A New Meaning to “Turning In” an Assignment

At the start of the new school year, one thing was very apparent: the number of students using online classrooms at Scituate High School this year has largely increased compared to last year. While the growth of technology within education is not particularly a new idea, this technology certainly is new for quite a few teachers at SHS this year.

Kristen O’Brien, a math teacher at SHS, says she likes Google Classroom because “everything is all in the same place,” and “it’s only one thing that the kids have to look for.” The organizational advantages of Google Classroom are clear: it gives teachers the ability to keep all of their files for students and themselves streamlined on one webpage. Assignments are easy to find with their bold titles, and teachers can use folders for better navigation of different documents.

The Scituation asked O’Brien if she thought there were any drawbacks to using Google Classroom. She responded, “I personally don’t think I can use it to my fullest advantage, yet.” Once teachers new with the application warm up to it, finding materials on Google Classroom will become much easier. The more experience teachers and students have with Google Classroom, the more they get to know its features and are able to use it more efficiently. O’Brien thinks her students currently “deal with it,” and they don’t particularly like or hate it. Since Google Classroom is not required at SHS, individual teachers are free to determine if it’s the right fit for their classes.  

While Google Classroom is being utilized almost universally around the school, there is one teacher who uses an entirely different online program called Schoology. When The Scituation sat down with science teacher Michael Zhang to discuss Schoology, he noted that it has more benefits than Google Classroom.

Zhang has used Edmodo before and ultimately found Schoology to be “the most powerful.” Because he teaches an AP curriculum, Zhang wants an app that looks like “a college learning management system.” He knows he’s found that with Schoology, because he said it is “the most organized.” Zhang said he can “assign a quiz, upload just about any file, and structure it in a way that is easy to access.” He also mentioned a folder on the application where students are able to access their textbook online for free, something that would be very beneficial for college students, as the cost of textbooks can add up quickly.

Schoology and Google Classroom have one thing in common: They both reduce paper. Students can turn in assignments digitally on both applications, and both websites could become very beneficial to Scituate High School’s environmental impact.

The presence of online classrooms is growing, and whether Schoology or Google Classroom is better is up for debate. With most students on Google Classroom for at least one class, technology at SHS is sure to ramp up even more in the coming years.