Edutech for Teachers

Cool Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

Tech It Up Tuesday: Differentiate Instruction Using Google Classroom

January17

It’s Tuesday and time for me to unleash the first tech-isode of 2017! Read on to learn more about “Tech It Up Tuesday”, a series of posts in which I share an edtech tool, app, site or other resource that can be utilized in the educational setting.

This week’s geeky goodness goes something like this… Earlier this month Google released additional updates for its learning management system, Google Classroom. These new features impact teachers (i.e. new notifications to manage student work), administrators (i.e. Classroom data will be included in the Admin Console Reports) and developers (i.e. the integration of various tools including gamification capabilities and the ability to automate classes from an SIS).

Pretty sweet! But nothing quite compares to the release of this bombshell: A way for teachers to differentiate instruction. So when teachers click that “+” button to add an assignment, announcement or question to a class stream, we now have some options that make it very simple to assign work to the entire class, individuals or a group of students. The info will only be displayed to students to whom it is assigned.

This super useful feature looks something like this…

Detailed instructions regarding the use of the differentiation feature can be found here.

Classroom Connection:

Besides the obvious application of distributing differentiated info to students, this new option could be helpful in a number of ways, including, but not limited to…

» Remedial or extension activities (for students in need of extra practice or enrichment)

» Group activities (different directions, documents, etc. can be assigned to different groups)

» Leveling activities (create various versions of the same assignment, varying the number of steps and/or rigor)

» Providing info to students who are absent for short or long-term periods of time

Thank you, Google! Teachers all over the world are doing a happy dance!

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One Comment to

“Tech It Up Tuesday: Differentiate Instruction Using Google Classroom”

  1. March 17th, 2018 at 1:50 am       davidmcgaughey2018 Says:

    Hello EduTechforTeachers,

    I am a graduate student-studying tech in the classroom. I am replying to this blog as part of my class as we are currently discussing web-based tools and resources. Our goal this week was to create a blog post and reply to one. After reading this post, I agree that Google is a useful tool for the classroom. There are so many free functions for teachers, students, parents, and administrators to collaborate, create presentations, communicate, and store/share files. I just recently started using the Google Docs functions to create presentations and charts/reports. I’m glad that many of the functions are free for users, teachers, and students. Google classroom teachers can create classes, student or group calendars, discussion area, assessments, quizzes, polls, and announcements similar to other LMS systems. In addition, I like using the regular search and scholar search for resources and articles. Another great tool in the suite is google maps. This program can show users geography, maps, and street views. I think it would be great for virtual field trips. Google suite tools are great for learning and using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and the SAMR model. Even though I’ve been using some Google features it has been great learning more of them.

    David M.


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Hey, edu-tech gurus!

Looking for some technology integration ideas to enhance your classroom lessons? Then be sure to check out my "Tech Tips" for the latest and greatest Web 2.0 tools, applications and web sites that can be incorporated into activities and/or projects. Although some posts may not be applicable to your content area or grade level, be sure to check back often as I will be varying ideas in order to provide resources across the K-12 curriculum.

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