The Google classroom technology issue. Where do we go from here?
Melissa Williams
Covid Pandemic Issue with Google Classroom
The world changed with just a blink of the eye. It seemed like the world just stopped when we were all teaching when the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States it almost seemed like it was an unreal dream. But were we prepared? When I think back at that devastating time we weren’t prepared for Google Classroom, unfortunately. It was thought to be the quickest solution as though the district thought to try to solve the issues with the declining academics and schools during this time. According to (The use of Google Classroom during pandemic – researchgate) “ It can be said that it is effective to use the google classroom to fulfill the curriculum. However, there were some technical constraints caused by several things including the students were not able to access the internet and some students even submitted their assignments from their friend’s account.” Teachers were just able to get their instructional materials that they were able to bring home and teachers weren’t trained on how to facilitate the lessons to students. Students didn’t understand how to receive the lessons but they were only able to contact us through emails or comments on Google classroom. With all of the chaos of Google classroom a lot of students were not attending the Google meets and submitting the assignments which had a lot of the students below level and not able to move on to the next grade. Google Classroom was supposed to be a solution for Administration in the school district because it was a way to track progress and show accountability. A lot of issues arise because there were students that did not have computers such as they were using their phones, iPads, Public Library internet or their daycare or after-school programs internet which caused a lot of students to be behind. I know there were some students that were doing an amazing jobs but there was the uncertainty of those students that weren’t showing up and still today within our school district some students are not still not accounted for due to the technology issue of google classroom and lack of an universal attendance system and record keeping for those that are homeschooled, moved, or switch schools due to the pandemic.
Are we really prepared if we are sent home again to teach students?
If Covid-19 pandemic never happens again there are other natural disasters, hurricanes, and other things in our world that could take place in which we would be sent home to teach students virtually again. Being that we weren’t prepared like we thought, a lot of teachers were left scrambling for help on how to execute the Google Classroom to the best of abilities. My principal had me being a Google Classroom Ambassador because I enjoy working with technology and she had me helping a lot of teachers to get them on the right path to understand Google classroom. It was a lot for me to teach my classroom on Google Classroom plus help other fellow teachers. The administration was doing teacher evaluations and assessing us as though we were in the classroom by looking at our Google classroom. A lot of teachers were left behind because they weren’t officially trained on how to teach on Google classroom and there wasn’t a uniformed picture of how to do the right classroom that the administration wanted. We have to get out of that notion like we won’t close. If there’s another pandemic or any type of fires or any national disasters we need to be prepared. We can’t be in a situation where teachers are trying to learn how to teach their classroom virtually and students are trying to learn how to learn virtually again. We have to be prepared because there were a lot of Technology issues that caused a lot of issues in education such as teacher burnout and students rebelling against the fact that they had to do school online.
Administration should train staff on how to use Google classroom for any future situations that might arise in our world.
To any Future Leaders or any current Administration It’s important to train all staff that is teaching students whether they are support staff for academics or regular school teachers on how to deliver Google classroom and effective way. Google Classroom is meant to help educators integrate technology and be able to facilitate their classroom from home and also can be used in the classroom. According to (The use of Google Classroom during pandemic – researchgate) “The material uploaded can be in the form of articles or text, images, audio, videos, and several other teaching materials. In addition, students’ submission of online assignments can also be monitored in an orderly manner.”When it’s used in a more effective way students and teachers are able to feel successful when they both know how to use Google classroom. The administration had me designated to be an Technology ambassador and that helped a lot of teachers but to have more people able to be a lead in helping teachers use Google Classroom there should be more Google classroom ambassador’s. And a way to actually have lead teachers that are really strong in technology is to lead Google classroom is to have some of the teachers be Google educator certified According to (Educator level 1 | teacher center | google for education) “Advance in your professional development while validating your proficiency with Google’s tools for the classroom” When a teacher is able to understand Google for Education and understand all of the components with using Google they’re able to help other teachers and they able to build leadership skills and if there is ever another pandemic or natural disaster in which we have to stay home we can all rest assure that everyone will be prepared to take on Google classroom and really use it to the best of our abilities to aim for academic success that promotes technology literacy.
References
Google. (n.d.). Educator level 1 | teacher center | google for education. Google. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_us/for-educators/certification-programs/product-expertise/educator-level1/#:~:text=What%20do%20I%20need%20to,tools%20in%20a%20classroom%20setting.
The use of Google Classroom during pandemic – researchgate. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345962298_The_Use_of_Google_Classroom_during_Pandemic