Tag Archives: Google Classroom

Simplify lesson planning with shareable class templates and classwork with new Google Classroom beta

What’s changing

Previously, curriculum leaders and educators had to add permanent co-teachers in order to share or distribute curricula. This could result in access issues, unnecessary notifications and homepage clutter. 

To improve this experience, we’re excited to announce a Google Classroom beta that will simplify lesson planning with others and make classroom materials more accessible. Through the beta, curriculum leads and verified teachers can 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. 

This beta will be globally available for Google Workspace for Education Plus customers in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. Google Workspace admins can use this sign-up form to apply for the beta from now until September 1, 2023. 
shareable class templates and classwork with new Google Classroom beta

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. 
export coursework and share with others

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 classes. 

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. 
    • Use this sign-up form to apply for the beta from now until September 1, 2023. 
  • 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. 

Availability 

  • Available to Education Plus 

Resources 

Google Classroom now supports grade export to Skyward Qmlativ

What’s changing 

Google Classroom teachers can now export their grades to Skyward Qmlativ, a third-party Student Information System (SIS) that helps education teams simplify student and business data management, and complete administrative tasks faster. 

Grade export allows admins to establish a connection between their district SIS and Google Classroom, which enables them to configure export settings that apply to Google Classroom teachers. The tool also gives teachers the ability to manually link new or existing Google Classroom classes to their SIS, and send assignments and grades from Google Classroom to their SIS. 


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users 


Why it matters 

This feature expands the interoperability between Google Classroom and Skyward Qmlativ SIS. Grade export ultimately saves teachers time and reduces duplicative work by keeping their SIS in sync with fewer manual steps. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade 

Resources 

Bringing Collaborations in Canvas to Google Assignments

What’s changing

Google Assignments Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) 1.3 is an integrated application that gives educators who use Canvas a faster, simpler way to distribute, analyze, and grade student work. It brings the collaborative power of Google Workspace for Education to Canvas. 

Today, we’re introducing a new feature exclusively for Canvas that allows users to create a Drive item and collaborate on it with other users in the course. Teachers and students can now work together on a variety of Google Drive items, including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, Forms, Jamboards, and Drawing.
Bringing Collaborations in Canvas to Google Assignments

Getting started 

  • Admins: To enable users to access this feature, Assignments must be turned ON. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning a service on or off for Google Workspace users. 
  • End users: 
    • Use the following steps to create a collaboration in Canvas: 
      • Sign in to Canvas > open the course > in the sidebar, click Collaborations > click + Collaboration > Google Drive (LTI 1.3). If you’re not signed in, sign in to your Google Workspace for Education account. Enter a title for your assignment > (optional) enter a description > under file type, select a Drive file type > under invite people to collaborate with you, select any LMS users for which to share the collaboration Drive file > click Create > in the opened pop-up, confirm your changes, and click Create. 
    • Use the following steps to open a collaboration in Canvas: 
      • Sign in to Canvas > open the course > in the sidebar, click Collaborations > click the title link for the collaboration you wish to open. Note: You can only view a collaboration if you are an instructor or were added as a collaborator. In the new tab that is opened: 
        • Sign in to your Google Workspace for Education or Google account
        • If this is the first time you’re opening the collaboration, click Join
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Assignments with Canvas and creating, editing, opening and deleting collaborations. 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is now available.

Availability 

  • Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade 

Resources 

Disable submissions after a due date in Google Classroom

What’s changing

Following the recent announcement of grading periods in Google Classroom, we’re introducing another feature that enables teachers to customize grading in Classroom. The new option to disable submissions after a due date allows teachers to stop accepting submissions for an assignment past the due date. 

When creating a new assignment, teachers can decide whether or not to require a strict due date. By default, the assignments tool will still allow submissions after the due date. 

This feature also allows teachers to choose to stop submissions for an assignment at any point, regardless of the strictness or presence of a due date. For example, a teacher could allow submissions for any assignment during the semester or year, but turn off submissions once the period is completed. 

We hope this highly requested feature gives teachers more control over their workflow by allowing them to set their own level of flexibility for accepting assignments. 
Disable submissions after a due date in Google Classroom

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating an assignment.

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – June 16, 2023

4 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace customers.



