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Google Classroom

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Re: Google Classroom

#31

Post by madeofpalk »

watwut wrote: post #21

When people complain about being tracked by Google and loosing privacy, they get told that they should simply not use it. If Google Classroom is used, students/parents are effectively given no choice in the matter. If the Google decides to ban students gmail account (because students name does not sound real enough or without explanation), the student is f-ed. But mostly, my primary reason why not to use it in school…

> If the Google decides to ban students gmail account (because students name does not sound real enough or without explanation), the student is f-ed.

Are you suggesting that my about@mycompany.com email address could be blocked because 'about' isnt a real name?

Google has never banned hosted gmail acccounts, and I can't see how or why it would.

Re: Google Classroom

#32

Post by ankitml »

Trezoid wrote: post #9
UK-AL wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moodle is used everywhere in the UK, FE Colleges, Sixth Form etc. However students hate it, mainly because its not very good.

It's used extensively in Australia too, and having recently gone through an university that uses it extensively for assignment submissions, out of class "discussions", and a few other things, and it's a terrible, broken platform. The primary thing I was forced to use it for was assignment submission, which was primarily collections of source-code, compiled binaries and reports on them,so nothing overly large, though…

It is possible that the server admin fucked your particular installation. Moodle is well tested and such a major functionality being broken is not possible. Moodle does eat up substantial amount of resources (CPU/RAM) but usually the sysad has to be smart enough to gauge resources according to expected concurrent users.

Re: Google Classroom

#33

Post by jgautsch »

I think this is a brilliant move by Google. I think it's hardly about the teachers, and more about the students. Three things come to my mind watching this video:

1. Adobe software like Photoshop being easy to pirate made it easy for design students to use it exclusively, helping it become the de facto software used in industry

2. A while ago Microsoft was able to have Word/PowerPoint become part of the computing educational curriculum, helping them become the de facto document/presentation software.

3. Every one of those kids in the video had Chromebooks sitting on their desk. A Chromebook makes sense for a student because it's cheaper, but is no longer viable if students are required to use Word/PowerPoint.

The point of 1 & 2 is that people use what people know. I think this is a great long term thinking move that could help both Chromebook and Google Apps in a very big way.

Relevant: http://www.zdnet.com/office-is-the-only-thing-that-can-kill-...

* Unfortunately I couldn't find a reference for #2, but I remember reading about how that was one of Microsoft's smartest moves

Re: Google Classroom

#34

Post by joekrill »

moeedm wrote: post #25

What will happen when Google stops giving a shit in a year?

This is my real worry with any Google product these days. I know most people think it's a played out reaction, but it's a very real concern, especially for something like this that requires a real commitment -- this isn't just me losing my Google Reader app.

Re: Google Classroom

#35

Post by wehadfun »

I got down voted last time I said this but I will say it again >help teachers create and organize assignments

Teachers do not want to create assignments. They just want to use them. Google needs a library of assignments that teachers can use. I created a similar thing for an elementary school and the create assignments thing was not cool with the teachers I demoed to"

Re: Google Classroom

#36

Post by nnnnni »

I like how it's going to be available after school starts in many places rather than during the summer when teachers (and tech departments) could prepare it for the school year.

Re: Google Classroom

#37

Post by _zen »

joekrill wrote: post #34
moeedm wrote: post #25

What will happen when Google stops giving a shit in a year?

This is my real worry with any Google product these days. I know most people think it's a played out reaction, but it's a very real concern, especially for something like this that requires a real commitment -- this isn't just me losing my Google Reader app.

EdTech is booming, and there is a lot of money to be made. Google Apps for Business is booming. Google Apps for Education, likewise, will boom in the same way.

If you seriously think Google Drive or a Google Docs is going anywhere because your precious Google Reader disappeared, you're nuts.

Re: Google Classroom

#38

Post by rryan »

joekrill wrote: post #34
moeedm wrote: post #25

What will happen when Google stops giving a shit in a year?

This is my real worry with any Google product these days. I know most people think it's a played out reaction, but it's a very real concern, especially for something like this that requires a real commitment -- this isn't just me losing my Google Reader app.

OTOH Larry Page doesn't care at all about something as trivial as a widely-loved RSS reader while education is something he cares about deeply.

Also, there is obviously a gigantic market there.

Re: Google Classroom

#39

Post by mncolinlee »

buro9 wrote: post #3

I asked my partner what she thought of this as she is a tenured lecturer at a Russell Group university. Her view is that they would not only not be able to use this (politically they feel the need to have everything in the UK) but that there was a preference to support a universal framework that they had full control over. Specifically her university (Exeter) uses a version of Moodle: https://moodle.org/ That said, I…

Ask teachers. Moodle is dreadful. It's just waiting for a decent competitor to come and disrupt it.

Re: Google Classroom

#40

Post by nemothekid »

aw3c2 wrote: post #2

All this could be done by a local server at the school without providing all the data and information to Google. If Google was altruistic, they would provide the software and technical guidance to do so.

If you think thats possible, you should be altruistic and apply for a job at your local school district to work at below market rates for people who don't understand your job and will always see you as a cost center and/or tech support.

Everything dropbox does can be done by a local server, and is already easy (ownCloud, BitTorrent Sync), but there is a reason why Dropbox is still doing so well. It would be thoughtful to figure out why consumer facing companies who manage everything are doing so well, before assuming overloading an already underpaid, understaffed, and sometimes underqualified IT staff with more software, hardware and ops is "altruistic"

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