Announced at the start of 2021, Google Classroom now supports offline assignment editing and an improved camera scanning tool for students using the Android app.
These three new Android features are meant to “improve access to Classroom in mobile-first and limited internet conditions.” This includes students in rural areas and those in Next Billion Users (NBU) countries.
It starts with the ability for students to download Google Classroom assignments for offline viewing and editing when they lack a connection on their Android device. For example, attachments can be downloaded before leaving school.
Although the ability to submit and download assignments, or pose questions and get answers, still requires an internet connection, offline mode gives students the flexibility to take schoolwork anywhere and keep learning on the go.
Meanwhile, the Scanner capability for taking pictures and submitting written homework can now combine multiple pictures into a single file for a more streamlined process:
The upload action in the app now allows for easy selection and submission of multiple different types of files in a single step.
Lastly, teachers using the Android app can “now seamlessly swipe between students and assignments and add grades.”
Teachers can also give feedback to students by enabling comments on individual files, even if there are multiple files in an assignment. They can comment on a file or highlight specific passages to leave more targeted feedback pinpointing improvement areas for students.
More on Google Classroom:
- Education Chromebooks getting PIN logins as Google Classroom adds roster import, more
- Google Forms will soon save progress as drafts, beta for Classroom/Workspace
- Google Classroom adding to-do view, link invites, more languages
- Classroom achieves 100 million downloads, boosted by COVID-19 pandemic
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
