Feasibility of using the google classroom service for teaching a foreign language at the university

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Feasibility of using the google classroom service for teaching a foreign language at the university

Natalia Shalova,

Senior Lecturer at the Department of English for Engineering № 2 National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”

Oksana ZARIVNA,

Associate Professor at the Department of English for Engineering № 2 National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”

Natalia KHYMAI,

Senior lecturer at the Department of English for Engineering № 2 National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”

Information technologies play a leading role in the organization of the educational process, because they give students access to self-education, non-traditional accumulation of knowledge through ICT sources, expand opportunities for creativity, an extraordinary approach to solving industrial situations, these are not just means of learning, but also new technologies in training competitive specialists. The main goal is the development of new educational technologies capable of modifying traditional forms of information presentation to improve the quality of education. In today's world, the development of information technologies has a high pace. It is much easier to store videos, photos and documents on cloud resources to save device memory and have access to files from different parts of the world. The question arises of the need to use the service for educational purposes in order to facilitate the speed of completing educational tasks and checking them. The service recently introduced by Google, developed on the basis of Google Apps - the Google Classroom learning management system (LMS) deserves attention. The article analyzes the main capabilities of the Google Classroom service in the process of organizing distance learning. The advantages and disadvantages of using the Google Classroom application in working with students are considered. The paper contains practical recommendations for using the application as a modern method of distance learning. Emphasis is placed on the possibilities of visualizing the teaching material and assignments from the courses being taught by placing these materials (or links to them) in Google Classroom. There is need to organize distance learning in order to provide students of higher education with the main amount of educational material, active interaction of students and teachers in the learning process, providing opportunities for independent work on learning the educational material. In the development strategies of leading modern universities, the implementation of distance education is defined as a priority direction. That is why the materials of the article can be useful to a wide audience of teachers - regardless of teaching disciplines or students' learning profile. It will be especially useful for teachers who did not have experience with the application or encountered certain problems in its use.

Key words: information technologies, distance learning, independent learning, Google Classroom application, visualization.

educational creativity classroom service

Наталія ШАЛОВА,

старший викладач кафедри англійської мови технічного спрямування № 2

Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут імені Ігоря Сікорського»

(Київ, Україна)

Оксана ЗАРІВНА, кандидат педагогічних наук, доцент кафедри англійської мови технічного спрямування № 2 Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут імені Ігоря Сікорського» (Київ, Україна)

Наталія ХИМАЙ, старший викладач кафедри англійської мови технічного спрямування № 2

Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут імені Ігоря Сікорського»

(Київ, Україна)

ДОЦІЛЬНІСТЬ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ СЕРВІСУ GOOGLE CLASSROOM ДЛЯ НАВЧАННЯ ІНОЗЕМНОЇ МОВИ У ВУЗІ

Інформаційні технології мають провідну роль в організації освітнього процесу, бо вони відкривають студентам доступ до самоосвіти, нетрадиційного накопичення знань через джерела ІКТ, розширюють можливості для творчості, неординарного підходу у вирішенні виробничих ситуацій, це не просто засоби навчання, а й якісно нові технології в підготовці конкурентоспроможних фахівців. Основною метою залишається розробка нових освітніх технологій, здатних модифікувати традиційні форми представлення інформації для підвищення якості навчання. У сучасному світі розвиток інформаційних технологій має високий темп. Набагато легше зберігати відео, фотографії та документи на хмарних ресурсах, аби заощадити пам'ять пристрою та мати доступ до файлів з різних точок світу. Постає питання необхідності використання сервісу з освітньою метою, аби полегшити швидкість виконання навчальних завдань та їх перевірки. Заслуговує уваги сервіс, котрий нещодавно представила компанія Google, розроблений на базі Google Apps - система управління навчанням (СУН) Google ClassroomTY статті проаналізовано основні можливості сервісу Google Classroom у процесі організації дистанційного навчання. Розглянуто переваги та недоліки застосування додатка Google Classroom у роботі зі студентами. Містяться практичні рекомендації щодо використання додатка як сучасного методу дистанційного навчання. Закцентовано увагу на можливостях візуалізації навчального матеріалу та завдань із курсів, що викладаються, за допомогою розміщення цих матеріалів (або посилань на них) у Google Classroom. Сьогодення диктує необхідність організації дистанційного навчання з метою забезпечення здобувачів вищої освіти основним обсягом навчального матеріалу, активної взаємодії студентів та викладачів у процесі навчання, надання можливості для самостійної роботи із засвоєння навчального матеріалу. У стратегіях розвитку провідних сучасних університетів впровадження дистанційних форм навчання визначається як пріоритетний напрям. Саме тому матеріали статті можуть бути корисними широкій аудиторії викладачів - незалежно від дисциплін викладання або профілю навчання студентів. Особливо це буде корисним викладачам, які не мали досвіду роботи з додатком або зустрілися з певними проблемами у його використанні.

