Coming to Google Classroom: developer API, share button, mobile notifications, more

Google is steadily improving its Classroom feature introduced last year that lets teachers set up lesson plans and students use apps in education. Today Google unveiled a number of improvements coming to Classroom including a developer API, a new share button, mobile notifications, and more.Google says the new Classroom API lets admins “provision and populate classes on behalf of their teachers, set up tools to sync their Student Information Systems with Classroom, and get basic visibility into which classes are being taught in their domain.”

Developers interested in using the new API can request early access to the preview version being tested through July. After the preview period, Google says all Apps for Education domains will have access to the API unless restricted.

Google also revealed a new share button for connecting content on the web to Classroom without leaving those websites. The new share button can allow students or teachers to turn in or assign content like web pages, videos, and photos without leaving the page. Google says over 20 educational partners including PBS and Duolingo plan to add the new share button.

Other changes coming to Classroom include the addition of mobile notifications in the Classroom for iOS and Android apps. This will alert students when new assignments are created, grades are issued, or teachers or other students send notes. Classroom is also gaining the ability to whitelist domains and re-use previous assignments.

[youtube https://youtu.be/cjlIp3Kb-wE]