Get more granular views of Google Slides with new zoom settings 
You can now customize your views in Google Slides with new custom zoom settings that give you the ability to input your desired zoom percent or use the preset zoom percentages in the drop-down menu at the top of your presentation. | Learn more about zooming or changing your document view. 
Get more granular views of Google Slides with new zoom settings

Expanding Google Drive log events to additional Google Workspace editions 
Drive log events, a feature that enables admins to access an audit and investigation page to run searches related to Drive log events, is now available for Google Workspace Business Starter and Essentials Starter editions. | Learn more about Drive log events. 

Expanding originality reports in Google Classroom to Microsoft Word files 
Educators can now run Google Classroom originality reports on Microsoft Word files (.docx) to check their students' work for authenticity. The tool will identify uncited content and plagiarism by comparing a file against webpages and books on the internet. | Learn more about turning on originality reports.

Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom 
Rich text formatting is now available for class and private comments in Google Classroom, enabling teachers and students to customize and add emphasis to their content. This highly requested feature includes bolding, underlining, italicizing, and bulleted lists. | Learn more about bold, italicize, and underline text. 
Adding rich text formatting to comments in Google Classroom


Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Experience better collaboration in conference rooms with new support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware 
To improve upon the whiteboarding experience, provide better meeting inclusion, and foster greater collaboration, we’re excited to announce support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware, with Logitech Scribe as the first supported camera. | Learn more about support for whiteboard cameras on Google Meet Hardware. 

Use Directory Sync to replace the domain name for synced users 
Using Directory Sync, admins can automatically replace the domain name for synced users and groups in their Google Cloud directory. This means synced Google users and groups can have a different domain name than the domain used in the external directory following a sync. | Learn more about replacing the domain name for synced users. 

Add or remove client-side encryption from a Google Sheets and Google Slides files 
You can now simply add or remove client-side encryption to existing spreadsheets in Google Sheets or presentations in Google Slides. This update gives you the flexibility to control encryption as your documents and projects evolve and progress. This feature is already available for Google Docs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about client-side encryption in Sheets and Slides. 

Improving table placements in Google Docs 
We improved table positioning options for documents set in pages format. These features add more flexibility and control over the layout of text with tables in Docs. Learn more about table placements in Google Docs. 

View more insights and take quick action via the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card in the Admin console 
In addition to the existing cards in the Admin console landing page such as “Users” or “Billing”, we’ve added a card for Chrome Browser Cloud Management. Here you can see quick stats, such as the number of enrolled browsers, and directly perform actions such as enrolling new browsers or managing Chrome extensions. | Learn more about the Chrome Browser Cloud Management home card. 

Pull rich data from apps directly into Google Docs with third-party smart chips 
We’re excited to share that third-party smart chips in Docs are now generally available for all users. Since introducing third-party smart chips, developers have been able to build app integrations. Several partners have already created smart chips so users can start embedding content from those apps directly into Docs. | Learn more about third-party smart chips in Google Docs.


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:

Visit a class using new option in Google Classroom

What’s changing

Previously, education leaders and other support staff had to be added as permanent co-teachers in Google Classroom if they wanted to provide support to teachers, manage substitutes or check on student progress. 

Starting today, we’re introducing the ability to visit a class, which allows permissioned users to temporarily access classes to support educators, post announcements, view student profiles, and more, without being assigned as a permanent co-teacher. 

Visit a class using new option in Google Classroom

Why it matters 

Education leaders and support staff members can now temporarily access classes and avoid unnecessary notifications and homepage clutter. 


Additional details 

Principals, department heads, school counselors, curriculum leaders, administrative assistants, coaches, mentors, and IT admins are the types of education leaders and support staff members that will benefit most from this feature. However, Super Admins can use their discretion in choosing who gets access to this feature and to which classes. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: 
    • This feature will be OFF by default to ensure Super Admins can designate which individuals or groups within the organization have access to this feature. To appoint users with temporary class access in the Admin Console: 
      • Create a new custom admin role in Admin Console with the “Manage Classes” privilege 
        • In Admin Console, go to Menu > Account > Admin roles > Create new role 
        • Add a name (something like “Education Leaders”) and description to the new role 
        • From the Privilege Name list, select the following privilege: Classroom > Manage classes. If preferred, other privileges can be selected 
        • Assign the new custom admin role to select users or security groups 
        • To limit access to specific classes, scope the user’s role to a organizational unit(s) 
      • Visit the Help Center to learn more about designating users with temporary class access. 
  • End users: 
    • When the Manage Classes privilege is enabled by your admin, you can search for classes from the Classroom homepage.
    • Upon selecting a class to visit, you will be prompted to notify the teacher with the reason for the visit. 

