6 ms·

Google Debuts Classroom, An Education Platform For Teacher-Student Communication

52 points by emadkhan 12y ago

jpace121 12y ago
It's going to be interesting to watch how this competes with Blackboard. Anecdotally, it definitely looks like Blackboard has an almost monopoly on class room management stuff. Since the education market is so slow to adopt new things, Google definitely has their work cut out for them. With that being said, Blackboard definitely leaves a lot to be desired, and with classes supposedly going online more and more, the market is definitely ripe for some disruption.
- extra88 12y ago
  "Blackboard's market share among universities slipped to about 45 percent last year, down 26 points from six years before." And I question whether their share was really that high or just that high amongst universities that purchased a commercial LMS (as opposed to having a home-grown one, free & open source one, or no school-wide LMS at all). http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2013/09/blackboard-layoffs.html?page=all http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2013/09...
- natdempk 12y ago
  One thing that this has going for it against Blackboard is that many universities already use Google Apps to manage their student email/accounts, so it should be a relatively smooth transition to enable access for students and teachers. As a student I would love to never have to use Blackboard again. Its UX is just awful and having a Google integrated solution seems like it would be a lot less hassle for everyone involved.
wehadfun 12y ago
Direct link http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/ http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/
wehadfun 12y ago
"to help teachers create and organize assignments" Teachers do not want to create assignments. I created a similar thing for my wife and discovered this and a lot more
- koof 12y ago
  Maybe it was how you implemented it? That's also a sample size of one.
protomyth 12y ago
So, how are the student accounts handled and can I call someone when we have a problem? [if the answer is G+ account, I don't think I can risk it given Google hate for certain types of names]
chestnut-tree 12y ago
These tools and services look very promising but Google needs to be clear and transparent about what data it captures when rolling out this service. Is it tracking and recording the usage and behaviour of teachers and students who use these tools? What does it use this data for? ("we use this data to improve services" says absolutely nothing.) If you start using these tools in your student years, then continue to use your email and Google apps into adult life, can you imagine the phenomenal amount of data Google will have captured and recorded about you?
- MattHeard 12y ago
  From the article: > Google also won’t even use the data that moves through the platform or display ads in Classroom, either, in accordance with its new policy announced last week.
  - adrianlmm 12y ago
    How can we be sure about that?
    - prezjordan 12y ago
      I mean, I guess you can't unless you can a) see the source code yourself and b) deploy it yourself.
      - adrianlmm 12y ago
        and " won’t even use the data that moves through the platform or display ads in Classroom" Note the language, they say they won't use it for "ads in Classroom", but what about for other purposes?
        lern_too_spel 12y ago
        Techcrunch said that, not Google. Google said http://www.google.com/edu/privacy.html http://www.google.com/edu/privacy.html, which addresses your scenario.
cm2012 12y ago
Like 95% of Google side projects, they will barely support this and it will slowly languish until killed.
- TillE 12y ago
  I feel like I'm watching this happen in slow motion with Google Keep. I've been using it since its release for transient stuff like shopping lists, mostly because it has a nice Android lock screen widget. It's over a year old now, and it's only received very minor updates. Still can't even reorder notes in the web interface. I won't be devastated if/when it goes away, but it just seems like a huge missed opportunity for Google to actually put some effort into this kind of application.
  - natdempk 12y ago
    You can reorder notes in the web interface by dragging them, but oddly enough you can only do this in the grid view and not the list view.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    This is exactly why I never moved from Evernote, and I continue to give them $45/year. No Google! I will not fall for you again!
  - gohrt 12y ago
    Google Keep is a frontend to a Doc in Drive, and is integrated with the Google Now reminders system, so it's not an experiment to wither, it's closely tied to core offerings. It replaced _something_ that was standalone that died because it didn't "get with the program".
  - habosa 12y ago
    They just added searchable text in images, I think that's a sign they're still working on it. I just think Keep is meant to be kept simple and not take over Evernote.
  - wutbrodo 12y ago
