Microsoft Classroom

While learning management systems (LMS) of yesteryear (e.g. Moodle, Blackboard, Sakai) remain powerhouses of centralized control for educators, most of the teachers I speak to are no longer interested. It’s as if they are saying, “Ok, why does virtual class management have to be so difficult? I want simple solutions that help me get my work done rather than force me to learn arcane workflows.” As a result, we’ve seen educators eschew solutions like Edmodo, ever on the hunt for the easiest, most powerful tool.

Consider new classroom tools as the latest iteration of learning management systems. For example, Moodle and Blackboard provided one iteration, Edmodo and Schoology another, and now Google Classroom and Microsoft Classroom are the latest iteration. Let’s explore this most recent iteration.

Update:Since this blog entry was first submitted for publication, bothMS Classroom, OneNote Class Notebook andGoogle Classroomhave released powerful new updates that may not be reflected in the feature list below. For example, OneNote Class Notebook now has a“take it on the go” feature。单击上面的链接以获取有关每个链接的更多信息。此博客条目还进行了更新，以阐明与MS课堂和学校数据同步有关的信息。最新更新出现在maroon。

Watch these MS Classroom Video Overviewsexploring various features.

What Is Classroom?

The goal of any virtual classroom system, or LMS 3.0, involves providing a suite of online tools that empower students and staff to connect, create, collaborate, and facilitate organization. Microsoft Classroom, like Google Classroom, offers integrated word processing, spreadsheet, slideshow presentation, and cloud storage.

It goes one step further with OneNote Class Notebook, facilitating数字墨水/学生作业的符号, the grading of assignments and full integration with MS Classroom Assignments. MS Classroom, by itself, is a powerful classroom collaboration tool. But add OneNote Class Notebook, and you’ve made it simple for educators to distribute assignments, draw/use digital ink to create and annotate content. Then, you can add audio comments and feedback to student work along with digital ink feedback.

功能和好处

Both Google and Microsoft have a wealth of features. Let’s take a peek, adapting此支持文件to facilitate a feature comparison. I’ve also added components (e.g. MS Snip/video links to the MS Classroom side or links to Google’s support page) to the “Yes” response if they include items readers new to MS Classroom may be unaware of.