Ключові слова: інформаційні технології, дистанційне навчання, самостійне навчання, додаток Google Classroom, візуалізація.

Formulation of the problem. Today, the world is moving at a great speed along the path of scientific and technical progress, and no one will be surprised if a pupil or student has a computer, smartphone or tablet PC with Internet access. Scientific and technical progress integrated in the educational process. A modern educational activity is impossible without the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), without a combination of traditional teaching methods and methods with ICT tools. In addition, the teacher has a powerful and effective technical tool - Internet technologies. The use of Internet resources in educational institutions of various levels and profiles has long become a general standard international practice, such as distance education. Such a transformation allows to diversify training, transfer part of the classes to the online space which does not require the constant physical presence of the student and the teacher in one place at a certain time. The scale of the introduction of Internet technologies into the educational process is determined by the reasonable desire of its participants to make learning more effective and interesting, on the one hand, and less time-consuming and time-consuming, on the other. This process is facilitated by the continuous development of various virtual platforms and services, which are freely distributed by software product manufacturers in the academic environment.

In this regard, the problem of finding and choosing accessible and easy-to-use information and communication technologies for distance learning which would ensure the creation, transfer and storage of educational materials, active communication and support of the educational process in institutions of higher education, is becoming very relevant. Today, one of the most popular services for teaching students is Google Classroom (https://classroom.google.com), the use of which allows you to organize the effective interaction of all participants in the educational process, distribute educational material and provide the necessary software for the purpose of performing various educational tasks, evaluation of educational achievements of education seekers.

Analysis of recent research. The rapid development of information technologies has affected all spheres of human activity. The educational process was not left out either - a “digital educational space” was formed. Traditional methods of obtaining higher education have acquired new features, combining the lecture-seminar system of education with distance learning opportunities. There was a need to organize an environment in which both sides of the educational process could cooperate comfortably. The idea of using cloud technologies in the distance learning process is increasingly being analyzed in scientific and pedagogical literature, in particular it was studied by such Ukrainian researchers as Vakalyuk T. A., Plish I. V., Pobizhenko I. O., Tarasova S. M., Tka- chuk G. V., Chumak L. A. etc. In their works, the scientists consider issues related to the general theory of the use of cloud technologies in education (Plish, 2012), the creation of tests and the organization of testing based on cloud environments (Pobizhenko, 2017), the introduction of cloud classes for distance learning (Tarasova, 2010) etc.

Highlighting previously unresolved parts of the overall problem. Considering the large amount of scientific research in this direction, cloud technologies are in constant development, new online services and environments are being created that require detailed study in order to use them in the educational process.

The purpose of the article is to analyze main capabilities of the Google Classroom service in the process of organizing distance learning, to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using the Google Classroom application in working with students, to reveal main capabilities that this service provides for teachers and students, to explore the possibilities of visualizing educational material and tasks from courses taught , by placing these materials (or links to them) in Google Classroom.

Presenting main material. The use of Internet resources in educational institutions of various levels and profiles has long since become a general standard international practice, such as distance education. Such a transformation allows to diversify training, to transfer part of the classes to the online space, which does not require the constant physical presence of the student and the teacher in one place at a certain time.

The free web service Google Classroom was created by Google only five years ago, which allows us to call it confidently one of the newest methods of working with students. In Ukraine, it attracted the attention of specialists in the field of education management, teachers. From the beginning, the main goal of this application was to create simple conditions for effective communication between a teacher and a student. Due to the rapid exchange of files, the process of distribution of tasks, announcements, course materials is accelerated, student's answers are easier to systematize, and operational information is provided regarding the assessment of works. In our opinion, the potential of this application is used in modern educational institutions only partially, although the demand for distance learning among higher education students is constantly growing (Vakalyuk, 2017: 215).

Let's take a closer look at the Google Classroom system (https://classroom.google.com/), which has become widespread due to its simplicity and accessibility to the participants of the educational process. At the end of May 2014, Google began limited testing of its educational platform “Classroom” (“Class”), designed for classroom (auditory) classes. According to Google, more than 100,000 people from 45 countries signed up to try this service in the first few months. Today, anyone with a Google account can start using it. This training system can be used both on a computer and on a tablet or smartphone.

Considering various virtual educational platforms, the Google Classroom service stands out primarily for its ease of use. It does not require special training to create a course, and also provides users with a convenient interface to manage the educational process. Google Inc. developed this service together with teachers to help them save time, organize classes easily and quickly and communicate with students effectively. In the classroom, you can use (download) textbooks, lectures, presentations on topics, as well as video materials from YouTube (Grytsenko, Yustiuk, 2015)

Using Google Classroom, teachers can create and check assignments in electronic form easily and quickly, as well as specify due dates. At the same time, tasks and works are automatically organized into a structure of folders and documents on Google Drive, which is understandable to both teachers and students. You can immediately see the tasks that caused problems during execution (Tkachuk, 2015:41).

Opening the tasks page, you can see what the teacher has asked the students, it is enough to click on the task to begin its execution. Information about submitted works is updated in real time, and the teacher can quickly check all works, give marks and add comments.

Features of the “Google Classroom system”:

using only Google tools (Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Forms, etc.);

a common folder “Class” is created on Google Drive and all participants of the educational process have an access to it;

the “Class” folder is available both for an individual student and for the group as a whole.

Working with such distance learning systems as Google Classroom is extremely important for students. It allows:

to increase the effectiveness of education and improve the quality of knowledge;

to develop cognitive activity;

to increase interest in the studied subject;

to improve computer skills;

to develop independent research skills.

Thus, we can talk about the emergence of a new concept - “computer educational materials and Internet services”, which unites all electronic means of education, implemented with the help of various software tools. The most significant capabilities of electronic learning tools for the daily practical activity of the teacher are:

adaptation of educational material to specific learning conditions, needs and abilities of students;

duplication and placement of materials in the Internet (Demeshkevych, 2016).

The advantages of using Google Classroom are:

simple setting (the teacher has the opportunity to organize several courses at the same time, plan educational process, invite students and teachers to work);

easy of use (students can review assignments, plan their completion dates, send completed work for review in a timely manner);

saving time and paper (possibility to monitor execution and check tasks);

accessibility and safety.

First of all, it should be noted the accessibility of use: educational institutions and non-profit organizations are given this opportunity as a basic service free of charge. Educators who have personal Google accounts can work with Class for free. If there is an Internet connection, the application can be used on a computer in any browser: for example, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari. What's more, Google Classroom supports new versions of major browsers - as they are updated. There are no problems with access from mobile devices based on Android and Apple iOS, which is especially convenient for most students who actively use smartphones. The service is secure, ad-free, and students' materials and information are not used for advertising purposes. You can use the latest videos from YouTube, Google Forms, PDF files or any other objects in the work with the application.

Secondly, the service is quite variable - accordingly, it can be used both fully and partially.You can post materials, give assignments or use it only for students' feedback and consultation. However, in any case, you need to start working with Google Classroom by creating and configuring a course. After activating the “create a course” function, the teacher must define and enter the basic settings: - name of the course; - course description; - audience, etc. Each course at this stage is given a unique code that students can use to find and access it. The next step is to configure the opportunities that the teacher provides to students. Depending on the form of student activity provided by the teacher in this course, students can be given the opportunity to publish posts, post comments, etc. Everyone who joined the course is displayed in the student list. However, there is a certain drawback here: it consists in the fact that students do not always use real names and surnames for registration, they use nicknames. This sometimes makes it difficult to find an individual student on the list. This shortcoming can be easily corrected thanks to the formation of a culture of business communication in students, in which the use of fictitious names is inappropriate. In the displayed list of students, you can separately highlight those who can be ignored for today (for example, part-time students who are given the opportunity to use course materials for full-time education for a certain time). After the end of the semester, you can remove the list of students and create a new one, while the content of the course remains (Brown, 2015).

Revealing the main opportunities provided by Google Classroom for the educational process, the possibility of shared access by teachers should be highlighted separately. This is especially important for large educational institutions with a significant number of students, where some disciplines are taught together by several teachers. In addition, a modular form of education has become widespread, when students receive information from a certain discipline in thematic modules, which are also often taught by different teachers. Thanks to the Google Classroom application, all teachers who have received an invitation have the opportunity to track incoming assignments, enter results and marks, comment and respond to student comments, or view posted materials. Using the application makes individual work with students more convenient, allows you to send work options and individual tasks. It is convenient to use when working with students who study according to an individual schedule: they can receive separate tasks and materials. An interesting point in the section of tasks for students is the possibility of creating a task in the form of a test that the student fills out online. The main thing is, while completing the test, it is impossible to log out and then log in again, which makes it impossible to cheat by using the phone (Chumak, 2018: 65).

Disadvantages of Google Classroom:

the system interface is not intuitive;

the link (URL) to a specific class is too long and therefore not very convenient.

Let's consider the use of Google Classroom in the educational process at a university, in particular at NTUU “Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”. Course “Practical course of an English for ESP. Part 2” is taught to fourth-year students pursuing a higher education majoring in “Applied Mechanics”. The course is hosted on the Sikorsky platform.

Example of a task with a link to a video. Task: Watch the video. Prepare answers to the questions. This makes it possible to visualize certain material, the student processes not only the content, as when working with the text, he can analyze non-verbal, informational context, emotional presentation and perception of information. Thanks to Google Classroom, it is easier to check the completion of the assignment. The teacher sees the statistics immediately: who coped with the task, who contributed on time or late. The question of whether to get acquainted with the material becomes the choice of the student, and the teacher is deprived of students' refusals such as: “I didn't know, I didn't find it” etc. Students can review tasks and materials several times, ask questions that arose during the review, or about the task.

An important point on which we would like to emphasize is the systematization requirements. If you start working with the application, you can place materials by topics, blocks, modules. However, it will not suit teachers whose courses are somewhat chaotic, only partially structured, full of creative improvisations. Experience has proven that, even in the case of constant updates, insufficiently structured information in Google Classroom only overloads students and does not have the proper educational effect. The described experience of approbation of the proposed methodical development proves that the Google Classroom service allows you to use relevant video materials in the educational process by placing tasks together with a link to the video. (For example, a demonstration of a new type of transport or the use of recycled plastic for the production of asphalt, etc.). This contributes to the visualization and individualization of the learning process. Communication becomes more productive, because students can view topic materials, video and photo materials even before meeting with the teacher at the lecture. This method makes learning more productive, allows you to conveniently place, evaluate tasks, comment on them, and return works for revision. Conveniently, Classroom is integrated with other Google tools, such as Docs or Drive.

It is clear that the mentioned method saves the time of both the student and the teacher, and, in addition, a lot of such an important resource as paper. Finally, we note that thanks to the service, it is easy to provide feedback to students. This is especially important for interfaculty elective courses. The joint work of scientific and pedagogical workers who teach one discipline together is successfully organized. However, the proposed type of work requires constant updating of the course content, materials, encourages creativity, excludes the intervention of other persons who may exercise excessive control.

Conclusion

In the course of the study, the characteristics of the Google Classroom system were revealed. It can be noted that the service is easy to use, free and has a high level of accessibility of Google Classroom and other Google services, which the digital giant Google is constantly updating and improving. It should also be emphasized that Google classroom provides an opportunity to individualize the educational process, simplifying the work, while at the same time increasing the number of individual and group methods and forms of education. The use of Classroom helps to increase the motivation to study, allows you to save time preparing for study; clarity and interactivity of information with such an organization contributes to better assimilation of information. Google classroom improves the educational process and communication between teachers and students when learning a foreign language. As the classes constantly growing, which is proof ofthe feasibility of conducted during the quarantine and at war time introducing “Google Classroom” into the educational show, the interest of students in such technologies is process at the university.

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