How do you use Google Classroom to foster collaboration among your students?

2 Use Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service that integrates with Google Classroom and allows you and your students to access, edit, and share files from any device. You can use Google Drive to create and share documents, slides, spreadsheets, forms, and more with your students, and allow them to collaborate in real time. You can also set permissions and visibility options for each file, and track changes and revisions with the version history feature.

3 Create class discussions

Another way to foster collaboration is to create class discussions that invite students to share their opinions, questions, ideas, and feedback with each other. You can use Google Classroom to create and post discussion questions, and allow students to reply to each other and to you. You can also use the comment feature to moderate and facilitate the discussion, and to provide feedback and recognition to students. You can also use the question feature to create polls and surveys that allow students to vote and see the results.

4 Incorporate multimedia

Multimedia can enhance collaboration by allowing students to express themselves in different ways, and to engage with different types of content. You can use Google Classroom to incorporate multimedia into your assignments, discussions, and feedback, such as images, videos, audio, links, and more. You can also use Google Classroom to integrate with other apps and tools that support multimedia creation and collaboration, such as YouTube, Flipgrid, Padlet, and more.

5 Provide choice and differentiation

Choice and differentiation can foster collaboration by allowing students to work at their own pace, level, and interest, and to choose how they want to demonstrate their learning. You can use Google Classroom to provide choice and differentiation in your assignments, discussions, and feedback, by offering multiple options, formats, resources, and supports for your students. You can also use Google Classroom to differentiate your instruction and assessment by using the differentiation feature to assign different tasks or materials to different groups or individuals.

6 Model and teach collaboration skills

Finally, you can use Google Classroom to model and teach collaboration skills to your students, such as communication, cooperation, problem-solving, creativity, and self-regulation. You can use Google Classroom to demonstrate how you collaborate with other educators, experts, or community members, and to share examples of effective collaboration from other sources. You can also use Google Classroom to teach and assess collaboration skills by using rubrics, checklists, feedback, and self-reflection tools.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?