Whether you’re working, playing or studying, it seems the “Google universe” is where most of us live today. Education is no different. Adoption of Google, from the productivity and collaboration tools to the Chromebook (which FutureSource says grabbed 58 percent of the laptop market in 2016) is skyrocketing.
Enter the LMS companies who have seen Google as an entry point for administrators and teachers to see what can be done and how the teaching and learning experience can be improved as they shift to device-based learning with digital curriculum.
With that in mind, Schoology, a leading LMS in the K-12 education market, has announced major enhancements to its integration with Google Drive. The updates will allow students and educators to more easily use Google Drive while working inside of Schoology to manage grades, assignments and student submissions.
“Many of our educators love using Google Drive and Schoology, but require deeper integration to leverage the best of both platforms,” said Ryan Hwang, VP of Product for Schoology. “The best workflow for educators and students is where Google content is leveraged seamlessly within the Schoology user experience.”
The new enhancements allow for students, educators and administrators to:
- Easily search, browse and use Google Docs directly from within Schoology
- Distribute a unique copy of a Google Doc to every student in the class from within Schoology
- Monitor student progress on an assignment in real-time without leaving Schoology
- Submit their assignments back to the instructor with a single click
- Place grades and feedback on the Google document within Schoology
“I work with a lot of schools and districts on effectively implementing technology into their teaching. I am a huge champion of both Google Apps for Education and Schoology. Schoology’s enhanced Google integration will make it easier to leverage Schoology to organize, distribute and assign Google content to your students,” said Katie Siemer, Instructional Technology Specialist, West Clermont School District in West Clermont, Ohio.
This update will streamline the experience of using Google tools within Schoology for teachers, students and administrators. Educators will be able to easily search for documents by keyword, reducing time spent looking for documents.
The new integration makes it possible to use Google’s native commenting features from the context of your Schoology assignment. This allows both students and educators to use Google’s inline commenting for assignment-specific communication as well as Schoology’s full grading experience, including the use of rubrics, comments and grades. This way, collaboration and communication are never lost.
“I truly believe that once administrators and teachers see the value and productivity of using Google tools within Schoology, they will see how good it can get for the teaching and learning experience, in and outside the classroom.” said Jeremy Friedman, CEO of Schoology.
The enhanced Google Integration will be available to preview at the Schoology NEXT user conference in July, and will be available to all users for the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.
