Abstract:

With the innovation of cloud-based learning platforms, online learning has become dynamically efficient over the last few years. Google Classroom (GC) for online education which is a part of Google Apps for Education (GAFE) is being used for blended learning as well as for full time synchronous and asynchronous distance learning education. K-5 Early childhood curriculum mostly focuses on traditional activities to develop fine motor skills as they are considered more "appropriate" for early years, but over the last few years it has been unequivocally suggested that digital technologies should be used in ECE settings as a large range of technologies are already being used by children in their daily lives. K-5 Teachers who have taught in traditional classrooms for a long time are mostly facing challenges in shifting their teaching skills fully online during the pandemic.

This study aims to investigate K-5 North American teachers’ perspectives regarding the use of GC platform for fulltime distance learning education using the TAM Technology Acceptance Model to explore the perceived pros and cons related to this technology and Community of Inquiry (CoI) Model to explore ways in which this technology enhances student engagement and collaboration in an online learning environment. In order to satisfy the objectives of this study, a qualitative research was carried out with open ended survey questions. Fifty K-5 teachers from USA and Canada participated in the online survey conducted on survey monkey.

According to the analysis of the research survey data, the pros of GC include assisting teachers to efficiently organize and manage their online classrooms, assignments and resources. It also provides security and accessibility to learners and as well as it is highly compatible to be accessed from various digital devices. On the other hand, the cons included that this platform lacks creative tools, suffers from occasional technical glitches, allows submission of blank assignments and lacks welcoming look and feel of interface for young learners. As per the results of the analyzed collected data, the easier aspects of teaching on GC include easy classroom management, online classroom organization and proficient quick grading. Whereas the harder aspects of teaching on this platform include inability to assist students with proper phonemic awareness and inability to assist students with building their fine motor skills through activities or handwriting skills which are essential in ECE.

Results also show that collaboration and engagement depend upon the type of activities teacher assign to students and tools used by syncing in applications and extensions to provide an enriching learning experience online. The participants also suggested that the look and feel of GC interface should be made attractive for young learners to enhance their intrinsic motivational levels, archiving and hiding of assignments should be looked upon and incomplete assignments should be flagged automatically by the platform.

This study proves that GC can act as an effective platform to provide collaboration and student engagement if it is utilized by teachers effectively to provide constructive and inquiry based learning opportunities to the learners in a virtual learning environment.

Keywords:

Virtual Classroom, Community of Inquire, Technology Acceptance Model, Google Classroom, Online learning.