Tag Archives: Google Classroom

Control whether students can unenroll themselves from classes

What’s changing 

We’re adding an Admin console setting which will enable admins to control whether students can unenroll from classes. If turned on, it will prevent students from unenrolling themselves from classes. A teacher or admin would have to unenroll them from the class instead. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why you’d use it 

Students erroneously unenrolling from classes can cause disruption for teachers and an increased support volume for admins. By using this setting, you can help ensure your class rosters are accurate and up to date. Additionally, if you’re using roster import, this makes it easy to maintain your SIS as the source of truth for the roster. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: This feature will be OFF by default, and can be enabled at the domain or OU level. Find the setting at Admin console > Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Classroom > Student unenrollment. Visit the Help Center to learn more about controlling student unenrollment settings. 
  • End users: If turned on by their admin, students will no longer see the unenroll button on the course cards on the Classroom homepage.


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available as a core service to Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus. 
  • Available as an additional service to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. 

Resources 

Making Google Classroom video meetings easier and more secure

What’s changing 

We’ve added several new features to Google Meet in Classroom, making it easier and more secure: 
  • The Class Meet link is now accessible on the side of the class stream, so students can easily join and teachers can manage the link from the stream. 
  • Students will be directed to a waiting room until a teacher has officially joined the class Meet link. 
  • Guests not on the class roster will have to “ask to join” and be admitted by the teacher before they can participate, so no unintended participants join the meetings. 
  • All designated co-teachers for a class will automatically be co-hosts in the meeting. This moderation tool will enable co-hosts to start the meeting with the same Meet link without the class teacher needing to be present. 

Who’s impacted 

Teachers and student end users 


Why it matters

These features make it easier for teachers to manage meetings, help prevent unintended meeting participants from joining meetings, and generally help meetings run more smoothly. Overall, teachers and students will have a smoother and more secure experience while using Google Classroom and Google Meet. 


Additional details 

Please note that after a Meet link is generated, if a co-teacher is added or removed, you must regenerate the Meet link to update the host status. We are working on changing this functionality so the host status auto-updates, and hope to implement the change by the end of the year. 

You can follow this Forum post to stay updated on the progress of the rollout, get additional tips, FAQs and other useful updates on this launch. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature, but Google Meet must be turned on for these features to be available in Google Classroom. Learn more about how to set up and manage Meet and use Meet for distance learning.
  • End users: These features will be ON by default for new meetings created in Google Classroom. Users with existing class Meet links should reset the link to get this updated functionality. Visit the Help Center to learn more about starting a video meeting for education. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available as a core service to Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus. 
  • Available as an additional service to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Roadmap 

View Google Classroom activity with new audit logs, view adoption and other metrics with BigQuery activity logs

What’s changing

We’re making two enhancements for Google Classroom, which will help Google Workspace for Education admins surface information about how Classroom is being used in their organization. Specifically, we’re introducing:

  • Classroom audit logs in the Admin console
  • Classroom activity logs in BigQuery, and Data Studio dashboards.

See below for more information and availability.






Who’s impacted

Admins



Why it’s important

By surfacing Classroom audit logs, Admins can quickly pinpoint who did what in their domain, such as: who removed a student from a class, who archived a class on a certain date, and more. 

For Education Standard and Plus customers, admins can export the Classroom audit log data from the Admin console to BigQuery, which allows them to query the data as needed. As a starting point, we’ve provided a Data Studio report template, which surfaces your data in an easily digestible format. Admins can copy this template and further customize it using Data Studio.

We hope this makes it easier for admins to quickly look up common activities in their organization and quickly act on scenarios where support may be needed.



Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

Classroom audit logs
  • Available to Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

BigQuery Logs + Data Studio Templates
  • Available to Google Workspace Education Standard and Education Plus customers
  • Not available to Google Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, Education Fundamentals, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers


Workspace for Education Plus now syncs Google Classroom courses and rosters with Student Information Systems

What’s changing

U.S. school districts with Google Workspace for Education Plus will be able to automatically set up Google Classroom courses and keep rosters in sync with their Student Information System (SIS). IT admins will do the setup via Clever, meaning teachers will no longer need to manually create classes and invite students to join them. Note that this will not overwrite Classroom courses that teachers create individually.

