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How do I integrate TeacherEase with Google Classroom?

TeacherEase can sync data with Google Classroom. Class rosters are sent from TeacherEase to Google Classroom, and assignments/scores are automatically pulled back to TeacherEase from Google Classroom. This link between platforms requires setup by both district admin and teachers.

Setup overview:

  1. A district admin enables the sync at the district level. They authenticate TeacherEase to access Google users with read-only permissions.
  2. Teachers authenticate TeacherEase into their Google Classroom accounts, allowing roster changes and read-only access to assignments/scores. They match TeacherEase classes to Google Classroom classes.

ENABLING THE SYNC

This task is done once by a district admin to allow TeacherEase access to the school district’s Google account. The CGS admin that performs this task should also be a Google admin for the district. By the end of this step TeacherEase will have the following access:

  • Read access to Google Directory users. This allows TeacherEase to find students in Google Classroom based on the student email address stored in TeacherEase.

In order to allow teachers to start the sync an admin has to:

  1. Go to School District Admin Main > Options > Enable Google Classroom Sync
  2. Check the checkbox Enable Google Classroom Sync
  3. The system will ask you to login to Google
  4. Save

If you see the message Sorry, a Google Admin account must be used to enable Google Classroom Syncing, that means the Google account does not have the necessary permissions. You, or another Google admin with permission, should enable API access following instructions from this Google article: https://support.google.com/googleapi/answer/6158841?hl=en

Once that is turned on, repeat the previous steps to enable the Google Classroom sync.

 

TEACHERS SYNC DATA

After an admin completes setup at the district level, teachers can link their TeacherEase and Google Classroom accounts. They also match their TeacherEase classes to Google Classroom classes, and TeacherEase rosters will be pushed to Google Classroom. Assignments and grades in Google Classroom will be continuously and automatically pulled into TeacherEase.

To link a TeacherEase account with Google Classroom:

  1. Go to Instructor Main > Gradebook > Setup > Advanced Setup > Sync Google Classroom
  2. Click on sign in with Google and complete the log in
  3. Follow the prompts to match a TeacherEase class with a Google Classroom class and sync any existing assignments
  4. Link the rest of your classes using the same process

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Please note that any time an assignment/score is changed in Google Classroom, it sends a message to TeacherEase, which fetches the current score and updates TeacherEase. These automatic updates conveniently move data for users and keep things in sync.

If you change a score in TeacherEase, however, it does not get pushed back to Google (for technical reasons, the transfer currently works in one direction only). This would mean the scores are out of sync. Any change to the Google Classroom score would cause TeacherEase to refetch the score and overwrite these changes. We warn users not to edit scores in TeacherEase when the assignment is linked to Google Classroom.

This issue will be addressed in phase III of the Google Classroom integration. Bi-directional syncing will be implemented then.

STANDARDS-BASED GRADES

In a standards-based learning (SBL) environment, there is an additional step required to pull in scores. Since Google Classroom currently doesn’t support standards, users need to specify the standard/learning target on the assignment when pulling back scores. These scores are not pulled automatically, and users will need to kick this off manually.

Notice that the “Google Assignments” button has a number, indicating the outstanding assignments. Click it to assign learning targets to the new assignments, and pull standards-based scores.

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ONGOING ROSTER UPDATES

Currently, TeacherEase does not automatically push roster changes to Google Classroom. Teachers must manually refresh Google Classroom rosters to reflect changes in TeacherEase.

To refresh class rosters:

  1. Go to Instructor Main > Gradebook > Setup > Advanced Setup > Sync Google Classroom
  2. Click refresh roster next to classes that had roster changes

LIMITATIONS

Google Classroom automatic integration is available to instructor accounts with TeacherEase subscription only. To add TeacherEase subscriptions please contact us at support@common-goal.com.

Once the TeacherEase subscription has been added, you will need to apply the module change to instructor accounts. This can be done with a mass edit by the following steps:

  1. Go to Admin Main > Instructors
  2. Select mass edit
  3. Set modules to TeacherEase
  4. Check the checkbox next to any teacher who requires an upgrade (check the top checkbox to select all)
  5. Save