Google Classroom is a free educational app developed by Google to aid and ensure online and virtual learning, it is basically an e-learning app for schools. The service was developed to assist teachers in the creation, distribution, and grading of assignments in a paperless way.
In Nigeria, the pandemic has forced several teachers and institutions of learning to seek online options to continue with their education. One of the services that made this possible was Google Classroom.
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Several Nigerian teachers have turned to Google Classroom to connect with and educate their students online. It is a powerful educational tool with lots of advantages, provided it is used effectively. Below are eight tips to help teachers in Nigeria take full advantage of Google Classroom.
One of the reasons why Google Classroom was created is to help streamline and simplify the grading of assignments.
Google Classroom makes it possible for you to grade all of your students’ assessments and assignments in one place. To do this, you simply have to go to the “Grades” tab.
In the Grades tab, you can see all the assignments for all the classes and subjects you teach in a list. This helps you grade everything in one place.
Google Meet is an app that helps you hold online classes with your students via video conferencing. As a Nigerian teacher, you can use Google Meet right inside the Google Classroom application.
That way, you can set up online video classes from Google Classroom. To do this, you just have to follow the following steps:
STEP1: Click on “Generate Meet Link” in settings.
STEP2: Select the option to make the link visible. Once you do that, you can find your Google Meet Link under classwork on your header or as an icon.
Google Classroom reduces your stress. You do not have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to teach a new class, create an assessment, or teach a new subject.
The “Reuse post” feature in Google Classroom allows you to re-use old posts from any classroom you are connected to. It also allows you to reuse posts even from classes you already archived.
To do this, click on the “+” button, then click on “Reuse post.”
Google Classroom also gives you the ability to use a template for all your classes. To do this, you must first create a class in Google Classroom, choose one that is close to your preferred method for organizing your classes.
This class should have all subjects and topics created and organized. Once this is done, you simply have to create a copy of this class.
Creating a class copy frees you from the hassle of reinventing the wheel every time you need to create a new class. Copying your class template will provide you with a new class that already has all your subjects, topics, and assignments.
To make a copy of your class template, follow the following steps:
STEP1: Go to your Google Classroom Home.
STEP2: On the class cord, click on the three dots.
STEP3: Click on “copy class”.
Nigerian Teachers can keep the parents of their learners up to date concerning the progress and education of their wards.
Using Google Classroom you can keep parents updated by sending emails. To invite Parents in Google Classroom, you simply have to go to the “student section” and click on “invite guardians.”
The Nigerian educational sector is still getting accustomed to online and virtual learning. To help your learners feel more connected to you in Google Classroom, you can take advantage of the private comment feature to give meaningful feedback and encourage communication between you and your students.
The Private comment feature allows you to directly communicate with your student within Google Classroom. It enables comments solely between you and your student. This means whatever is sent using this feature, can only be seen by you and your student and no one else.
The beauty of this is that, using the private comment feature, students are allowed to speak up more openly, especially those who are naturally shy and have difficulty in speaking in class.
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Another advantage of using the feature is that it allows you to give the student positive criticism in private. The feature also helps you receive honest feedback from your student.
To add a private comment from your student’s work page, you can follow the following steps;
STEP1: Go to the Classroom Tab.
STEP2: Select the assignment that you intend to comment on.
STEP3: Select “View Assignment”.
STEP4: Select the student.
STEP5: Click on ” Add Private Comment” and then simply type in your private comment for your student.
You can schedule work ahead of time using Google Classroom. This feature allows you to schedule posts to come out on a future date and time. This feature eases stress as you have the ability to plan and draft posts ahead of time. Google Classroom ensures they are posted at your preferred date and time.
To schedule a post, after creating it, simply select “schedule” and then choose the date and time you would like the post to be published.
You do not necessarily have to send emails to your students one after the other. With Google Classroom, you can send emails to all your students all at the same time.
This feature works best when you want to send an announcement to your students or when you want to send long-form messages or content to all your students.
To access this feature in Google Classroom, go to the “people tab” and click on the check box right above the list of all your students.
Clicking this checkbox highlights all your students. Next, you select actions and then click on Email.
Technology has already made its way into the Nigerian educational Sector and from all indications, it is here to stay.
Google Classroom is an online service created to assist teachers with assessments and student connections. It is a powerful service with several advantages.
Nigerian teachers also have the power to tap into the potentials of Google Classroom and use it to their advantage. It is one of the must-have learning tools of our generation.