Over the ten years, there has been a variety of research to support learner groups and learner collaboration for class assignments. Early online learning environments forced educators to become creative in assigning and collecting collaborative work; however, current systems offer more options. The many recent updates to Google Classroom expanded the possibilities for learners and educators regarding grouping assignments. Assigning lessons to groups of learners in Classroom involves only a few easy steps and opens up possibilities that were not formerly available for educators and learners.

Step 1: Create Group Documents

The first step in allocating group work in Classroom is to make an assignment document and make a copy for every group. Add the group name to the end of the file name for organization purposes. Save assignment documents in Drive, so they can be located easily. Saving documents in the Classroom folder is the way to go.

Step 2: Create Group Assignment Topic

On the Classwork tab, select the Make button and choose Topic. Give the topic a name relative to the group project.

Step 3: Select Learners

Select the Make button and choose the assignment. In the Assignment dialogue box, click the learner dropdown menu, uncheck “all learners,” and choose the learners who will be in the first group. This step will be repeated later for more groups.

Step 4: Create Assignment

In the Assignment dialogue section, give the assignment an appropriate title, including the group name and/or number, and provide instructions. Select the Topic for the group project. Next, upload assignment documents for the first group, and be sure “Learners Can Edit” is chosen as the document option in lieu of making a copy for each learner. Don’t post the assignment yet; save as a draft until after all groups are made.

Step 5: Recycle Assignment for More Groups

Using the “Reuse Post,” feature helps educators avoid the need to retype info for each group assignment. First, click the Make button and select Reuse Post. The Reuse Post dialogue box will appear. Choose the post to be duplicated and click Reuse. Edit, the assignment for each group. Ensure that the group members are modified using the learner dropdown menu and that the group number is modified in the title and instructions. Remember to remove the assignment documents for the group before and upload the documents needed for the new group. Save group assignments as drafts.

Step 6: Post Your Group Assignments

Once all group assignment drafts are complete, the final step is to post the assignments so learners can begin working. Drafts of group assignments will be shown under the group topic made in Step 1. Click the triple dot menu and choose the Edit option. The Assignment dialogue box will appear for the assignment to be posted. Repeat this step for each group.