Google Classroom integration

(1)
Now that Google has released their Classroom API it seems like this would be a great opportunity to bring in a tight integration with Google Apps For Education leveraging the added benefits that Google Classroom brings to the table.

 

A couple of things that teachers LOVE about Google Classroom (that would be great to leverage in Canvas) are:

  1. When a student turns-in a Google Doc, Sheet, Slideshow, Drawing it automatically gives Teacher edit permissions and takes away the student's edit permission until the assignment is graded/returned to student.
  2. It's super easy to provide students with a template document that they will click on and automatically get a document of their own (based off your template) to work on.
  3. The Google Drive Management- It does a very nice job of organizing everything into folders for the teachers and students.

 

Whatever Instructure can do to make the integration between Google & Canvas more seamless and roboust will be greatly used and appreciated. If you have ideas on this please add below.

 

...and in keeping with the musical theme of instcon 2015 here's a little Duran Duran re-mix

 

 

Google released an API, came out yesterday,

Use it to build a Canvas-Google hideaway - maybe next year, maybe no go.

I know you're watching TechCrunch every minute of the day, yeah.

I've seen the hashtags and the tweets and the roadmaps

They give your game away, yeah.

There's a dream that sings along with new integrations that just belong

And I got so far before I had to say:

 

Please, please, tell me now, is there something I should know?

Is there something I should say that would make this come our way?

If you feel the same you've just got to let us know!

🔎 This idea has been archived. While this idea isn't open for comments, it is an important part of Instructure’s idea conversations and development process. Contributions like this are valuable as Instructure prioritizes work on new or existing features.

36 Comments
Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

Greetings all!

We're still gathering information on this topic.  If anyone on this thread would like to be part of the process of validating some of our ideas around improving Google integration points, please contact Deactivated user (allison@instructure.com)

allison
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

I just want to thank everyone who has reached out to provide feedback around our ideas for an improved integration with Google products. A direct integration with the Google Classroom API is not on our roadmap at this time but if anyone wants to provide feedback on the features we ARE currently working on, please don't hesitate to reach out: allison@instructure.com

clong
Community Champion

HI Allison, I sent you an email a while ago and I'm looking forward to being part of the discussion.

craigring
Community Novice

An integration with Google Docs that could enable students to get their own working copy of document templates to hand in would be excellent! It would also be fantastic for a number of administrative roles across the school. Budget forms, order form templates, return to work forms. The list is endless.

jason_paddock
Community Explorer

While I agree and want Google Apps integration, some of what you're describing can already happen pretty easily.

If you have a shared link, you can replace the "view" or "edit" with "copy," which will generate a "make a copy" screen for the person clicking the link. If their accounts are already connected Canvas, then getting a copy in this manner and then submitting it is quite simple. However, you miss out on the automated sharing that Classroom allows.

craigring
Community Novice

Thanks Jason. That definitely sounds like an option and I look forward to giving it a try. We just want things to be as simple as possible, so that they are accessible to even the most technophobic members of our school community. Preferably with the ability to make adjustments to the document through Canvas rather than having to sign in to Google to make tweaks afterwards.

Noteflight has a great integration that works in a similar way to what I would love from a Google Apps integration. Teachers create a musical score template and the students click on the link in a module to have their own working version. When they are finished they hand it in. The staff member is then notified with how many they have to mark. They can then follow the link to mark each one. The score is then sent back to the Gradebook.

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

Greetings all!

Thank you for the great conversation around Google Classroom.  Allison collected some valuable information.

This project is on our radar, but is not a planned deliverable within the next 6 months.  We are going to set this idea aside (in archive), but please continue to converse and share valuable uses cases on this thread!  Be sure to also follow this thread to receive updates as they are available!

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team
  Idea is currently in Product Radar Learn more about this stage...
lisa_francescon
Community Participant

I agree that the Canvas and Google integration has room for improvement.

Your suggestion would be nice to streamline the process for teachers as they now have to add a link somewhere to Google folders with the permissions set.

On the flip side, teachers have students share a folder for the class with edit permissions. Students create all course files in the folder. When they "hand-in" via Canvas and they have linked Google, it is pretty seamless as a "File Upload."

submit a google doc.png

Live Assignment option: Assignment Submission type Online> Website URL

  • Students turn in the file's URL with permission to view and/or edit.
  • You see the URL in Speedgrader and click on it and the live document opens (You can see when the last edit was, which may be after the due date)

Final edit option: Assignment Submission type Online> File Upload

  • Students integrate Google Drive and Canvas in settings by registering Google Drive with Canvas.
  • Students share a folder with staff, with edit privileges. They place ALL their work in the folder for the class.
  • Teachers check "file upload" as a submission option. Do not use Website URL.
  • Students use the Google Drive tab and have access to their whole folder and select the file they need.
  • Canvas "takes a snapshot" of the file.
  • The files convert to their Microsoft counterpart file types and appear in the submission as respective Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files.
  • Teachers see the file IN Speedgrader. It is NOT a live doc -students cannot edit submission once it is turned in, like the live assignment.
jami_martin
Community Explorer

 @Renee_Carney  We're moving from Blackboard to Canvas next school year and this would go a long way with helping to bring our heavy Google Classroom users on board. Has there been any movement on this being a possibility in near future? Sorry if this been discussed recently somewhere else and I've missed it.

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

Hey  @jami_martin ‌

Thanks for the question.  I have not seen or heard of any new news on this feature idea.  I'll do some checking, though.

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

 @clong ‌

We're still exploring a Google Classroom integration, however in this initial LTI we wanted to include all of the important features you list in your post without excluding those that are not Google Classroom Users.

Canvas Release: Google Apps LTI details the release, and there are additional guides here.  A few to highlight are:

keith_reeves
Community Novice

I fully support meaningful, tight integration with G Suite. It is the primary "barricade" for my staff at the moment: translating documents out of the Google-native format loses the power of the platform. .DOCX is to my team like garlic is to vampires! I'm looking forward to what Canvas can do on this front. (And thank you for the welcome to the community! It's quite an active group of educators here! Shout-out to  @erin_keefe ‌ for getting us started! See you Friday!)

james_sanzin
Community Champion

I would love a full integration, but also check out https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/10121-export-roster-to-google-classroom to see if this will help in the meantime. 

Renee_Carney
Community Team
Community Team

The Radar idea stage has been removed from the Feature Idea Process.  You can read more about why in the blog post Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes.

 

This change will only impact the stage sort of this idea and will not change how it is voted on or how it is considered during prioritization activities.  This change will streamline the list of ideas 'open for voting', making it easier for you to see the true top voted ideas in one sort, here.

KristinL
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: Archived

This is a long-standing thread that our Product Team identified we should close. Partner Listing: Google Assignments should include the functionality outlined in the original thread. 

How do I create a cloud assignment with a Google Drive file? 

Google Drive vs. Google Doc Cloud Submissions?