I enjoyed exploring Google Classroom this week. I saw it being widely used by teachers at Link2Practice at Belmont and was intrigued to learn more about the platform. I set up my own mock classroom and created sample assignments and announcements. Overall, Google Classroom seems like an extremely useful tool for teachers to streamline their coursework, grading, and communication with students and their guardians. I think the ability to create differentiated learning opportunities by creating small groups of students or personalized assignments for individuals in a subtle way that doesn’t single anyone out in front of their peers is an excellent tool. I also appreciate having the ability to pre-upload and schedule assignments to become active in advance. I observed a teacher at Belmont use this strategy to keep his classes organized and well-prepared. My only worry for Google Classroom is becoming too reliant on the digital platform which might have a negative impact on students and guardians that aren’t very tech-literate or find tech in general to be inaccessible for financial reasons or otherwise.
I had never heard of Google Keep before this lesson and I had a lot of fun trying it out. I think out of all the content curation tools listed, Google Keep makes the most sense for me because I already use the Google suite for virtually all personal and professional tasks. It makes sense then to keep things consistent, and utilize the most compatible tool. I appreciate that multiple tabs can be created to categorize different types of resources or topics. The one flaw I might predict, knowing myself, is this risk of becoming too focussed on the building and curation of the collection, and neglecting to effectively use the resources I’ve gathered.
This webpage describes some interesting tips for getting the most out of Google Keep.