Tag Archives: Google Classroom

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 28, 2022

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.

New keyboard shortcuts for Keep

In continuing our efforts to provide a top-class user experience on large screen devices, we’re releasing updated keyboard shortcuts for Keep on Android that better align with the web experience. | View the full list of shortcuts and learn more here.

Enhancing spell check in Google Docs

Words whose spelling is not recognized will now be underlined in red, even if there is no suggestion. When you click on such a word, you'll see it labeled as an "unknown word" -- from here you can choose to add the word to your personal dictionary or ignore the suggestion. This improvement will highlight more potential spelling errors - helping you write correctly and with confidence. Note that this feature is only available in English at this time. | Learn more.

Improved hearing aid support for Google Meet on Android

We’ve expanded Google Meet hearing aid support on Android devices to recognize a wider variety of hearing aid devices. Meet will automatically default to using hearing aid support when they’re connected. You can also select hearing aids during a meeting from the audio settings menu. If the hearing aid has a built-in microphone, this microphone will be used. If it doesn’t the mobile phone or tablet microphone will be used.

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.

Use built-in mail merge tags like @firstname to personalize multi-send emails

We’ve launched the ability to personalize multi-send emails with mail merge tags like @firstname and @lastname. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more.

Stronger Admin console protection with risk-based re-authentication challenges

In August 2022, we announced strengthened safeguards for sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace end users accounts. Specifically, this update protected users from bad actors taking over accounts via cookie theft. Beginning this week, we’re extending this protection to the Admin console. | Learn more.

Custom emojis coming to Chat

We’re making emojis even more expressive and personalized by allowing people to create custom emojis. Everyone in an organization can view and use custom emojis uploaded by their colleagues in Chat messages and reactions. | Learn more.

Save time by adding in grading category information before exporting Google Assignments in Google Classroom

Starting this week, teachers can include grading category information when exporting Google Classroom assignments to the SIS. | Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Aspen and Skyward 2.0 (SaaS Customers Only) SIS customers only. | Learn more.

Create and manage AppSheet databases, available in public preview

AppSheet is Google’s platform for building and deploying end-to-end apps and automation without writing code. As we continue to enhance and streamline app creation, we’re introducing a built-in structured database in public preview. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers, as well as those with an AppSheet license. | Learn more.

Configure App Access Control for third-party applications in bulk

You can now use that CSV file to specify the status of each app—trusted, blocked, or limited—and upload the file back into the Admin console for updates. | Available to Google Workspace 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, legacy G Suite Basic and Business, and Cloud Identity Pro customers only. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 28, 2022

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.

New keyboard shortcuts for Keep

Enhancing spell check in Google Docs

Improved hearing aid support for Google Meet on Android

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.

Use built-in mail merge tags like @firstname to personalize multi-send emails

Stronger Admin console protection with risk-based re-authentication challenges

Custom emojis coming to Chat

Save time by adding in grading category information before exporting Google Assignments in Google Classroom

Create and manage AppSheet databases, available in public preview

Configure App Access Control for third-party applications in bulk

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Save time by adding in grading category information before exporting Google Assignments

What’s changing

For teachers who export grades from Google Classroom to their student information system (SIS), it's important to make sure that all data is transferred seamlessly. Starting today, teachers can include grading category information when exporting Google Classroom assignments to the SIS.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it matters

This highly requested grade export feature eliminates the previous experience of teachers having to manually change the grading category directly in their SIS, which was both tedious and prone to error.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users:

To set up your gradebook with grading categories, go to classroom.google.com, click the class > select Class Settings > and set up your grading categories.

Note: The grading category titles should match the exact text in your SIS gradebook.

After setting up grading categories, assign a grading category when creating an assignment. To export grades with grading categories, click SIS export > select the assignment > click export.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about exporting grades to your SIS.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 26, 2022

Availability

Available to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers
Available to Aspen and Skyward 2.0 (SaaS Customers Only) SIS Customers (not available with Infinite Campus). Visit the Help Center to learn more about connecting Classroom to your SIS.
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – September 2, 2022

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.

Refining notifications on the Google Classroom app

We’ve made the following improvement to Google Classroom notifications:

In addition to setting your preference for Classroom push notifications, you can now tailor your email notifications from Android or iOS mobile devices. | Learn more.

The text for all push notifications has been updated and we’ve enhanced Classroom action options, such as “Join class” or “View comment.” With this update, Classroom push notifications are much clearer and more actionable. | Learn more.

These features are available now to Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only.

Insert Google Maps place chips into Google Docs

Last year, we added the ability for you to insert a Google Maps place chip into a Google Doc by pasting a Maps link directly into the document. Now, you can insert place chips into your Docs using the @ menu. | Roll out to Rapid Release began August 22, 2022; launch to Scheduled Release planned for September 8, 2022. | Learn more.

Google Meet now automatically adjusts the volume of meeting participants

With meeting participants using various devices to join a meeting, this can lead to discrepancies in volume, with some participants sounding louder than others. Meet will adjust the audio of all participants, helping to ensure everyone is equally loud. To take advantage of this feature, make sure noise cancellation is turned on. We hope this makes for smoother meetings, with less disruptions.

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Individual 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.

Dark Canvas theme now available on Google Meet hardware home screen

We’re adding support for a dark home page theme for Google Meet hardware devices. When using Dark Canvas, devices will now feature dark user interface elements on the home screen when not in an active call. | Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. | Learn more.

