Google improves Classroom with more tools and options

Google first unveiled Classroom in May as a preview and now it’s issuing the first updates to the product. The touched up product allows teachers to more easily integrate their digital assignments with in-class instruction. This new iteration adds five basic features: the ability to use Google Groups to invite students to Classroom, sort students by first or last name, mark assignments not submitted online as done, and export grades. The update also adds additional control over discussion threads.

Google announced this morning that more than 40 million students, teachers and administrators are actively using Google Apps for Education. So to mark the milestone, the Internet giant has made some upgrades to several Classroom applications. Google launched Classroom this past summer in an effort to make Google Apps for Education simpler for educators to use. The apps are used in diverse education settings around the world, ranging from a primary school in rural Australia to a school with no IT support in Mexico, according to Google. Google says the updates rolled out Tuesday focus on things educators and students have come to consider most important.