Digital tools have become valuable allies in the teaching profession. Applications for creating materials, sharing files in the cloud, or building interactive activities are common examples that teachers use to give their students better experiences. The challenge lies in choosing the ones that are genuinely useful and avoiding an accumulation of apps that ends up making the work more complicated.
Google Classroom is one of the best-known services in this space. For those just starting out with the platform, learning how to use Google Classroom step by step from scratch makes it possible to get familiar with basic functions such as creating a class, adding students, posting materials, or managing assignments. From there, other tools can complement the work both inside and outside the classroom.
Google Classroom: Organizing Classes, Materials, and Assignments
Google Classroom makes it possible to create a digital space for each class and centralize much of the academic activity. Teachers can post announcements, share documents, assign exercises, and organize student submissions.
One of its practical advantages is that it avoids scattering information across different channels. Materials for a subject can stay organized within the platform, while students have a shared place where they can check activities and due dates.
Learning to use all these possibilities takes more than knowing the basic functions. Teachers who want to expand their training have specific options available, such as the Google Classroom Course for Teachers (University Degree + 5 ECTS Credits), which counts toward scoring in Spain’s public-sector teaching exams (oposiciones).
Google Drive: Educational Files, Always Organized
Another highly useful tool is Google Drive, which allows documents to be stored in the cloud and accessed from different devices. In an educational setting, it can be especially practical for keeping notes, exercises, presentations, images, and other resources used throughout the course organized.
It also allows specific documents to be shared without having to send them repeatedly by email.
The work becomes especially convenient when Drive is combined with Classroom and Google’s office applications. Files can be created, stored, and shared within a single environment.
Google Docs: Collaborative Documents and Assignments
Google Docs is a useful option when an activity requires several people to work on the same document. Students can take part in a shared file, add content, and make edits without having to exchange different versions.
This can be used for group assignments, joint exercises, information gathering, or projects developed over several sessions. Teachers can also review the document and add comments when necessary.
Shared documents also help reduce one of the common problems of teamwork: ending up with several different copies of the same file.
Canva: Visual Materials for Use in Class
Canva has become popular as a tool for creating visual content without needing to master professional design software.
Its template-based system makes it possible to start from ready-made structures and adapt them to the needs of each class. Teachers can customize colors, text, photos, and other elements to prepare a resource related to the content they are covering.
Google Slides: Visual Support for Explanations
Presentations remain one of the most widely used digital resources among teachers. Google Slides makes it possible to combine text, photos, diagrams, charts, and videos to support an explanation, all online and in a collaborative setting.
As a general recommendation, a simple presentation can serve as a guide for the class and later become reference material for students.
Google Forms: Online Quizzes and Assessments
Google Forms allows teachers to prepare forms and quizzes that students can complete from a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
For teachers, it can be practical for collecting responses in an organized way. Depending on the settings chosen, some questions can also be graded automatically, reducing certain repetitive tasks.
Kahoot!: Activities for Reviewing Content
Kahoot! allows quizzes to be created through an interactive format in which participants answer questions from their own devices. It is a tool that can be used to review a unit, check prior knowledge, or introduce a different kind of activity in class.
Its game-like element can encourage participation, but it should remain in service of the educational content. Speed and competition are not necessarily suitable for every activity or every student.
Choosing digital tools for teachers should always start from a specific need. There is no need to use every available platform or add a new app for every activity. A small, well-organized selection can cover task management, material creation, collaboration, assessment, and communication.
