SIS/LMS Firm Augments Integration with Google Classroom

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/28/16

An education technology company that supplements Google's toolset for teachers and students has expanded its integration with the larger company's school software. Alma Technologies' cloud-based Alma blends features of learning management systems (LMSs) and student information systems (SISs) to deliver functionality for administration, instructional management, communication and reporting.

Last year the company released an application programming interface that lets schools set up Google Classrooms with one click, using data pulled from Alma's database. Now, teachers can also shuttle assignment and grade details between Google's Classroom and the Alma application. From there, they can manage their gradebooks, create report cards and communicate with parents. The same data can be used by school leaders for reporting and analytics. Families can peer into their students' grades, homework assignments, online discussions, teacher notes, calendar items and other school information. In all cases, users can access both programs with one sign-on.

One district user likened the combination to a "one-stop shop." "Like many schools, our district has embraced the Google Apps for Education ecosystem. Our teachers use Classroom extensively from the primary grades all the way up through high school. Alma enables us to provide our learners and our teachers with the equivalent of one-stop shopping in this tight integration with the Classroom application," said John Martin, director for innovation and technology for the Inter-Lakes School District in Meredith, NH, in a press release. "The beauty of automatic enrollment means that more of my teachers can focus on the educational aspects of their work rather than the administrative chores of enrollment management and transcribing grades into a student information system."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • AI-powered individual working calmly on one side and a burnt-out person slumped over a laptop on the other

    AI's Productivity Gains Come at a Cost

    A recent academic study found that as companies adopt AI tools, they're not just streamlining workflows — they're piling on new demands. Researchers determined that "AI technostress" is driving burnout and disrupting personal lives, even as organizations hail productivity gains.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.