Rollout pace 

Admin Console: 

Google Classroom: 

Availability 

Resources 

Plan, organize, and analyze assignments and grades with grading periods in Google Classroom

What’s changing

Last year, we announced a feature that enabled teachers to include grading category information when exporting Google Classroom assignments to the student information system. To build upon our innovations in grading, we’re introducing grading periods, an option that allows teachers to define and apply grading periods segmented from the entire school year to their Classroom assignments. 

In the gradebook view, teachers can now filter by grading period while sorting by student. This enables them to see student performance trends over time (as an aggregate by grading period or within a specific grading period).
Grading periods in Google Classroom

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

This update creates a better grading and assignments experience by ensuring consistency for due dates and helping to reduce errors made during grade sync. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Starter, Frontline Standard, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard and Nonprofits
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – May 26, 2023

6 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace customers.


Improving the Google Meet experience on foldable devices
If you’re using Google Meet on a foldable device, you’ll notice an improved experience in tabletop mode. Meet will automatically adjust the grid layout and control bar to best suit your device, making it easier to participate and interact during meetings. | Learn more about joining a video meeting.


Additional refinements to email notifications sent from Google Classroom
We’re updating the email notification experience in Google Classroom to make it easier for students and teachers to find the right information more efficiently in order to take action in Classroom. Specifically, you’ll notice refreshed visual design and language, clearer focus on action items, and easier access to notification settings. | Learn more about managing notification.
Additional refinements to email notifications sent from Google Classroom

Introducing new keyboard shortcuts in Google Sheets
We’re adding new keyboard shortcuts to Google Sheets to help you increase your productivity and perform actions faster. Examples include: applying/removing bold formatting, moving to the next Sheet, and displaying the Find and Replace box. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for June 7, 2023. | Learn more about keyboard shortcuts for Google Sheets.

Find what you need faster with new Google Drive organizational options
You will now have more control over how files and folders are displayed in various views within Google Drive for Web. For example, we’re adding a new drop-down menu in both grid and list layouts that will enable you to select whether folders should always appear "on top" or if they should be "mixed with files". Additionally, while in the Search view, the new menu will provide display options specifically related to your search, which returns results sorted by relevancy and modification date. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for June 7, 2023. | Learn more about viewing & reordering your files and folders.




Pin multiple participants from Google Meet Hardware devices
You can now pin multiple video tiles using Google Meet hardware. Pinning can be used to highlight speakers, presentations, and other key attendees in the video feed. Now you can use this functionality however you’re joining a meeting: desktop, mobile, or a conference room. | Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet Hardware. | Learn more about pinning Google Meet participants.

Improving the Google Meet experience on foldable devices
If you’re using Google Meet on a foldable device, you’ll notice an improved experience in tabletop mode. Meet will automatically adjust the grid layout and control bar to best suit your device, making it easier to participate and interact during meetings.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Simplify workflows in Google Docs with variable chips
We introduced variable chips, a new feature that makes document creation for things like invoices, contracts, or broader communications much easier. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus customers and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about variable chips in Google Docs.


Extending client-side encryption to chat messages in Google Meet
If you’re using client-side encryption for Meet, in-meeting chat will now be supported. As with the audio and video content of your client-side encrypted meetings, all in-meeting chat messages will be encrypted and inaccessible by any third party, including Google. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls only. | Learn more about client-side encryption for in-meeting chat on Google Meet.


Adding new capabilities to timeline view in Google Sheets
We added the following capabilities to expand the timeline view feature: enhanced formatting options, including card text truncation and the undo/redo option, a card collapsed view that enables you to merge cards into a single row for each card group, and print and download support. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only. | Learn more about timeline view in Google Sheets. 


Set expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API
Developers will now be able to fully control file expirations via the Google Drive API (creating, reading, updating, deleting), and users will be able to see, but not edit file expirations in the sharing dialog. | Available to Google Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about setting expirations for files in shared drives using Google Drive API. 


Enable your users to report inappropriate messages for review
Admins can enable content reporting for their Google Chat users. Once a user has flagged a message, admins can find more information about the incident in the Security Investigation Tool and decide whether further action is needed. This feature is available for Google Chat on the web and mobile devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about reporting inappropriate messages. 

Contacts delegates can now update labels and manage “Other” contacts
We’re updating the functionality for delegated users to manage contact labels on behalf of their delegator via contacts.google.com. While this functionality was previously available in Gmail, they can now be managed directly at the source: Contacts. This will happen in two phases: 

Beginning this month, delegators will be prompted to review and re-approve access for their existing delegates. If existing delegates are not re-approved before July 2023, they will lose access to manage contacts. | Learn more about these additional capabilities for Contacts delegates and additional action required.

Improving consistency of Gmail data across the Security Investigation Tool and BigQuery
In August 2022, we announced the movement of the existing Gmail logs in BigQuery to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery, creating a single space to access all of your Google Workspace audit events. 

To further improve this experience, you’ll see all Gmail log events from the Security Investigation Tool (SIT) in your Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. This includes device types and post-delivery actions (for example open, delete, clicked links, and attachment downloads). | Learn more about the newly added columns.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:
Scheduled Release Domains:

Practice sets in Google Classroom are now generally available

What’s changing

Last year, we announced a beta for a new tool in Google Classroom called practice sets. Educators can transform new and existing content into engaging and interactive assignments. With autograding built in, teachers can receive performance insights and snapshots into student progress. 


Students get real-time feedback as they complete practice sets, so they know whether they’re on the right track. If they get stuck and need support, they can see automated hints and video suggestions, which are selected based on a learning skill added by the teacher. 


We’re excited to announce that practice sets are now generally available in English in Google Classroom to Google Workspace for Education Plus and Google Workspace for Education Teaching and Learning customers.


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users 

Why you’d use it 

While every student learns in their own way, practice and specific feedback can help them learn more effectively. Assignments can be completed with a variety of tools for input, such as a mouse, stylus, touchpad, or math keyboard depending on how a student works best. With practice sets, educators can more easily get insight into which concepts need more instruction time and when to move on, giving them performance trends and insights to shape future lesson plans. 

Visit the Teacher Center to learn more about practice sets via our online course.


Additional details 

A key part of teacher workflows is sharing their content. Now, teachers can share practice sets with verified teachers in their Google Workspace, and leverage one another's curriculum with their own students. Speak to your admin to become a verified teacher. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: Practice sets are enabled by default, but admins need to add teachers to the verified teacher group in order for them to receive a shared practice set from other teachers in their Google Workspace. 
  • End users: To access practice sets, go to Google Classroom > Practice sets > Create (or practicesets.classroom.google.com). Visit the Help Center to learn more about Practice sets. 

Rollout pace 

  • This feature is now available. 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace for Education Plus and Google Workspace for Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 


Roadmap 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 3, 2023

3 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.


In-line replies for email notifications in Google Classroom 
We’re making Classroom email notifications more functional and easier to use. With in-line replies for comments, teachers and students will be able to easily stay up to date and respond to communication within Classroom. Public and private comment notifications will have the freshest information, like the latest comment threads, and you can now easily respond to comments within the email itself. This will enable teachers to quickly reply to their students without having to switch back and forth between their email and Classroom. | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began January 30, 2023 and is expected to be completed by February 20, 2023. | Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers, and users with personal Google Accounts only. | Learn more. 

Expanding color options in Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and Drawings
In Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and Drawings, you can now select colors in the color palette tool by using RGBA values. In addition, you can also customize colors by using an eyedropper tool and selecting any color on your screen within the color palette. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for February 15, 2023. | Learn more. 
More ways to work with BigQuery data in Google Sheets
We’re expanding your ability to access, analyze, visualize, and share billions of rows of BigQuery data from Google Sheets:
Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts only. Not available to legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.


Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Google Sheets adds powerful new functions for advanced analysis
We announced 11 additional functions that will introduce new concepts, provide you with more efficient functions, and help with more advanced analysis | Learn more.


Explore Looker data using Connected Sheets
We added the ability to interactively explore modeled data from Looker, Google Cloud’s modern business intelligence platform, using Connected Sheets. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as users with personal Google Accounts only. | Learn more.


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains: