As we all know, Google is a force in many different facets of our daily lives. It only makes sense that they also have their involvement within education.

From a formal standpoint, Google scrapped their course builder program in favor of partnering with edX, but they still have other tools that are being leveraged across classrooms big and small. Most notably, the Google Classroom program.

This evolution of Google makes sense. They already have the pieces of the puzzle available that education institutions find valuable. Everything from Google Docs, to Gmail, and chat – the only missing component was one unified name and place for these features.

The infographic below (provided by Google), gives 10 tips for effectively using the Google Classroom tool in you classroom. While we know that many of Google’s applications are user-friendly, would you use it for your courses?

I think the answer largely depends on what you value out of such a tool. While Google does have a track record of creating quality programs, they also have an equally long record of not supporting them. If you have a question, you post to a public forum and hope for the best – same can be said for bugs.

If you only wish to supplement your classroom minimally with an online component, then I would think that Google Classroom would be worth considering. If you want to make it an integral part of your course, then it might be worth investigating other options as well as they will likely be better supported in case you run into any issues.

Not that this would happen, but it would really stink if Google Classrooms took the same path as the now defunct Course Builder. If that were to happen, you are a bit out of luck.

Nonetheless, as the new academic year approaches, this should be something you check out.