Seesaw and Google Classroom are both sleek platforms for organizing student work. However Google Classroom is great for streamlining the management of classes, assignments, grades, and parent communication, Seesaw shines as a digital portfolio tool that incorporates teacher, parent, and student feedback. In this article, we are going to talk about Seesaw vs Google Classroom – Which one is Best? Let’s begin!
While some teachers prefer the first tool and others use the later, we believe that the two are complementary. Many teachers use both apps in their daily work.
Contents
Main Difference Seesaw vs Google Classroom
Google Classroom stands out as a convenient, full-featured learning management platform. But if you are looking to manage student work with an emphasis on sharing and feedback. Then Seesaw is the tool for you. Google Classroom is a learning management platform that focuses on classes, students’ work, and grades. With Google Classroom, you can do almost everything that you’d do in a regular classroom. It is a decent and effective platform that also allows you to communicate with parents to a degree.
However, Google Classroom lacks some features you can find in Seesaw. Seesaw is a more creative platform that focuses on student work and communication between teachers, students, and parents. It functions as a digital portfolio where students can show everything they’ve learned.
Seesaw was created to facilitate remote learning and help both teachers and students. We’d say that Seesaw never wanted to replace classrooms completely; it was more of an addition to it. It has more creative tools than Google Classroom, but it’s missing a useful grading system.
As you can see, everything depends on what you need. We will now go into more detail so you can understand both platforms better.
Assignments
With Google Classroom, teachers can post assignments in the class stream and add media, like YouTube videos or materials from Google Drive. There is also an option to schedule assignments ahead of time. Using the Classroom mobile app, students can annotate their work to more easily express an idea or concept. Seesaw allows teachers to push out assignments with the option to add voice instructions and an example in the form of a video, photo, drawing, or text.
Kids can use the same built-in creative tools to demonstrate learning with videos, photos, text, or drawings, as well as import files directly from Google apps and others. Teachers will need to upgrade to Seesaw Plus to schedule assignments in advance. Although Google Classroom’s free scheduling feature is a nice-to-have, Seesaw’s creative tools for assigning and submitting work set it apart.
Seesaw has built-in voice recording features as well as various other creative tools. If you are tired of the same old written instructions, you have many tools at your disposal. You can also create templates that students can use for their answers. Google Classroom may not have all these options, but it has other aces up its sleeve. It allows you to schedule assignments in advance, and you can do all that for free.
Grades and Feedback
Seesaw allows teachers to customize which feedback options are available in their classes: In addition to teacher comments, parents and peers can provide feedback on student work. There are even options to share student work on a public class blog or connect with other classrooms around the world. All commenting must be approved by the teacher moderator. Seesaw does not have a free, built-in tool for grading. But with the paid membership, teachers can track student progress toward key, customizable skills.
Google Classroom allows teachers to easily assign grades within the platform. Teachers can provide comments and edit student work in real-time. They can also give visual feedback by annotating student work in the Google Classroom app. Although Seesaw has impressive feedback options and a great assessment feature for a price. Google Classroom offers easy feedback options and built-in grading — all for free.
Sharing with Parents
With Google Classroom, teachers can invite parents to sign up for a daily or weekly email summary about what’s going on in their kids’ classes. The emails include a student’s upcoming or missing work, as well as announcements and questions posted in the class stream. Using Seesaw, teachers can invite parents to receive class announcements and individual messages, as well as view their kid’s work along with the teacher’s feedback.
Parents have the option to add their own words of encouragement directly to the student’s work. Google Classroom keeps parents in the loop, but Seesaw takes the home-school connection a step further by encouraging parent feedback.
On Google Classroom, you can send a daily or weekly summary to the parents. That way, they can stay informed on their kids’ progress and areas they have to improve. Also, you can let them know if a student misses a class or fails to send an assignment.
On Seesaw, you can give feedback or send individual messages to the parents. You can also show them their kids’ work, which is sometimes better than describing it. Parents can reply, and if there is any problem, you can come to a solution together.
Special Features
Seesaw’s parent app offers built-in translation tools, making the app accessible to families with language barriers. Accessibility is a crucial component of any edtech app, and Google Classroom may likely incorporate translation tools in future updates. Google Classroom connects and shares information with hundreds of apps and websites. That includes popular tools like Pear Deck, Actively Learn, Newsela, and many more.
Also, the Classroom Share button makes it easy to share content from an app or website directly into your Google Classroom. It’s hard to ignore the incredible convenience of using an app that seamlessly integrates with hundreds of other great edtech tools.
Seesaw’s creative tools are a big plus for this platform. If you are a creative person, you will enjoy trying them out and creating different assignments for your students.
Last Lines
It’d be tough to say which tool is better. Although they have the same purpose, these two platforms are very different. We suggest you try them out both and see which one is a better fit for you and your students. Of course, you could also combine them.
Conclusion
Alright, That was all Folks! I hope you guys like this Seesaw vs Google Classroom article and find it helpful to you. Give us your feedback on it. Also if you guys have further queries related to this article. Then let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you shortly.
Have a Great Day!
