Google Classroom: Why has it suddenly become more useful?

Google Classroom was introduced as a feature of Google Apps for Education on August 12, 2014. It’s not a new kid on the block at all. But it is certainly one of the rediscovered tools that gained immense ground during the lockdown. Google Classroom is the only application that Google developed specifically for students and teachers. Since it is part of the stack of teaching tools being used in so many schools now, let’s take a closer look at this Google App that has resurfaced as a trend.  

What is Google Classroom? 
Google Classroom is a learning management system (LMS). It can simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments for teachers and institutes who use Google, and that’s a very big number indeed. It’ a free app, and that is another reason for its boom during the lockdown months. In contrast to Google’s other services, Classroom does not show ads in its student and faculty interface, and nor does it scan user data for advertising purposes. 

What are the apps linked with Google Classroom?  
Most teachers save and share assignments via Google Drive, notify via Gmail, create assignments using Google Sheets, Docs and Slides, and receive feedback on Google Forms. They also use other Google Suite apps, or link apps, for example, they may set up a meeting on another app, but prefer to share a Google Meet link.  

How does Google Classroom work?  
Google Classroom integrates students and teachers on Google Calendars. Each class created with Google Classroom gets saved as a separate folder in the Drive or any other app we mentioned above, and goes for grading to the next app. The whole journey from class scheduling to feedback after tests is integrated in Classroom. Students are usually granted entry to Classroom via a database maintained by the institution, where the school and the student have entry codes, generated by Classroom.   

Why did Google Classroom become a trend now?  
Given the high level of app integration Google Classroom offers, the ease of using it and the amount of teacher-student interaction it allows, it easily beat paid apps to rise in popularity. Since many institutions have already adopted it, Classroom would probably remain in use through 2022 as well.