Hoping for Guidance on How to Combine Google Classroom and Gibbon EDU

General
1

Hello Everyone :hugs:,

As a high school teacher, I am investigating various platforms to enhance the digital infrastructure of our school. I’ve been researching Gibbon EDU lately because of its extensive toolkit and capacity to automate a number of administrative duties.

Since Google Classroom is now being used extensively at our institution, I’m curious about finding out more about the possibilities of combining these two tools.

More specifically, I’m interested if anyone has any knowledge with the following:

Assignment Alignment: Is it possible that Gibbon EDU and the Google Classroom to share assignments? :thinking: If so, what are the actions needed and should I be aware of any limitations or challenges? :thinking:

Students Data Management: How is student data handled via integration? :thinking: Exist any privacy issues or standards of practice regarding the secure storage of student information? :thinking:

User Experience: How is the switch between the two systems perceived by educators and students? :thinking: We would be grateful for any input on the learning curve and user experience.

Technical Requirements: Does this integration require any particular setups or requirements in terms of technology? :thinking: We would appreciate any ideas on material or documentation that the could help us along the way.

Positives and Negatives: In the end, what are the main advantages of this integration that you have observed, along with any possible drawbacks? :thinking: Are there any particular Gibbon EDU features that work particularly efficiently via Google Classroom? :thinking:

I’ll be keen on talking to those who finished this integration or who may be in the midst of doing so. As we think through the best docs of action for our school, any advice you could provide would be highly valued.

Thank you :pray: in advance.

2

Hi Jesica, welcome to the Gibbon community, my apologies for the delay in a response, as your post came in during our summer break in HK.

Currently, there are no direct integrations for Gibbon and Google Classroom. A school can use both, and I know a few schools who do, but the connection between them isn’t automatic. If you use the Google Single Sign-on for Google though, this at least reduced the need for different credentials to sign onto both platforms.

Gibbon is, at the end of the day, a School Information System, while Google Classroom is more of a Learning Management System, so both can be used, while there are areas that both handle that the other does not.

Gibbon is also self-hosted, so all of your data remains on your school servers, and not on a cloud service. This can be quite beneficial, as Gibbon is designed to hold much more personal data about students and families than Google Classroom.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions in general. Since Gibbon is open source, a school wishing to invest in development for Gibbon could certainly create their own integrations for Google Classroom, and we’d be happy to offer advice and information for schools going that route.