How To Use Google Drive In The Classroom
by TeachThought Staff
How did they do it?
Teachers back then…they created, distributed, and recorded everything on paper. They spent hours entering grades, calculating averages, and handwriting notes to be displayed on the board via now-antiquated overhead projectors.
Modern technological innovations have revolutionized the possibilities for teachers to create, collaborate, assess, and engage. For many teachers, tools like Google Drive are an integral component of their day-to-day teaching and assessment-related activities.
See also What Is Google Drive?
Why Use Google Drive?
Google Drive is a free, cloud-based storage system that houses a variety of files. Users can create and share folders within Drive, as well as upload a variety of file types into existing folders.
By clicking the ‘New’ icon in the top left corner, Google Drive users can also create projects using Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and more offerings.
With up to 15 GB of free storage, Google Drive is an appealing option for teachers looking for a central hub to store, create, distribute, and revise instructional materials and teaching tools.
Of the thousands of ways teachers can use Google Drive, we have researched the 12 ways for Google Drive that best support classroom teaching and learning. Let’s take a look at how you can simplify your instructional practices while enhancing the learning experience for your students.
How Can Teachers Use Google Drive to Support Classroom Learning?
Create an eBinder for each student using Google Sites
+ New > More > Google Sites
Not only can teachers use Google Sites to create a class website, but they can also use it to create a template for an eBinder. Each menu option can coincide with how students would label their dividers for physical binders.
Within each menu option, teachers can create separate pages that house essential documents, assessments, and assignments. They might devote one page to a journal and another page to a section where students can keep track of their grades.
Once satisfied with the format of the eBinder, it’s time to make an individual copy for each student. Simply locate the File option on the top left, then click ‘Make a Copy.’ Teachers can include each student’s name in the title, then share the new site with each student.
From there, the teacher can spend the first week modeling how students should use the eBinder. Students can create a personal profile on the home page or get started on a Table of Contents. They can also upload assignments that the teacher can directly view and comment on.
Gone are the days of losing track of papers and homework – by keeping all class materials stored in an eBinder, it makes it easy for the teacher and student to maintain a feedback-focused dialogue.
Share a single folder where students can access/submit all shared files
Right-click > Share > Enter email address(es) > Allow viewing access to anyone with link
If keeping track of 20-30 separate eBinders doesn’t sound appealing, consider creating a single shared folder where students can access all relevant course documents.
From short stories and uploaded videos to notes templates and self-evaluation forms, Google Drive can house all types of files, including PDFs, PNGs, and MP4s.
Creating a single shareable folder eliminates the all-too-common, time-consuming scenario where students attempt to access a private document and the teacher must then grant access to each student.
Force copy Google Docs/Sheets/etc
Right-click Google Doc /Sheet > Share > Change link settings to ‘Anyone with Link’ > Replace ‘edit’ and everything after it at the end of the link with ‘copy’
Want to give students access to a document while still preserving it for future use? The forced copy function is one of the best gifts bestowed to teachers from the Google geniuses.
Many teachers use the forced copy function with a basic quiz. Wherever they share the link to the quiz, they would simply replace ‘edit’ and everything after it at the end of the link with the word ‘copy’, so that when a student clicks the link, they will be presented with the question, “Do you want to make a copy of this document?”
From there, students can edit their copies of the same document and share it with a teacher or to a Google Classroom assignment when they are done.
Create a form to elicit feedback or create an assessment
+ New > Google Forms
With Google Forms, teachers can not only create a quiz, reflection form, or survey – they can also import all responses to a single Google Sheet file.
When considering assessment, this makes it easy to conduct item analyses for individual assessment questions, calculate class or section averages, or track progress over a semester.
By importing the responses from a reflection form, teachers can analyze students’ overall feelings and thoughts related to their personal growth and areas where improvement is needed. This can be a powerful tool when it comes to determining small groups and differentiating content.
For teachers looking to improve, they can use Google Forms to create and share a mid-semester and final semester evaluation. There is a toggle where teachers can collect email addresses for each response; otherwise, they can leave it closed so that students can submit anonymous responses.
Allow students to collaborate in real-time
Click the ‘Share’ blue button in the top right corner > Prompt one student to share the file with group members by entering email addresses > Grant viewing/commenting/editing access as appropriate
Perhaps one of the best functions of Google Drive is that most of its entities – including Docs, Sheets, and Slides – allow for real-time collaboration. Naturally, this function is useful when it comes to remote teaching and eLearning.
The real-time collaboration function is great for WebQuests, scavenger hunts, group evaluations, jigsaw activities, and more complex group projects that involve multiple roles and assignments.
Google Drive also keeps track of editing history, so teachers can look and see who has contributed what pieces to a particular document or spreadsheet. The teacher can also prompt higher-order thinking by adding comments to a shared document. Students can resolve comments as they identify solutions or respond to the teacher if they seek clarification.
