Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom are both commonly used Learning Management Systems, but which one you choose comes down to what your goals are and what you want from your integration.
Both have advantages and disadvantages in terms of functionality or even minor details that make integration more challenging. Simply base your decision on your integration objectives.
To help you make this choice, we will cover each platform in depth and take into consideration what they can offer you and what they possibly take away from you in terms of practicality and function.
Let’s dig into this article and find out which one of these from Microsoft Teams Vs Google Classroom will work best for you.
Microsoft Teams Overview
Microsoft Teams is a persistent chat-based collaboration tool that includes online meetings, document sharing, and many other incredibly valuable corporate communication capabilities.
Having a great team space is essential for making innovative decisions and communicating with each other.
Shared workspace software makes this much easier to implement, especially if a team is situated in a large organization, has a lot of remote employees, or has a high number of team members.
In the end, organizations should adopt Microsoft Teams since it is incredibly user-friendly and may promote a work environment amongst remote users or inside a huge organization.
Microsoft Teams can help with projects, productions, and other business features.
Microsoft Teams Pros
Prioritize Work
You may better focus your attention on work-related things and prioritize your time with Teams.
Instead of wasting time sorting through an inbox full of messages from everyone about everything, Teams organizes information into channels and place it in context.
The channel only contains talks, meetings, and documents relating to the channel’s topic.
Instead of getting side-tracked by odd emails or getting trapped attempting to clear up your inbox, you can concentrate your important attention and spend your limited time on the channels.
Connectivity With Other Microsoft Applications
Another significant advantage of Microsoft Teams is that it is strongly connected with other Microsoft apps such as the Office productivity suite, which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as OneNote and Outlook.
This interface facilitates file sharing and administration, as well as real-time content creation and collaboration, resulting in increased team or group productivity. It is worth noting that Google Meet connects with other Google services.
Free and Paid Versions
This platform is accessible to everyone who has a Microsoft account. Free users can organize a virtual meeting for up to 100 people for a maximum of an hour and add 299 or more team members.
Paid customers with Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard accounts may organize meetings for up to 300 people for a maximum of 24 hours, whereas Office 365 E3 accounts can have up to 500,000 people in the teams and hold online events for up to 10,000 people.
Integration Options From Third Parties
Integration is certainly a distinguishing feature and advantage of Microsoft Teams, particularly when compared to Google Meet and Zoom.
The Microsoft AppSource includes a variety of apps from many areas, such as people management, sales and marketing, project management, inventory and logistics, and data analytics and business intelligence, among others.
The integration possibilities allow the platform to be highly customized to meet the specific demands and requirements of various businesses.
Microsoft Teams Cons
High System Requirements
A significant problem of Microsoft Teams is the high system requirements.
For greater video or screen sharing quality and frame rate, it requires a dedicated 4GB of RAM or above, as well as at least a quad-core processor.
Microsoft Teams would not function properly on entry-level computers, as well as devices with outdated hardware specs.
Can Be Confusing for Some Users
Microsoft Teams’ versatility and customizability might be a negative. Google Meet or Zoom Cloud Meetings may be a better solution for individuals and companies who merely want a videoconferencing platform for virtual meetings.
These users may be unable to fully utilize the features and capabilities available in Teams. It is also worth noting that the user interface may not be as simple as that of pure videoconferencing systems.
For others, the whole user experience may be excessively demanding and difficult.
Mobile Version Is Lacking
This videoconferencing platform is available on several platforms. It is available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux distributions such as Debian and Ubuntu for desktop and laptop computers.
On the other hand, it is accessible for mobile devices running Android, iOS, or iPadOS. Those who are used to the desktop versions will find the mobile versions too limiting due to the lack of certain functionality and tools.
Google Classroom Overview
Google Classroom is a free web-based learning platform built by Google that allows teachers to hold classes online, build curricula, and communicate assignments with students in a paperless environment.
The platform facilitates teacher-student communication by utilizing G Suite services such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Anyone with a Google account is eligible to utilize Google Classroom.
Google Classroom is available to organizations utilizing G Suite for Education, non-profits, schools, independent educators, homeschoolers, administrators, and families.
Teachers and students are the major users, with access to Google Classroom via a school account.
Google Classroom Pros
Effective Communication and File Sharing
One of Google Classroom’s best features is Google Docs, which can be shared with an unlimited number of people and saved online.
As a result, when you create an assignment or announcement using a Google doc, your students can immediately access it through their Google Drive, provided you have shared it with them.