Who’s impacted


Admins and end users

Why you’d use it


This feature, created in partnership with Clever, improves the interoperability and integration between Google Classroom and most major SIS in the U.S. It saves teachers time with class setup and keeps Classroom classes and SIS rosters in sync with less manual and duplicative work.

Getting started

  • Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled in the Admin console under Classroom settings. After that, go to Clever, link to the Google Classroom rostering app & follow the setup wizard.
  • End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled by your admin. There is no end user setting for this feature. When your admin sets up rostering via Clever, teachers will receive an invite within Classroom to teach the class with the roster pre-populated.

Rollout pace



Availability


  • Available to Education Plus

Resources



Roadmap


School matches are available in originality reports for Education customers

What’s changing 

In addition to checking student work for matches across billions of web pages and books, originality reports can now check for matches against a repository of student work within your domain. 

Once school matches are enabled by your admin, submitted assignments will automatically be added to your school-owned private repository after an originality report is run. If a match is detected amongst other documents in the repository, the match is included as a flagged passage for the educator to review. This can make it easier for instructors to evaluate the academic integrity of the student’s work and provide them with constructive feedback. 




Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 



Why it’s important 

School matches allow educators to compare student work within their school without compromising student privacy--with originality reports, you own your school’s repository of papers. Admins can also manually add or remove work from their school’s repository. 



Getting started 




Rollout pace 




Availability 

  • Available to Education Plus customers. Also available with the Teaching and Learning Upgrade. 
  • 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 G Suite Basic and Business customers 


Resources 

Improving originality reports in Google Classroom and Assignments to better detect potential plagiarism

Quick launch summary 

Originality reports in Google Classroom and Assignments are now better at detecting potential plagiarism by alerting you when a document contains symbols from different alphabets or other writing systems. 

Students sometimes swap out specific characters with similar looking symbols in order to trick plagiarism detection technology. For example, if the letter “a'' is replaced with the Greek symbol “⍺” or Cyrillic symbol “α,” a plagiarized assignment may not be detected as such. 

Originality reports will now alert you when a document contains symbols from another alphabet or writing system. Educators can then review it and determine whether the student had a legitimate reason for using those different symbols. Note that students who use originality reports will not see this feature. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be automatically available to educators when originality reports are turned on for an assignment. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using originality reports. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to G Suite for Education and Enterprise for Education customers, as well as standalone Classroom and Assignments users 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business and Nonprofits customers 

Resources 

Improvements to Google Classroom: class links, SIS export, ApSki integration, and more

Quick launch summary 

Today, we announced several new features that will help administrators, teachers, and students be more productive using our tools. See our Google for Education blog to learn more about these features and other upcoming launches in Google for Education. 

Announced improvements to Google Classroom include: 
  • New to-do widgets: We’re adding a to-do widget for students and a to-review widget for teachers to help keep track of work in Google Classroom. Learn more. 
  • Join classes via link: Teachers can now send out links to classes, which students can join with a single click. This can help educators share classes anywhere they communicate with students, including in messaging platforms. Learn more. 
  • Student information systems (SIS) grade export: You can now export grades from Gradebook to your SIS. This can make it easier to keep track of grades in one central location. Learn more. 
  • Support for new languages: We’re launching Classroom in 10 additional Indian languages. Soon, Classroom will support over 54 languages globally. 
In addition to these improvements, we’re also making other changes: 
  • Assignments now generally available: Assignments will move from beta to general availability. Learn more. 
  • Applied Digital Skills integration: You can now connect your Google Classroom account with Applied Digital Skills to import classes, student rosters, and assign Applied Digital Skills lessons more seamlessly. Learn more. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins, teachers, and end users 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite editions. 

