Google Classroom: online teaching and university learning

1
José Ribamar Junio Oliveira da Conceição

The use of Classroom is increasingly present in our daily reality, the teaching method
has as main characteristic the face-to-face separation between mentor and apprentice. The wide
reach of this tool as a means for education, occurs mainly due to the ease of reach and mutual
interaction between both parties involved in the educational context. It is undoubtedly that
there are several advantages and benefits, both for teachers and students, arising from the use
of this tool as a learning method. Araújo (2016), explains this point of view well:

The Google classroom is a learning object that was developed to assist teachers
and schools. It consists of a free package with features like Gmail, Google
Drive and Google Documents. It is a tool that allows the creation of groups –
classes – for virtual sharing of information and documents. (p.45)

However, the negative points present in this mean of education and the problems that
are intrinsic to it must never be left out or omitted. It is necessary that studies are carried out
so that these impasses are resolved, as far as possible. This text aims to approach and describe
the problems that the use of distance learning tools can bring, approaching the context of public
universities in Brazil.

The virtual teaching is done through the use of internet, so it is necessary that the student
has access to the internet and technological resources to monitor and develop the proposed
activities. Distance learning ends up standardizing students, however, several of the participants
in this teaching method do not belong to the same levels of social class, a point that shows the
great difficulty that many students have to follow online classes.

Houwever much of the students have access to the internet and digital resources, such
as cell phones, tablets and computers. There are several academics who have limited access to
these technologies, a fact that makes it impossible for several students to follow the classes,
activities and tasks that are proposed in the Classroom. Technological dependence is
undoubtedly a major impasse in the development of teaching in higher education courses at
Brazilian universities. PIVA JR (2011), demonstrates this harsh reality:

There are several drawbacks to this teaching method. They are, the time
consumed to elaborate the didactic material and to lead and redirect the

1Academic of the English teaching course, at the State University of Piauí. Work presented as part of a note for
approval in the discipline of Information and Communication Technology.
 students, lack of technical skills in handling and limitations imposed by
technology, the lack of specific tools for the technology area, the need to learn
a posture as a teacher- tutor and lack of institutional support (p.23)

Another point that shows the great disadvantage of distance learning, whether through
Google Classroom or other platforms, is the lack of interaction between student and teacher,
which can thus cause several doubts regarding the class or subject addressed. Most of the time,
the doubts that academics have are not resolved through the available digital media, which
makes learning more complicated and less explanatory.

The benefits of distance education exist and are not denied, however, the problems, in
turn, are sometimes denied or minimized by those who defend this method of education. Their
existence should not be denied and the improvement of Distance Education is linked to the
mitigation of the negative effects caused by them. Online education is one of the mechanisms
created for the dissemination of knowledge and the counterproductive impacts on education
must be considered and discussed.

In view of the facts presented, it is clear that the lack of social and economic structure
in most Universities and also by students from different social classes, is the greatest difficulty
encountered in this teaching environment. So it is necessary that the online education system
is well debated and organized, as it is necessary to have an overview regarding the availability
of academics to be carrying out the monitoring of classes and activities developed through
virtual platforms, so that no one be harmed in this context.
REFERÊNCIAS

ARAUJO. H. M. C. O uso das ferramentas do aplicativo “GOOGLE SALA DE AULA” no

ensino da matemática. 83f. Dissertação (Mestrado). Programa de Mestrado Profissional em
Matemática em rede Nacional.Universidade Federal de Goiás, 2016.
PIVA JR. Dilermando et. Al. EAD na prática: planejamento, métodos e ambientes. Rio de
Janeiro: Elsevier, 2011. Pg.10-33; 30-68.