Co-create lesson plans with department colleagues or co-teachers
Click the ‘Share’ blue button in the top right corner > Prompt one teacher to share the file with others by entering email addresses > Grant viewing/commenting/editing access as appropriate
While many departments express a desire to collaborate on curriculum and instructional materials, class scheduling priorities make it difficult to devote a single planning period to the same group of teachers. Co-teachers within an inclusion class may experience the same frustration.
Just as students can collaborate on documents in real time, so can teachers work asynchronously to create compelling lesson plans and ensure that each teacher knows their role(s) for the lesson.
By uploading lesson plans to a shared department folder, teachers can then return to the documents to comment on what worked and what didn’t and then revise them for future use.
Provide feedback to student work by adding comments
Within a document, highlight the text for which you wish to provide commentary > Click ‘Insert’ at the top menu > Click ‘Comment’
Many teachers lament the fact that they spend a substantial amount of time providing commentary on assignments that students never read once they receive the grade.
One way to encourage students to read and apply feedback is to delay the grade. Teachers can add comments on a document or spreadsheet that prompt students to make specific revisions or considerations. As students resolve each comment, the teacher will receive a notification in their email.
After a given period, the teacher can return to the document to see how the student applied the feedback, then share a grade based on a rubric or scoring guide.
Keep track of student grades using Google Sheets
+ New > Google Sheets
While many school districts use tools like PowerSchool to keep track of student grades, it is always a good idea to keep a backup record. Google Sheets is an ideal tool to house student grades, and teachers can keep the files confidential so that no one else can access the private information contained within.
By maintaining a separate spreadsheet, teachers also have more freedom to “play around” with student grades without impacting the PowerSchool grade.
What do we mean by “play around?” Let’s say that it is near the end of the semester and there is only one major assessment left. One student who has a C+ is determined to achieve a B by the end of the semester, and they genuinely want to know what they need to do to accomplish that.
The student can meet with the teacher to look at their grade book on Google Sheets and the teacher can input different grades in the assessment column that – based on functions – will reveal a hypothetical overall grade.
Additionally, a teacher could create a spreadsheet where grades are entered and students can see how they performed on an assignment compared to other students in the class. Of course, student names could be left off for privacy purposes, and the teacher could use random numbers to identify students.
Reward students with saved badges created using Google Draw
+ New > More > Google Drawings
A gamified or points-based classroom management system can serve as a great way to motivate students. Teachers can use Google Draw to design badges that they will then use to reward students for prosocial behaviors, like turning in assignments on time, being a positive leader, helping a classmate, or applying feedback.
Within Drawings, add an element to serve as the canvas for the badge. Next, add lines, images, text, or other objects inside the badge to indicate the meaning of the award. Teachers can then give each badge a file name and share it with a student publicly during class to reinforce positive behaviors.
If students have created eBinders, they can store their badges on the homepage as a reminder of what they have accomplished and how they are capable of contributing meaningfully to a class environment!
Create interactive presentations using Google Slides
+ New > Google Slides > Insert > Choose from available options
Some of us may remember the days of spending an entire 75- to 90-minute high school class copying lines of text from a chalkboard. Thankfully, 21st-century technological innovations have paved the way for more engaging presentation of instructional content.
When designing slides, teachers can embed audio or video files meant to prompt discussion and higher-level thinking. They can embed images and hyperlink text to supplementary websites, live polls, collaborative discussion forums, or formative assessments like Kahoot! and Quizlet Live.
Google Slides also enables the creation of charts and tables, which can be useful for presenting quantitative information and then prompting students to make conclusions based on the data.
Design a seating chart using Google Slides
+ New > Google Slides
For teachers, seating charts are often living documents that change based on instructional or behavioral needs.
Within Google Slides, teachers can create rectangles to represent decks and move them within the slide according to where they exist on a classroom map.
Once all the desks are in the correct formation, the teacher can then add a text box and group the items, so that if the teacher moves the physical classroom desks into a new formation, they can easily rearrange the desks within the slide.
Teachers may also find it useful to color-code the boxes for designated types of students (i.e., students who need to sit up front, students who need to be separated from one another, or students who work well in pairs/groups). Additionally, they can color-code desks where students share a particular accommodation.
If a teacher needs to take an absence, he/she can easily print off a copy of the seating chart and leave relevant notes for the substitute teacher.
Use voice dictation to record thoughts and ideas
Click ‘Tools’ within Google Doc > click ‘Voice Typing’ > Toggle the microphone on/off as needed
Some students are better able to collect their thoughts by writing them down, while others prefer to talk ideas out. Google Drive’s various entities include a microphone that, when clicked, starts to record voice dictation.
Students can toggle the microphone on when it comes time to brainstorm ideas for a writing assignment, delegate responsibilities within a group project, or share a response to a question or prompt.
Teachers and students alike can use voice dictation to provide feedback to other students.
Students who receive accommodations for learning disorders related to reading and writing may also find the voice dictation function extremely helpful and empowering.
12 Roles For Google Drive In The Classroom