Additionally, Google Drive folders make it simple to manage and customize Google Docs.
To put it another way, you may now share material with as many students as you like by creating a document instead of using emails to do so.
Accessible From All Devices
Google Classroom is easy to use even if you are not a Google user. Other than being offered via the Chrome browser, which makes it available from all PCs, tablets, and mobile phones, it also makes it quite simple to add as many learners as you like.
To handle announcements and assignments, create Google docs, publish YouTube videos, add links, or connect items from Google Drive.
Logging in, as well as getting and submitting assignments, will be similarly easy for students.
Effective for Feedback
Google Classroom allows you to provide online help to your students immediately quickly; this implies that feedback is more effective because new comments and remarks have a greater influence on students’ brains.
User-Friendly Interface
Google Classroom invites you to an atmosphere where every design aspect is straightforward, intuitive, and user-friendly, while adhering to clear Google layout standards. Naturally, Google users will feel perfectly at home.
Google Classroom Cons
Can Be Difficult to Manage Your Account
Google Classroom does not support multiple domain access. Furthermore, you cannot input it using your personal Gmail; you must be logged in to Google Apps for Education.
As a result, if you already have a personal Google ID, juggling numerous Google accounts may be inconvenient.
For example, if you have a Google document or a photo in your Gmail and wish to share it in the Google Classroom, you must store it separately on your computer’s hard drive, log out, and then back in with your Google Classroom account again.
Difficult Learner Sharing
Learners are not able to share their work with their peers until they become “owners” of a document, and even then, they must authorize sharing choices, which will cause havoc if they wish to share a document with, say, 50 or more classmates.
Limited Options for Integration
Google Classroom has not yet been connected with Google Calendar or any other calendar, which may pose issues with organizing material and meeting assignment deadlines.
Google Resemblance
First-time Google users may be perplexed since there are various buttons with symbols that are only recognizable to Google users.
Furthermore, while improved integration between Google and YouTube, which greatly facilitates video sharing, support for other popular programs is not built in, and you may find it inconvenient because you will need to.
Convert a basic Word document, for example, to a Google Doc to work with. Overall, you will only feel at ease in the Google Classroom setting if the tools you use are compatible with Google services.
Collaboration
Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams have a lot in common when it comes to collaboration tools (e.g., file sharing, chats, breakout rooms).
Moreover, while both technologies provide whiteboarding, Google Classroom requires connectivity with the Google Jamboard technology.
Microsoft Teams
Students can talk with each other or with teachers one-on-one or in small groups within Microsoft Teams.
They may exchange Word, Excel, and other Office files, as well as make changes or add comments to them. Microsoft Teams allows many individuals to edit a file at the same time.
Breakout Rooms and Whiteboard are two more collaborative capabilities. During a lesson, Breakout Rooms allow students to collaborate in smaller groups. Teachers can build up a breakout room and assign pupils to it.
Students can share files and communicate with one another.
During a Teams meeting, a whiteboard may be shared, and attendees can contribute text or pictures to the whiteboard. After the meeting, the whiteboard might be made available for additional collaboration.
Google Classroom
Students and instructors can use Google Classroom to view the same Google file, such as Docs or Sheets, at the same time (depending on access permission settings), including writing comments, sending conversations, and editing the file.
Furthermore, Google Classroom offers a Stream function, which is comparable to a social media feed, where students may write posts or comment on other ones.
The Stream can be used by teachers to make announcements. Questions is another feature of Google Classroom that allows teachers to create brief questions for students to answer.
During a Google Meet, students can interact in breakout rooms.
Teachers may create a breakout room by going to the Activities page in Google Meet, where they can also assign students to a specific room, move between rooms, or close a room.
Virtual Learning
Teachers can arrange Google Meets with up to 250 or 500 people per meeting, depending on the price plan their school chooses.
Microsoft Teams just increased its meeting capacity to 300 people. This is unlikely to be an issue in smaller classrooms.
Microsoft Teams
Teachers may host virtual classrooms using Microsoft Teams. They may plan lessons, send out invitations, and record classes for students to access later.
Teachers can teach lessons with up to 300 students at the same time. Students can choose whether or not to appear on camera during classes, as well as mute or unmute themselves.
They can also communicate with other students or teachers via chat.
Microsoft Teams has tools that make learning more accessible to students, such as closed captioning, American Sign Language, and Immersive Reader, which allows students to read conversations by listening to the words or adjusting the text to their liking.
Google Classroom
Teachers may use Google Meet to organize virtual classrooms with up to 250 people. If their school is on the Google Workspace for Education Plus price plan, they can host up to 500 kids in one meeting.
