What’s new for Google Workspace for schools and MATS? Autumn 2024

This article rounds up the exciting new updates for Google Workspace for schools and trusts in Autumn 2024.

Google Workspace offers schools and trusts a variety of cloud-based tools and services that are designed to make teaching more efficient and effective. Google is continuously working to improve and add new features to Google Workspace to make learning even easier.

This blog looks at some brand-new additions to Google Workspace, including:

• Student groups in Google Classroom
• Track student assignment progress in Google Classroom
• Preview assigned work (Parents and guardians)
• AI-Powered Lesson Planning with Gemini

Introducing Student Groups in Google Classroom

Google has introduced a new feature in Classroom that allows teachers to create and manage groups of students.

This means that instead of manually selecting individual students when assigning classwork, you can quickly select a pre-defined group, based on specific needs, such as reading levels or skill sets.

Track student assignment progress

Teachers can now view whether students have interacted with assignments and when their work was last edited.

The new update provides real-time data on engagement, enabling teachers to offer timely interventions or support where needed.

Note: This tool is currently only available for assignments involving Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings.

Parents and guardians can preview assigned work

Parents and guardians now have more transparency into their child’s schoolwork, thanks to an update that allows them to preview classwork pages via email summaries.

This new feature enhances the existing guardian email summaries by providing a direct link to their student’s classwork and any attachments.

Note: Guardians do not have access to grades, class communication or other students’ work.

Gemini in Google Classroom for AI-Powered Lesson Planning

The Gemini Education tab is a new addition to Google Classroom, introducing powerful AI tools to assist teachers with lesson planning.

With Gemini, teachers can generate lesson outlines, create engaging hooks, craft quizzes, and re-level texts based on student needs. These features aim to reduce prep time while enhancing lesson quality and personalizing learning experiences.

Note: Gemini is part of the new Gemini Education and Gemini Education Premium add-ons, powered by LearnLM, an AI model tailored specifically for education.