One of the very best Portlandia scenes features a veteran journalist’s dismay when his new boss tells him, “Think of yourself as less of a journalist, more of a link-alist.” Teachers using Google Meet and Zoom chat to point their students to resources might feel that the pandemic has changed them from teachers to “link-alists.”
At the same time, there is something good about having digital resources that open with a web browser. Referring to Meet and Zoom, Chrome Unboxed’s Robby Payne wrote:
“With open web-based tech, the ability to simply share a link and allow others to jump into a call is just too simple and straightforward to ignore…there’s no need to see what apps people have installed or not. They can just click the link and the call begins.”
Payne, Robby. “With the Pandemic and Video Calls, The Open Web Won.” Chrome Unboxed, November 2020.
The same hold true for invitations to digital classes, assignments, units, and student feedback. Teachers can generate links to all those things in Google Classroom. Generate the link and share with students in Meet or Zoom chats, e-mails, etc.
Invite Students to Classes with Links
Google announced the ability to invite students to classes with a link in August 2020.
There are four ways to generate a class’s invite link:
- Click the three dots on a class’s thumbnail in the Classroom home screen as depicted in the animated GIF.
- Click the class code in the banner on the Stream.
- Click the settings gear in the Stream, Classwork, People, or Grades. Scroll to “Invite link.”
- In the People tab, click the plus icon.
For a demonstration of those four ways, please watch this video:
Point Students to Assignments with Links
Teachers can click the three dots to the right of any Classwork tab post (assignments, questions, and materials) to generate and copy a link to it. Teachers can use this for more than reminding students of impending or missed assignments. For example, teachers could generate a link to a material and use it as feedback for an incorrect question in a Google Forms quiz.
For a demonstration of how to generate a link to a Classwork tab post, please watch this video:
Point Students to Units with Links
Teachers can also generate links to Classwork tab topics. This means they can send students to a collection of materials and assignments.
For a demonstration of how to generate a link to a Classwork tab topic, please watch this video:
Point Students to Feedback Comments with Links
Google Classroom facilitates the use of the comment feature in Docs, Drawings, Sheets, and Slides. Give students feedback both before and after assignment submission with this feature. Teachers can generate a link to a comment to point students to specific feedback to address. Please note: this link will direct to the comment in Docs, Drawings, Sheets, or Slides. It will not open Google Classroom.
For a demonstration of how to generate a link to a feedback comment, please watch this video:
What do you think? How do you use links generated by Google Classroom? Please comment below or tweet me, @TomEMullaney.
Does your school need remote professional development to make the most of Google Classroom? Have a look at some of my offerings and connect with me on Twitter.
Photo by Daniel von Appen on Unsplash.
Tom Mullaney 