They may record the sessions, switch on subtitles, and accept queries from students via chats using Google Meet.
Accessibility capabilities are included in all Google Workspace for Education products, including Google Classroom.
These features include text magnification, voice typing, and Braille assistance, as well as captioning in Google Meet and Google Slides. Schools can also activate Chrome extensions to enhance accessibility.
Performance Tracking
The extensive analytics tools of Google Classroom need collaboration with Schoolytics, a third-party firm, whereas Microsoft Teams may interface with any specialized Microsoft product.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams’ new Insights tool, which is part of Microsoft’s Education Insights Premium service, allows teachers to track their students’ assignments and participation through a dashboard that includes a range of indicators (e.g., Inactive Students, Average Time Spent Per Day on Digital Activity, Missed Assignments).
Teachers may view all metrics from their classrooms on one page and filter into particular statistics.
Spotlights is a tool that offers current data trends by utilizing color-coded labels that signify good trends, problems, or other aspects. Teachers can export the data to Excel for further study.
Google Classroom
Teachers may use the Gradebook tool to view all of a student’s grades in one location, mark their assignments, and exchange feedback with the student. They may export the grades of their pupils to a Google Sheet or a CSV file.
Google Classroom also features an originality report function that identifies plagiarism inside a written assignment. Students may verify their work for suggested citations, while professors can evaluate the piece for authenticity.
Content Management
Both platforms offer similar content creation and management capabilities.
We also want to point out that schools can combine Google Classroom with Office 365 or Microsoft Teams with Google Drive, although this may need the use of a third-party integration service business in some situations.
Microsoft Teams
Teachers may create lesson plans using Class Notebooks, a digital binder inside OneNote.
Students may create essays or other content in these notebooks, and professors can offer feedback immediately within the assignment.
There is a separate Lessons page where teachers may create tasks, incorporate information from other Office programs, establish a grading rubric, change due dates, and tailor assignments to particular students.
Within this area, students may view their grades and forthcoming assignments, as well as turn in their tasks.
There’s also a Grades page that offers instructors quick access to all of their assignments so they can track progress. It contains a feedback loop function that allows teachers to modify, grade, and comment on assignments.
Google Classroom
Teachers may create assignments directly in Google Classroom, including uploading files. The program not only supports other Google Apps (such as Docs, Forms, and Sheets), but teachers may also submit videos, photos, or PDFs.
Students are notified when the task is complete. Other content production options include the ability to give the same assignment to numerous classes, store templates for future use, and set a release date.
Pricing
Both provide a free plan for students and teachers, with subscription options providing more sophisticated capabilities.
However, Google’s most expensive plan ($5 per student, per year) is less expensive than Microsoft Office 365 A5 ($6 per student, per month).
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has three price options.
There is a Microsoft Teams Essentials plan, as the name implies, that anybody can use for $4 per month, and then there is a subscription plan, which comes integrated with the Microsoft 365 Business plans and begins at $6 per month and goes up to $20 per month.
The last plan is Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan which starts at $12.5 per user a month
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is free for schools that use the Google for Education platform, however, there is a Google Workspace for Education package that includes sophisticated security measures and better collaboration options like live streaming, dedicated customer support, video conferencing, and more.
Conclusion
Google Classroom is a basic web-based communication tool intended for novice users that takes minimal understanding to install due to its user-friendly layout and seamless interaction with G Suite services such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar.
If you want to truly include technology in your classroom for enhanced productivity and collaboration, Google Classroom is a better alternative, and Google’s G Suite for Education is definitely the best place to start.
Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is an all-arounder that brings people together in real-time for greater collaboration and interaction.
It is a chat-based collaboration tool that is changing the way people across the world work and interact.
However, Teams has certain drawbacks, such as difficult installation, time consumption, and so forth.
In truth, both technologies have advantages and disadvantages, but they are excellent online communication tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams?
Both products let teachers and students interact and edit in real-time, but Google makes it smoother and easier.
What is Microsoft Teams best used for?
Microsoft Teams is a great messaging app for your organization. It lets you collaborate and communicate in real-time, hold meetings, share files and apps, and even use emojis. Everything is in one place and accessible to everyone
Why is Microsoft Teams better than Google Classroom?
Microsoft Teams is better than Google Classroom because it offers more features for communication and collaboration, such as video calls, chat, file sharing, and integration with other Microsoft Office apps. This makes it easier for teams to work together and stay organized
