We have been using Moodle in grades K-12 (primary and secondary) for about 10 years. We are also a Google Apps school. Several teachers are trying out Google Classroom and really like how easy it is to create assignments and grade digital work.
Does anyone know of any integration between Moodle and Google Classroom?
Also does anyone have any tips on how to use the two platforms together effectively?
Thanks for any thoughts!
https://edu.google.com/higher-ed-solutions/g-suite/course-kit/
It brings all the features teachers love about feedback and ease of use with Google Docs into Moodle via LTI. It's in beta right now but we plan to sign up for it and try it out.
We are K-12 as well and a Google district. We have many who use classroom for simplicity but we hope they graduate into a real LMS and begin using Moodle. Classroom is cute and easy but it is not transformative. It does what teachers have always done: assign and collect assignments. To do anything beyond that you need to install all kinds of plugins and work arounds.
Thanks Chris. I signed up for the Beta.
What kinds of things are you seeing teachers do with full LMS capabilities that are more transformative? I would love to collect some great ideas.
I made this document for our staff.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y-9Q3LjWSmF6sgoK1v8-ZYIvBGpFiYNQ0AZWary16zg/edit?usp=sharing
The one activity that is really awesome is the Workshop module. Hardest to figure out but once you get teachers comfortable it is a great tool.
I'd point you to my recent post here for more on how we are using Workshop: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=378257 There are a couple of videos of teachers describing using the Workshop in the links on that post.
Transformative is a big word for me. People are always looking for the one thing that will revolutionize the classroom. From laser discs to tandberg video conferencing there was always the promise of transformation in the classroom and how kids can learn. I think it's more than that. I don't know if you can just pin that on any one tool such as a LMS. I'd look to a solid, long term vision for moving an entire district to using a common tool and building common skills to educate diverse students as transformative. Stuff that I've organized and tried to show how we have moved to transform our district with a vision, goals, and selection of tools is here: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=358911#p1450814 It's a bit of read once you start following the links.
Hope that helps. Getting teachers interested in Moodle for us was when we started sharing quizzes and being able to push grades out of Moodle into our Student Info System. Once they saw a big benefit they had the desire to learn more. Ultimately it is a slow persistent effort that pays off when teachers are exposed to Moodle tools and then have time to think about how they can expand their teaching to better incorporate the tools to do more than assign and collect papers.
That's my 2 cents.
Colin,
Just this afternoon I got my approval for CourseKit for our domain! It looks like it is 2 separate functions: Assignment collection and File sharing. It's the basic core functions of Google Classroom of collecting papers or passing out and collecting papers.
Here's some more reading: https://support.google.com/edu/coursekit#topic=9069280
I hope to do some testing and see how to best implement this. Setup is as simple as copy/paste LTI settings.
From the help center:
Use Google Docs and Drive to create and collect assignments, give feedback to students, and share course materials within the learning management system (LMS) you’re already using. Google's free Course Kit comes with assignment and file-embed tools. So, instructors can integrate G Suite's collaboration capabilities into learning workflows.
To save you time for more personalized feedback, Course Kit includes a customizable comment bank that lets you quickly insert commonly used comments. If you type the same comment for many students, you can save the comment in the comment bank. Later, when you review other assignments, search for your saved comment and insert it. The comment bank is tied to your G Suite for Education account, so you can access saved comments from any device.
Initially this looks really awesome!!!! I will be testing it out over the next couple of days.
Very cool. I signed up for the beta and hopefully will hear from them soon.