Easily customize digital signage on your Google Meet hardware through Appspace

We’re giving admins more options for customization by using their Appspace digital signage content. | Learn more.

Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs

You can now express yourself in a new way by searching for and inserting emojis directly inline with your text in Google Docs. | Learn more.

Work Insights reporting for Google Chat and Google Meet

With the recent upgrade from Hangouts to Google Chat for Google Workspace customers, we’re pleased to introduce a Work Insights product for Meet and Chat. Work Insights allows for optimal visibility into your organization’s digital transformation journey, and helps to improve collaboration, promote growth, and much more. | Learn More. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers

Google Hangouts will be fully upgraded to Google Chat starting November 1, 2022

As a final step in the migration, beginning November 1, 2022, Google Hangouts on web will redirect to Google Chat on web, and Hangouts will no longer be accessible. Admins will receive an email containing more information about this change, as well as changes in Vault and exporting Hangouts data. | Learn More.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 5, 2022

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.

Extending grammar features to German

We’ve expanded our grammar features in Gmail and Docs to include German. This highlights possible grammar errors in your text to help you correct them if German is set as your default language. | Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now at a Gradual pace (up to 15 days for feature visibility) | Learn more here and here.

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.

Seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom

We’ve made it easier for educators to access popular EdTech tools that work best for their class directly in Google Classroom with a new seamless integration of single sign-on, assigning, and grading. | Available to the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Google Workspace for Education Plus customers only. | Learn more.

Choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader or Google Assignments

There is now an option to grade with either Google Assignments or Canvas SpeedGrader within Google Assignments for Canvas. | Available to Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only. | Learn more.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 5, 2022

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.

Extending grammar features to German

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.

Seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom

Choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader or Google Assignments

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 5, 2022

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.

Extending grammar features to German

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.

Seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom

Choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader or Google Assignments

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader or Google Assignments

What’s changing

Starting today, within Google Assignments for Canvas, there is now an option to grade with either Google Assignments or Canvas SpeedGrader.

These tool allows educators to continue using features they already enjoy with Google Assignments, such as assigning personalized files to students, seeing students’ in-progress work, and using originality reports. If educators choose to grade with Canvas SpeedGrader, they can also utilize annotations and audio and video comments as they grade. Select SpeedGrader to grade an assignment

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

This highly requested feature gives Canvas users a choice when deciding which grader interface works best for them.

Getting started

Admins: Google Assignments (LTI 1.3) must be enabled to use SpeedGrader. Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up Assignments in Canvas.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Canvas SpeedGrader.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 4, 2022

Availability

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

Resources

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Seamlessly access popular Education Technology tools directly in Google Classroom

What’s changing

With a new seamless integration of single sign-on, assigning, and grading, we’re making it easier for educators to access popular EdTech tools that work best for their class directly in Google Classroom.

Who’s impacted

Admins, end users, and developers

Why you’d use it

This feature enables educators to browse, assign, and grade compelling content for their classes and allows both educators and students to access their EdTech tools without having to go through various login steps, such as remembering numerous usernames and passwords, or having to navigate to external websites and apps.

In addition to saving educators and students time, this provides a more streamlined experience when using technology to make an impact on learning.

Additional details

We partnered with 15+ EdTech companies to build custom add-ons, including Kahoot!, Pear Deck, IXL, and Nearpod.

Getting started

Admins:

District admins must enable access to add-ons in order for educators to use these features. Visit the Help Center to learn more about installation instructions for setting up the add-ons feature and individual add-ons for a domain, OU, or group.
Once you’ve set up add-ons, your district can use this professional development kit, which includes a presentation and lesson plan, to train educators on how to get started with add-ons. Add-ons partner, Genially, also created an interactive genially version of the professional development training.

Educators:

Once enabled by your admin, you will see an “add-ons” module within the Assignment and Stream screens. From there, you will find the list of available add-ons for your district. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using add-ons in Classroom.

EdTech Tools & Developers: If you are interested in creating a Classroom add-on, express interest here.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Availability

Available to the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Google Workspace for Education Plus customers
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

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Source: Google Workspace Updates

Create more interactive assignments with practice sets for Google Classroom, launching in beta soon

What’s changing

We’re announcing a new tool for Google Classroom called practice sets, which enables educators to transform new and existing content into engaging and interactive assignments. With autograding built in, teachers can receive performance insights and snapshots into student progress and use those insights to help inform future lesson plans.

If they get stuck and need support, students will see automated hints and video suggestions, along with real time feedback on their answers. Assignments can be completed with a variety of tools for annotation, such as a mouse, stylus, touchpad, or math keyboard depending on how students work best.

When available, the beta will be globally available (note: in English only) for Google Workspace for Education Plus and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. Education leaders can use this form to express interest in the beta.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it

Every student learns in their own way, though practice and specific feedback helps us all learn more effectively. In large classes, it can be challenging for teachers to support their students' individual journeys. Based on feedback we heard from our users, we’re introducing practice sets for Google Classroom.

Educators can easily transform their own teaching content into interactive assignments. Students get real-time feedback as they complete practice sets, so they know whether they’re on the right track. When they’re struggling to solve a problem, they can get hints through visual explainers and videos.

With practice sets, educators can more easily get insight into which concepts need more instruction time and who could use extra support, giving them quick performance insights to shape future lesson plans. Visit the Keyword Blog to learn more about practice sets.

Availability

When available, practice sets will be available to Google Workspace Education Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education) and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers