Learning Management Systems

Google Classroom Adds New Features

• By Leila Meyer
• 08/25/15

Google has added several new features to Google Classroom, the company's platform for creating, sharing and grading assignments, and has other features set to roll out in the coming weeks.

One of the new features is support for question-driven discussions including debates and question-and-answer sessions. Teachers can now post a question, video, article or other content in Classroom, and ask students to answer the question or write a response. Teachers also have the option of allowing students to comment on each other's responses.

Another new feature is the ability to reuse assignments, announcements or questions from previous classes, so teachers don't need to recreate these items for each new class. They can also edit those items before reposting or reassigning them.

Next month, Classroom will gain integration with Google Calendar. Classroom will automatically create a calendar for each class and automatically add any assignment due dates. Teachers will also have the ability to manually add class events such as field trips or guest speakers to the class calendar. The calendar will be accessible through either Classroom or Google Calendar itself.

Other new or upcoming features include the ability to bump a post by moving it to the top of the stream, optional due dates for long-term projects or student-driven assignments and the ability for teachers and students to attach Google Forms to posts and assignments.

In a blog post, Will Phan, a software engineer for Google Classroom, wrote, "Most of these features are rolling out this week; stay tuned in the next few weeks for more back-to-school goodies in Google Classroom, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides."