Last year, I used the “About” section in Google Classroom to post links and resources that my students would need throughout the year. These were materials that were not necessarily tied to a specific assignment, but items that students might need to revisit or access randomly.
With the “About” section gone, I have had to make a quick change in how I manage this need. Fortunately, Google just released a new feature in Classroom called “Materials.” This “Materials” option will allow me to create a space in my Classwork feed where I can place these items for student access.
To create a space in my feed, I simply need to:
- Create a topic and call it something like “Class Resources” or “Class Materials.”
- Once the topic has been created, hit “Create” again and select “Materials” from the drop-down list. Add materials like Docs or Slides from my Drive or paste in a link to a website for my students.
- Before I post the material, I need to make sure that I select the “Class Resources” topic.
- Once I have created this “Materials” post, I can then go back to my Classroom feed and by clicking on the three dots to the right of the “Class Resources” topic, select “Move Up” from the menu to essentially pin this topic to the top of the feed.
And just like that, I almost have my “About” section back! Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
EdTech Awesomeness 
I’ve just started leading at a school where they use google classroom. I notice that the default method for teachers to post their materials is by using Assignment then adding all the documents as attachments to that assignment.
I’ve been using moodle for a long time and this wouldn’t be acceptable. You’d usually have your “things that students consume” separate from “things that students interact with” (such as assignments).
In Google Classroom, would you tend to bundle up all the related resources in an assignment? Is there any reason this would not be appropriate?
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I think the easiest thing to do is to create materials where the content and the space for response is all in the same place. Have you played with Hyperdocs before? Take a look at hyperdocs.co if you are unfamiliar. I encourage my teachers to create interactive materials to be shared in Classroom. I like to build in Slides, using the speaker notes and gray space to share the things that they consume and then give them the space in slides to respond. If a teacher wants to use a Doc, I show them how to create a table where the content to be consumed is on one side of the table and there is response for the students on the other side. It makes it a lot easier for the students to manage since they aren’t bouncing back and forth and it makes it easier for teachers to review, grade and leave feedback.
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