What is the Workspace in Google workSpace for education?

In the workspace, students can plan, set goals, organise learning experience chronologically, collaborate with peers and reflect on their own learning process and on the work of their peers.  The workspace of a digital portfolio in Google Workspace is where the students will complete the majority of the day to day work with reference to their digital portfolios. This work can occur largely on Google Classroom but also would include work using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Jamboard, etc.  Setting assignments, the use of formative assessment, the provision of effective feedback and other communication between the students and their teachers will occur in the workspace of a digital portfolio in Classroom. 


Video tutorials and other resources for other Google Workspace for Education apps are available from the Google Teacher Center at the following links: 



Google Classroom tutorials for teachers

The videos below, from the Google Teacher Center provide an overview of Google Classroom for teachers who are just beginning to use it with their students.  Each video is very short and is an ideal starting point for teachers. 

For those who prefer it, there are Getting Started and Tips handouts for Google Classroom, which can be downloaded and printed.  

lesson3_1_introduction.mp4

What is Google Classroom?

lesson3_2_accessinggoogleclassroom.mp4

Accessing Google Classroom

lesson3_4_addingstudentstoaclass.mp4

Adding students to a class

lesson3_5_sreampage.mp4

Viewing the Stream page

lesson3_6_classworkpage.mp4

Viewing the Classwork page

lesson3_7_peoplepage.mp4

Viewing the People page

lesson3_9_creatingassignments.mp4

Creating assignments

lesson3_10_providingfeedbackandgrades.mp4

Providing feedback and grades

Advanced Google Classroom Tutorials

Once you have mastered the basics, you may wish to develop your experience and skills in using Google Classroom to formatively assess your students.  The following tutorials will provide you with some additional ideas and take saving tips.  

Creating topics and assignments

This video shows how to create topics and assignments in Google Classroom.  Topics are a great way of keeping your assignments organised, and can be linked to the strands or units of a specification or syllabus, or organised by chapter, whichever makes more sense to you and your students. 

Creating assignments

This video provides an overview of several ways of creating an assignment and also demonstrates how assignments can be rearranged. 

Using the Grading Tool in Classroom

This video shows how teachers can rearrange assignments,  grade them and provide feedback to students.  It provides a brief overview of the comment bank and private comments. 

Creating a quiz in Classroom 

Teachers can create self-correcting quizzes directly in Classroom.  This brief video shows you how.

How to copy a course in Classroom

This time saving tip will be useful for teachers who would like to re-use assignments and topics and replicate a class from a previous year.  

Adding students and guardians in Classroom

This video demonstrates how to add or invite students to a class.  It also shows how parents/guardians can receive updates on their child's work. 

Setting and correcting assignments

This video demonstrates how teachers can set assignments, share learning intentions and success criteria in order to improve the quality of student work. 

Using the Comment Bank

The comment bank feature in Classroom speeds up the feedback process for teachers.  This video shows how to add comments and use the comment bank when grading assignments.

Providing audio/visual feedback

Teachers can record their feedback to students using the Screencastify extension, which students can watch and then use to improve their work.  This video provides a demonstration of how this can be achieved.

Asking A Question

If would like to do a quick poll of your class, you can ask a question within 'Classwork'. Creating a selection of general reflective questions, rather than specific questions for topics, can help you speed up the process. 

Creating rubrics in Classroom

Rubrics provide students with guidance about the quality of work that is expected of them and can reduce the amount of time spent providing feedback. This video shows how rubrics can be added to assignments in Classroom.

Importing Rubrics

To create your own copy of a sample rubric, click on this link. You can import the sheet into Google Classroom (see GIF above), as it is in the required format. Using Google Sheets to create rubrics gives teachers greater flexibility to collaborate in their creation with colleagues and students. Template thanks to Alice Keeler.

Access additional videos from the Google Classroom video series or click on the YouTube image for Google's Playlist for Teachers.

Google Classroom Tutorials for students

The following video tutorials can be shared with students to familiarise them with the main features of Google Classroom.  

Joining Google Classroom

Accessing Google Classroom

The difference between Stream and Classwork

Checking upcoming assignments

Turning in an assignment in Classroom

Unsubmitting assignments to continue editing

Checking grades in Classroom

Managing email notifications in Classroom

More student resources...

Additional videos showing students how they can use other Google Workspace for Education apps used in the workspace of a digital portfolio, including Docs, Drawings, Sheets, Slides, etc. are available on this YouTube playlist.