    > It's over a year old now, and it's only received very minor updates. wat. There was a major update less than a month ago, adding: -Searchable images: Find printed text in images -List settings: Set where new or checked items go -Trash: Keep deleted notes just a little longer -Yellow action bar -Updated slide-out menu with multi-account selection -Make copies of notes -Action bar changes color with notes A few months before that was: -Sleek new design: many of your favorite things from the -Android app are now on the web – full color notes, text that scales to fit the note, and a custom font just for Keep -Rearrange items in lists: keep everything in order, all the time -Improved search: finding the note you’re looking for is easier than ever -Navigation drawer: quickly switch between your active and archived notes, or get a custom view of all of your notes with reminders (Apologies for the editorializing, I literally just searched for articles about Keep updates and copied the changelogs over) > Still can't even reorder notes in the web interface. I just opened up the Keep web app and clicking and dragging works fine for me to re-order notes.
joezydeco 12y ago
I need to show this video to some teachers I know, just so I can count how many turn white seeing a room full of kids using laptops with the screens turned away from the teacher's view. I'm guessing this will be a non-zero value.
kinayru 12y ago
<<A response from someone who works in education.>> This actually is a HUGE deal for teachers and schools, and it will provide a LOT of value. One of the largest frustrations teachers have with going paperless is managing the workflow of assignments. Learning management systems like Blackboard or Moodle were often a feasible solution to this issue, since teachers could share files for download and students could upload finished assignments. Google Apps for Education products (namely Google Docs) disrupted this. Because Google Docs allows teachers to have access to student work (collaborative editing), it allows him/her to give feedback and support throughout the entire creative process. That's a very big deal, and it makes the [upload/download] features in Blackboard or Moodle less useful. Plugins that allowed access to Google Drive folders were built for both of those tools (as well as others- like Schoology, Edmodo, Haiku, Canvas, etc.) but they stopped short when it came to managing the workflow of creating, sharing, organizing, and collecting collaborative files in the Google Apps ecosystem. In 2011, Hapara [ed tech company, graduated iK12 accelerator, http://hapara.com/ http://hapara.com/] entered the scene. Their tool laid on top of Google Apps products and streamlined the process of managing classrooms by giving teachers or administrators a bird's eye view of all student work- their files, recent activity, etc. That workflow problem was solved. However, not every school is willing to pay for the advanced features of Hapara- so there still wasn't a free solution that every teacher could access. Some of the team at the NY-based school charter network New Visions for Public Schools built and released some of the scripts they were using to manage processes [http://youpd.org http://youpd.org]. Some of the more popular scripts included 'Doctopus' [to manage assignment creation/collecting] and 'Flubaroo' [to automate the grading of quizzes created in Google Forms]. Again, the workflow issue was solved. However, a lot of teachers weren't tech-saavy enough (yet!) to utilize all of these scripts of piece-meal all of them together to build a comprehensive solution. So yes, this is a huge deal, because it allows teachers to easily manage the tools they are already using (and they are definitely using GAFE products- literally tens of millions of students and teachers have access to those tools). Also, as an aside-- I've noticed comments that say, "teachers do not want to create assignments" or "teachers would go white seeing a room full of kids with their laptops turned away". Please do not assume that most teachers are resistant to learning how to use digital tools. Schools are dealing with a variety of issues related to this shift, including weak infrastructure, broken and outdated equipment, lack of time for training, lack of a shared vision and implementation planning, lack of support, negative media coverage, etc. If any teacher is resistant, it is likely because he/she hasn't had enough support to adapt in a meaningful way yet. This is a BIG change for teachers and it completely changes the fundamentals of how many of them have operated. Think about the last time we went through a shift this dramatic... the closest thing to what the Internet has done for education is probably what the printing press did for education. That's a big deal, and there are going to be growing pains.
salemh 12y ago
Not to mention the potential damage that could be done to Canvas by Instructure, which is competing with the Black Board behemoth at the (currently) higher ed market. http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/instructure http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/instructure $39.10M funding / 2008 startup.
justin66 12y ago
Anything that hurts Blackboard can't be ALL bad.

