Just testing Google Classroom. Work is retuned un edited.

[TwistedHelixis]

Just testing Google Classroom with a teacher.

 

We created an assignment, uploaded a doc, the test pupil added some more text to the doc and returned it but when the teacher goes to mark the doc its not been edited.

 

Any reason why?

[paulkerton]

Check the Google Drive audit log, and check the version history. See what that's saying.

[mavhc]

What kind of doc? I native google docs document?

[TwistedHelixis]

Worked it out. The teachers uploaded a word doc rather than using a G Doc. Unless Word docs should work in Google Classroom.

[paulkerton]

They should, but you're better off uploading them to Drive and converting them to Google's format first.

[TwistedHelixis]

Out of interest, is there a simpler way of doing thisl? The teacher thinks Classroom is too complicated for a primary school, she mentioned the pupils will get confused, but I think she really means the staff.

[paulkerton]

Out of interest, is there a simpler way of doing thisl? The teacher thinks Classroom is too complicated for a primary school, she mentioned the pupils will get confused, but I think she really means the staff.

 

She definitely means the staff

We use it with Year 3 up without any issues at all. Reception 1 and 2 we just send home books and use Google Sites for homework and such. Gives them the best of both worlds.

 

You could investigate SeeSaw for the younger ones maybe? You can sign-in with Google using it too.

[mavhc]

can't see how it can be much simpler, click assignment, edit file, click submit

[TwistedHelixis]

can't see how it can be much simpler, click assignment, edit file, click submit

Apparently Class DoJo is much simpler. I haven't used DoJo so can't compare.

[paulkerton]

Apparently Class DoJo is much simpler. I haven't used DoJo so can't compare.

 

They're not comparable, at all.

Classdojo is designed to track behaviour, and behave as a communication with parents tool and as an e-portfolio. It replaces "evidence books" that teaching assistants used to spend all their spare time sticking and gluing into.

 

Of course it's easier to give a teacher an iPad, let them take a photo of a finger painting a kid did in class and tag it with the kid's name. Classdojo is Instgram for schools, basically, and not a learning platform for teaching children skills they'll actually need.

 

And they also lead with the wonderful "ClassDojo will always be free for teachers" which is a leading statement if ever i've seen one.

[mavhc]

It's free to sign up to

[bald_pig]

Apparently Class DoJo is much simpler. I haven't used DoJo so can't compare.

 

Pretty ssure class dojo is just a comms platform for talking to parents!

[mavhc]

Yeah, can't assign work or anything, it's for posting photos of kids doing work in primary school because apparently posting that to facebook is bad

[TwistedHelixis]

So was just trying to demo Classroom to a teacher and everything went wrong. At the time I couldn't workout why the work wasn't getting retuned to the teacher. Now I can see that all the assigned work was getting saved into the pupils top level drive space and not the classroom folder. Why or how did this happen? The work was being sent from the teachers classroom to the test pupil as an assignment and didn't give any errors.

 

EDIT - the test pupil could also open the doc from the pupils classroom gui. Its just that when the pupil returned the work nothing got sent back.

Edited September 29, 2020 by TwistedHelixis

[paulkerton]

The only time I've ever seen this, is if someone has previously deleted their Classroom folder. Either student or staff.

The only thing you should ever do to it is give it a red colour label and then rename it "DO NOT TOUCH"

Otherwise, never ever go near it.

[TwistedHelixis]

Nothing had been deleted, it was my test classroom, test teacher and teat pupil setup.

[Primus]

Log it with G Suite support then as I've also only ever seen this happen where the classroom folder has been deleted.

[southhamster]

Best thing we ever did was setup 2 test Google classroom s and added half the staff as teachers in one and half as students in the other and vice versa. That way they can test and gain confidence in using from both sides. Have to say we've had no major problems with it.

[TwistedHelixis]

BTW this is what Class DoJo can do now, it looks really good. -

[Primus]

BTW this is what Class DoJo can do now, it looks really good. -

 

The Class Dojo UI might be slightly easier for tiny ones but I don't see how it's much of an improvement over Google Classroom and the integration of Classroom with G Suite makes it more compelling.

[paulkerton]

Does it tho? It's just an eportfolio meets a Facebook feed.

If it works for you, great. But i'm not convinced it's anything more than a social feed for parents rather than a functioning platform for learning.

[mavhc]

Not sure why Dojo has google login for students, but not teachers or parents.

[Brimstone]

Does it tho? It's just an eportfolio meets a Facebook feed.

If it works for you, great. But i'm not convinced it's anything more than a social feed for parents rather than a functioning platform for learning.

 

It’s a lot more than your single sentence review, hundreds of schools have used this successfully during lockdown, many of them alongside Google Classroom

[TwistedHelixis]

you're better off uploading them to Drive and converting them to Google's format first

 

Apparently most of the work is in workbook pdf format (from Twinkle) or word docs that have lots of layers and don't convert well, so for these the pupils will probably need to download / print the work, then photograph what they have done, go back to the assignment and attach the photo. I can see these extra steps being a problem for some of the less IT skilled staff, unless there are other ways round these issues.

 

EDIT - this was about Classroom and not DoJo

Edited September 30, 2020 by TwistedHelixis

[paulkerton]

It’s a lot more than your single sentence review, hundreds of schools have used this successfully during lockdown, many of them alongside Google Classroom

Well if Classdojo hasn't convinced me of that, then thats a problem with Classdojo's promotional work, especially when they're most recent YouTube video says "portfolios" in the title. Even their how to use Dojo with Classroom guide basically says "Here's our portfolio tool and messaging tools, use those to send links to people" https://classdojo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047113171-Using-ClassDojo-with-Google-Classroom

 

Maybe it works in primary to some degree, but they're not comparable tools. Its like looking at a bicycle with a trailer next to a box van and pondering "So... Which one should I use to move house?"

Apparently most of the work is in workbook pdf format (from Twinkle) or word docs that have lots of layers and don't convert well, so for these the pupils will probably need to download / print the work, then photograph what they have done, go back to the assignment and attach the photo. I can see these extra steps being a problem for some of the less IT skilled staff, unless there are other ways round these issues.

Moving to a cloud based service, and using online learning tools is about changing how you work, and how children work to give them 21st Century skills. You can't just take what you already do and try and do a version of that digitally. Especially with PDFs. You should take the time, be it using Google, Microsoft, Frog, Blackboard, Canvas, or yes, even Classdojo, to work on how this new way of working and how you're going to transform teaching and learning using digital tools to do it.

However if they just want to hand out worksheets and create portfolios from the work but digitally instead of printing and investing in scrapbooks and pritt stick, Classdojo can facilitate that, so just use that. No point in using a hammer when what you need is a screwdriver.

Edited September 30, 2020 by paulkerton