A-Level Maths Google Classroom: Two Weeks In

So it's been two weeks since I set up a Google Classroom for my two AS classes and my two A2 classes. I'd had experience using it before because I use it with my Core Maths group, but I had not ever used the Assignment function - that was what I was really trialling here.

Previously I'd been taking in a piece of homework from each student in my four classes each week. As these could be several pieces of paper long, this is a lot of paper to keep account of and sift through, and is especially problematic if they forget to write their name at the top (still an issue for Level 3 students I can assure you!). Classroom erases this problem, but that's not to say that it's been clear sailing.

The students complete their weekly homework on paper and the idea was that instead of handing this straight in to me, they would take a picture of each page and upload it to Classroom. This sounds like a simple enough idea given the number of pictures students take on their phones what with Facebook and Snapchat, but reality sometimes has its way of surprising you. 

One of the problems is that the Google Classroom app is not always reliable. However, there is more than one way to work around this problem. Many students were not aware that when you take a picture on your phone that you could then email it to yourself - a few students don't even use their college email account and hence cannot be contacted except through face-to-face discussion.

Then there was another solution: scanning their work. Some had scanners at home and didn't think about figuring out how to use it. All of the printers in college are also scanners and they didn't know how to use them, and seemed reluctant to try.

In the majority, students were able to get their work uploaded, but for those thinking it would be an easy thing for everyone to do, think again. I am convinced, however, that this is just initial teething problems and I shouldn't have assumed my students' abilities with technology (this is difficult to do when they're always on phones, tablets and desktop computers - I assumed they would be proficient).

As students were able to hand in their work throughout the week, rather than just in lessons, I could monitor who did what during the week, and I saw that many left their work until the last possible day to hand in their work. This was disappointing to see as it gave me the impression that this was all the maths they were doing each week outside of lessons, when really I expected it as the bare minimum.

It has been a revealing experience using Google Classroom, and I certainly wouldn't go back from using it. What it has taught me is that many of my students need to be taught key technology skills, as well as time management skills, from the beginning of the year. Building student independence cannot just come from teacher expectation, it should be physically built in to their routine from the start of the year.