52 points by emadkhan 12y ago

It's going to be interesting to watch how this competes with Blackboard. Anecdotally, it definitely looks like Blackboard has an almost monopoly on class room management stuff. Since the education market is so slow to adopt new things, Google definitely has their work cut out for them. With that being said, Blackboard definitely leaves a lot to be desired, and with classes supposedly going online more and more, the market is definitely ripe for some disruption.

extra88 12y ago
"Blackboard's market share among universities slipped to about 45 percent last year, down 26 points from six years before." And I question whether their share was really that high or just that high amongst universities that purchased a commercial LMS (as opposed to having a home-grown one, free & open source one, or no school-wide LMS at all). http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2013/09/blackboard-layoffs.html?page=all http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2013/09...
natdempk 12y ago
One thing that this has going for it against Blackboard is that many universities already use Google Apps to manage their student email/accounts, so it should be a relatively smooth transition to enable access for students and teachers. As a student I would love to never have to use Blackboard again. Its UX is just awful and having a Google integrated solution seems like it would be a lot less hassle for everyone involved.

wehadfun 12y ago

Direct link http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/ http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/

wehadfun 12y ago

"to help teachers create and organize assignments" Teachers do not want to create assignments. I created a similar thing for my wife and discovered this and a lot more

koof 12y ago
Maybe it was how you implemented it? That's also a sample size of one.

protomyth 12y ago

So, how are the student accounts handled and can I call someone when we have a problem? [if the answer is G+ account, I don't think I can risk it given Google hate for certain types of names]

chestnut-tree 12y ago

These tools and services look very promising but Google needs to be clear and transparent about what data it captures when rolling out this service. Is it tracking and recording the usage and behaviour of teachers and students who use these tools? What does it use this data for? ("we use this data to improve services" says absolutely nothing.) If you start using these tools in your student years, then continue to use your email and Google apps into adult life, can you imagine the phenomenal amount of data Google will have captured and recorded about you?

MattHeard 12y ago
From the article: > Google also won’t even use the data that moves through the platform or display ads in Classroom, either, in accordance with its new policy announced last week.
- adrianlmm 12y ago
  How can we be sure about that?
  - prezjordan 12y ago
    I mean, I guess you can't unless you can a) see the source code yourself and b) deploy it yourself.
    - adrianlmm 12y ago
      and " won’t even use the data that moves through the platform or display ads in Classroom" Note the language, they say they won't use it for "ads in Classroom", but what about for other purposes?
      - lern_too_spel 12y ago
        Techcrunch said that, not Google. Google said http://www.google.com/edu/privacy.html http://www.google.com/edu/privacy.html, which addresses your scenario.

cm2012 12y ago

Like 95% of Google side projects, they will barely support this and it will slowly languish until killed.

TillE 12y ago
I feel like I'm watching this happen in slow motion with Google Keep. I've been using it since its release for transient stuff like shopping lists, mostly because it has a nice Android lock screen widget. It's over a year old now, and it's only received very minor updates. Still can't even reorder notes in the web interface. I won't be devastated if/when it goes away, but it just seems like a huge missed opportunity for Google to actually put some effort into this kind of application.
- natdempk 12y ago
  You can reorder notes in the web interface by dragging them, but oddly enough you can only do this in the grid view and not the list view.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  This is exactly why I never moved from Evernote, and I continue to give them $45/year. No Google! I will not fall for you again!
- gohrt 12y ago
  Google Keep is a frontend to a Doc in Drive, and is integrated with the Google Now reminders system, so it's not an experiment to wither, it's closely tied to core offerings. It replaced _something_ that was standalone that died because it didn't "get with the program".
- habosa 12y ago
  They just added searchable text in images, I think that's a sign they're still working on it. I just think Keep is meant to be kept simple and not take over Evernote.
- wutbrodo 12y ago
  > It's over a year old now, and it's only received very minor updates. wat. There was a major update less than a month ago, adding: -Searchable images: Find printed text in images -List settings: Set where new or checked items go -Trash: Keep deleted notes just a little longer -Yellow action bar -Updated slide-out menu with multi-account selection -Make copies of notes -Action bar changes color with notes A few months before that was: -Sleek new design: many of your favorite things from the -Android app are now on the web – full color notes, text that scales to fit the note, and a custom font just for Keep -Rearrange items in lists: keep everything in order, all the time -Improved search: finding the note you’re looking for is easier than ever -Navigation drawer: quickly switch between your active and archived notes, or get a custom view of all of your notes with reminders (Apologies for the editorializing, I literally just searched for articles about Keep updates and copied the changelogs over) > Still can't even reorder notes in the web interface. I just opened up the Keep web app and clicking and dragging works fine for me to re-order notes.