Resources 

Assignments now generally available for G Suite for Education customers

Quick launch summary 

We’re making Assignments generally available as a Core Service for G Suite for Education customers. It was previously available in beta. Assignments is an add-on for your school’s learning management system (LMS), which simplifies the process of creating and grading coursework with flexible, collaborative, and easy-to-use tools. 
  • You can use G Suite for Education tools to optimize your assignment workflows, including: 
  • Distributing personalized Google Drive templates and worksheets to students 
  • Enabling students to submit Google Drive files as assignments 
  • Analyzing student work for plagiarism and fostering authentic writing with originality reports 
  • Providing feedback and grades which sync to your LMS gradebook 
See the Google for Education blog for more information on how Assignments brings the G Suite experience to your LMS. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Assignments works as a Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) tool integrated within your LMS. It must be installed or configured in your school's LMS before any instructor or user can start using it. Visit our Help Center to learn more about how to set up Assignments for your organization. 
  • Instructors and end users: No action needed until Assignments is enabled by an admin. Once enabled, use our Help Center to learn more about how Assignments works. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers 
  • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Nonprofits, G Suite Essentials, and G Suite Enterprise Essentials customers 

Resources 

Update your G Suite mobile and desktop apps before August 12, 2020, to ensure they continue working

Quick summary

In 2018, we began making changes to our API and service infrastructure to improve performance and security. As a result of these changes, some older versions of G Suite desktop and mobile apps may stop working on August 12, 2020. In particular, versions released prior to December 2018 may be impacted.

To ensure their workflows are not disrupted, your users should update the following Google apps to the latest versions as soon as possible:

Getting started
  • Admins: Encourage your users to upgrade their apps. If you deploy Drive File Stream to your organization, ensure you’re using the latest version.
  • End users: Upgrade the apps listed above to the latest versions as soon as possible.
Rollout pace

Availability
  • This impacts all G Suite customers and users with personal Google accounts.

Originality reports and rubrics now generally available for Google Classroom users

What’s changing 

Last year, we announced betas for originality reports and rubrics, two new tools for Google Classroom. Beginning today, these features are generally available for G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education Classroom users.

Who’s impacted 

End users

Why you’d use them 

Help students turn in their best work 
Originality reports check a student's work for matches across billions of web pages and books.  This can make it easier for instructors to evaluate the academic integrity of the student’s work and provide them constructive feedback.

Students can also use originality reports to check for missed citations or poor paraphrasing before they turn in a document. This gives them the opportunity to improve their work and learn from their mistakes before final submissions.

Enhance feedback to students with rubrics
A rubric is a scoring framework that makes it easier for educators to evaluate student assignments, set clear expectations, and provide actionable feedback.

With the new rubrics feature, educators can now:

  • Create a rubric as they create an assignment. 
  • Reuse rubrics from previous assignments rather than creating them from scratch.
  • Export and import Classroom rubrics to share with other instructors. 
  • Grade students work with a rubric from both the “student listing page” and Classroom’s grading view, where instructors can select rating levels as they review the assignment. 

Additionally, rubrics can be helpful for business users. For example, you can create a rubric to assess marketing plans or performance in key business areas.

Additional details 

Language availability for originality reports:
Note that originality reports are only available in English and for Google Docs at the moment. See below for details on expanded language options available in beta.

Number of originality reports available per assignment:
Classroom instructors can enable originality reports on three assignments per class for free. Instructors who use G Suite Enterprise for Education can turn on originality reports for unlimited assignments per class.

Regardless of what G Suite for Education edition their instructor uses, students can run originality reports on a document three times per assignment before submitting. When students submit their work, a new originality report is created for the instructor.

More options for originality reports available in beta:

  • International language options: Originality reports are launching in beta for the following languages: French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.

  • Student-to-student comparison: Originality reports will also compare student work against past student submissions within a school's domain. This feature is only available to G Suite Enterprise for Education customers.

You can learn more and sign up for these betas using this form.

Getting started 

End users: 
Originality reports: Once originality reports are available in your domain, instructors can turn them on per assignment by checking the originality reports checkbox within the assignment creation process. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using originality reports.



Rubrics: Visit the Help Center to learn more about creating a rubric in Classroom.

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Originality reports and rubrics:
    • Available to G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers and Classroom users
    • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Business, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers

  • Beta availability
    • International language options for originality reports: available to G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers.
    • Student-to-student comparison: available to G Suite Enterprise for Education customers only.

Resources 


Roadmap