Feature List	Microsoft Classroom	Google Classroom
Save Teachers Time
Add students easily.	是的，and you canadd students through a quick search以及通过School Data Sync*。	Students canjoin a class with a code, giving you more time to teach..
Manage multiple classes—Reuse existing announcements, assignments, or questions from another class. Share posts across multiple classes, and archive classes for future reference.	是的，you can将作业发布到多个教室simultaneously. You canActivate or Deactivate classes。	Reuse existing其他课程的公告，作业或问题。分享多个类别的帖子，以及archive classesfor future reference.
Teach together—Co-teach a course with other instructors.	是的，you can easilyadd co-teachers。	Co-teach a course with up to20 other instructors。
One-click worksheets—From a worksheet template, create an individual document for each student with one click.	是的，带有OneNote类笔记本integration, you can create individual documents, as well as provide templates for students to use in a content library.	从工作表模板中，create an individual documentfor each student with one click.
Rich assignment materials—Add materials to your assignments, like YouTube videos, Forms, PDFs, and other items from your cloud storage.	是的，awide variety of media (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, MS Sway, Slideshare) can be embedded经过pasting in the link. Documents can be included in Conversations component of MS Classroom as well as embedded in OneNote Class Notebook.	Add materials to your assignments, such as YouTube videos, a Google Forms survey, PDFs, and other items from Google Drive. Teachers and students can draw on, write notes, and highlight documents and PDFs in the Classroom mobile app.
Customize assignments—Add optional due dates, create customized grade values, and track which assignments are graded.	是的，each assignment can have due dates and times，以及自定义等级值。你也可以迅速通过连接的OneNote类笔记本分配成绩，成绩自动同步到MS教室。	Addoptional due dates, createcustomized grade values并跟踪哪些作业分级。
提前准备 - DraftPostSandAssignments，Orschedulethem，以在计划的日期和时间自动发布到类流。	是的，you canschedule assignmentsin the future.	草稿postsandassignments， 或者schedulethem to automatically post to the class stream at the scheduled date and time.
快速退出门票和民意调查 - 向学生提出问题，然后在课堂内查看结果。	是的，as well as take advantage ofMicrosoft FormsorExcel Online Surveys。	Post a questionto students, then view results within Classroom.
Customize your class theme—Change the default color or theme image for your class.	是的，custom banners, icons and titlesare available.	是的。更改类的默认颜色或主题图像。
将资源保存在一个地方 - 创建aclass资源位置，用于文档，例如您的教学大纲或课堂规则。	是的，use OneDrive for centralized location for online documentscreated, and/or OneNote Class Notebook with built-in search, passworded access to sections, and more.	是的。Create a类资源页面for documents, such as your syllabus or classroom rules.
Keep students organized—Classroom creates a Calendar for each class, adding assignment due dates to the calendar. Students can view upcoming work in multiple places.	是的，创建分配截止日期并立即看到这些出现在日历中。学生可以查看即将完成的作业，以及审查完成的作业。学生也有一个Mark Done” option they can select and that turns the work in. MS Classroom also features a private “chat” between teacher and student for feedback regarding a particular assignment.	是的。GoogleClassroom creates a Google Calendar for each classand updates the calendar with work and due dates. Students can查看即将到来的工作in the class stream, on their work page, or in the class calendar.
Keep teachers organized—Review student work, including assignments, questions, grades, and previous comments. View work by one or all classes, and sort by what needs reviewing.	是的，one place to review assignments, student comments/questions, as well as the option to view items in OneNote Class Notebook.	是的。Review student work, including assignments, questions, grades, and previous comments. View work by one or all classes and sort by what needs reviewing.
Grade quickly and easily—Sort students by first or last name, see who has turned in work, draft grades to share with students later, add private comments when returning work.	是的。	是的。Sort students by first or last name, see who’s turned in work, draft grades to share with students later, and add private comments. Plus, add annotations and visual feedback to student work in the Classroom mobile app.
Transfer grades—Export final grades to spreadsheet format or to a CSV file for upload elsewhere.	是的，you can export grades through a CSV file.	是的。Export final grades to Google Sheets or to a CSV file要在其他地方上传。
Integrate with other favorite teaching tools—Sync your existing Classroom classes with partner applications.	是的，OneNote Class Notebook allows for integration with multiple LMSs, including Edmodo, Google Classroom, Moodle, MS Classroom, Schoology and many more. Also, Office 365 Suite of online and installed programs (e.g. Word,Powerpoint, OneNote, Excel).	是的。将现有的Google课堂课程与partnerapplications.
Communicate and Collaborate
Access任何时候，任何地方 - 网络上的课堂或通过Android和iOS课堂移动应用程序。	是的， ios and  Android apps are available. Also features OneDrive cloud storage and OneNote apps for all platforms (e.g. iOS, Android, Windows, Mac).	是的。
Real-time feedback—View, comment, and edit student work in real time.	是的。	是的。
Create class discussions—In the class stream, post announcements, engage students in question-driven discussions, or move important topics to the top.	是的，you can useMS Classroom Conversations feature。	是的。
管理课堂讨论 - 康特罗尔可以在班级流中发布，并通过发布或评论来静音。	是的。	是的。
共享内容 - 分享从网站到课堂的链接，视频和图像。	是的。	是的。
Push content to students’ screens—Push web pages instantly to a class. Students can also share their screen with their teacher.	Yes*. *注意：您可以push or “distribute” content instantly using OneNote Class Notebook（（which is “baked into” MS Classroom). These pages are instantly available via OneNote Online for students.	是的。
简单的管理支持
Affordable and secure—Like other services, Classroom contains no ads and never uses your content or student data for advertising purposes.	是的。	是的。
一个登录名 - 老师和学生可以单次登录到教室。	是的。	是的。
Professional development —Get your teachers using Classroom quickly with free online training.	是的。Professional learning online is available and a click away in OneNote Class Notebook.	是的。
Personal data protection—Classroom is covered.	是的。	是的。

*More on MS School Data Sync:“School Data Sync imports school roster data from the school SIS (like PowerSchool) and synchronizes it with Azure Active Directory and Office 365 so that Classroom (or any other application) can use the roster data to create online classrooms, have context about the student, and even enable single sign-on.

学校还可以使用Microsoft School Data Sync自动创建课程，并根据学校的学生信息系统（SIS）名册添加学生。”观看有关学校数据同步的简短视频！

And, this chart doesn’t even mention online surveys and/or forms, both of which are available throughGoogle FormsandMicrosoft Forms（（read this post by TCEA Board Member, John Bimmerle, on Microsoft Forms). That will be the subject of a future blog entry.

Conclusion

这两个第三代LMS玩家非常均匀地匹配，为学区提供了正在寻找Google教室的替代方案，这些替代依赖于强大的，熟悉的MS Office Tools是一种丰富的选择。但是，OneNote类笔记本，OneNote学习工具，协作空间以及通过内容库将讲义和资源快速传播和资源的能力为Microsoft Classroom带来了优势。更重要的是，OneNote是great ePortfolio solutionthat can integrate with a variety of learning management systems, including Google Classroom. Depending on your needs, there is no reason why your district or school couldn’t mix and match the various tools (e.g. Google Classroom + OneNote Class Notebook, MS Classroom with YouTube) to get the desired results.

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