why you’d use it 

    Including visuals in practice sets will provide students with more engaging assignments. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 

    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade

    Resources 


    Google Classroom now supports grade category and co-teacher imports from SIS partners

    What’s changing

    Since the beginning of this year, educators have been able to easily import students from their student information system (SIS) to Google Classroom using OneRoster. Today, we’re introducing the option for teachers to import their grade categories and co-teachers from their linked SIS. 

    Once an admin establishes a connection between their district SIS and Google Classroom, teachers can manually link new or existing Google Classroom classes to their SIS, then use the connection to export grades, import students rosters, and now, import grading categories or co-teachers. 


    Getting started 

    Rollout pace 


    Availability 

    Available for Google Workspace: 
    • Education Plus and the Teaching & Learning Upgrade 

    Resources

    Shareable class templates and classwork in Google Classroom are now generally available

    What’s changing

    Earlier this year, we announced a Google Classroom beta that simplifies lesson planning with shareable class templates and classwork. We’re excited to announce that this is now globally available for Google Workspace for Education Plus customers in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. 

    Curriculum leads and verified teachers can now share links to high-quality classes and class templates so other educators in their organization can preview and import classwork to an existing class or to a new class. This will provide educators with ideas for instructional design and enable them stay up-to-date with the best materials. 
    Shareable class templates and classwork

    Who’s impacted 

    End users 

    Why you’d use it 

    This feature enables curriculum leads and teachers to easily distribute standardized curricula or classroom content to others in their organization. As a result, fellow educators can easily preview, select, and import high-quality classwork into their classes. 
    easily preview, select, and import high-quality classwork into their classes.

    Additional details 

    • Student information, such as assignment submissions, comments, and grades, will not be visible when previewing a shared class. 
    • Imported class materials will be saved in draft mode for the selected class. 

    Getting started 

    • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature, however, Admins should make sure the following is set up for end users: 
      • In order to share classes, educators must have a Google Workspace for Education Plus license assigned to them. 
      • To preview and import classwork from shared classes, educators must be verified teachers. 
    • End users: 
      • To share a class, click the “Share classwork” button on the Classwork page. 
      • After receiving a class link, open it in your browser. When previewing the shared class, select the classwork items you want to export to a class. 
      • Visit the Help Center to learn more about sharing class templates and classwork. 

    Rollout 


    Availability 

    • Available to Education Plus 

    Resources