joezydeco 12y ago

I need to show this video to some teachers I know, just so I can count how many turn white seeing a room full of kids using laptops with the screens turned away from the teacher's view. I'm guessing this will be a non-zero value.

kinayru 12y ago

<<A response from someone who works in education.>> This actually is a HUGE deal for teachers and schools, and it will provide a LOT of value. One of the largest frustrations teachers have with going paperless is managing the workflow of assignments. Learning management systems like Blackboard or Moodle were often a feasible solution to this issue, since teachers could share files for download and students could upload finished assignments. Google Apps for Education products (namely Google Docs) disrupted this. Because Google Docs allows teachers to have access to student work (collaborative editing), it allows him/her to give feedback and support throughout the entire creative process. That's a very big deal, and it makes the [upload/download] features in Blackboard or Moodle less useful. Plugins that allowed access to Google Drive folders were built for both of those tools (as well as others- like Schoology, Edmodo, Haiku, Canvas, etc.) but they stopped short when it came to managing the workflow of creating, sharing, organizing, and collecting collaborative files in the Google Apps ecosystem. In 2011, Hapara [ed tech company, graduated iK12 accelerator, http://hapara.com/ http://hapara.com/] entered the scene. Their tool laid on top of Google Apps products and streamlined the process of managing classrooms by giving teachers or administrators a bird's eye view of all student work- their files, recent activity, etc. That workflow problem was solved. However, not every school is willing to pay for the advanced features of Hapara- so there still wasn't a free solution that every teacher could access. Some of the team at the NY-based school charter network New Visions for Public Schools built and released some of the scripts they were using to manage processes [http://youpd.org http://youpd.org]. Some of the more popular scripts included 'Doctopus' [to manage assignment creation/collecting] and 'Flubaroo' [to automate the grading of quizzes created in Google Forms]. Again, the workflow issue was solved. However, a lot of teachers weren't tech-saavy enough (yet!) to utilize all of these scripts of piece-meal all of them together to build a comprehensive solution. So yes, this is a huge deal, because it allows teachers to easily manage the tools they are already using (and they are definitely using GAFE products- literally tens of millions of students and teachers have access to those tools). Also, as an aside-- I've noticed comments that say, "teachers do not want to create assignments" or "teachers would go white seeing a room full of kids with their laptops turned away". Please do not assume that most teachers are resistant to learning how to use digital tools. Schools are dealing with a variety of issues related to this shift, including weak infrastructure, broken and outdated equipment, lack of time for training, lack of a shared vision and implementation planning, lack of support, negative media coverage, etc. If any teacher is resistant, it is likely because he/she hasn't had enough support to adapt in a meaningful way yet. This is a BIG change for teachers and it completely changes the fundamentals of how many of them have operated. Think about the last time we went through a shift this dramatic... the closest thing to what the Internet has done for education is probably what the printing press did for education. That's a big deal, and there are going to be growing pains.

salemh 12y ago

Not to mention the potential damage that could be done to Canvas by Instructure, which is competing with the Black Board behemoth at the (currently) higher ed market. http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/instructure http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/instructure $39.10M funding / 2008 startup.

justin66 12y ago

Anything that hurts Blackboard can't be ALL bad.