Google Classroom has added some great new features to make using it even more convenient. With Google Classroom, you now have the ability to do a few things to make life easier.

First, and probably my favorite. Asking questions directly in Google Classroom. This is greatness. You simply click the + icon in the lower right corner, as shown below to get the menu.

Next, click CREATE QUESTION. Simply type your question and post it. It will now appear in the stream for your students. They can answer the question and click to see the answers other students gave, if you have those options enabled. You see the screen to change these after you hit ASK. That screen appears below.

Next, you have the screen that shows who has answered and who has not. You can grade their responses right here and return them to students. This is where I think this is powerful, as it is a seamless way to build in exit tickets to gauge understanding… students don’t have to go anywhere else to answer your question.

Another great new feature is the ability to reuse posts from other classes. This is not a huge deal, but I can see it’s value. How often have you posted an assignment and realized you forgot to post it to your other classes? This saves the day in those situations.  To reuse a post, click your trusty + icon in the lower right corner again, then click REUSE POST to get this screen.

Select the class you wish to reuse a post from and click SELECT, bringing up this screen, or one similar.

Simply click the post you wish to reuse, and post it. You just saved some typing.

Finally, we can now bump posts. This is a great way to bump an assignment that you gave a while back that has been pushed down by various announcements, etc. This one is an easy one. Simply find the post you wish to ‘bump’ and click the three dots at the upper right of the post, like so:

Click MOVE TO TOP, and like magic, that post now appears at the top of the class stream.

Thanks Google for EDU for adding these new features to make our lives a little easier.