Microsoft Teams vs Google Classroom: Difference and Comparison

Digital learning is becoming increasingly prevalent all around the world. Virtual learning platforms provide face-to-face, real-time engagement among professors and their students in faraway places.

Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams are two of the most successful solutions for creating virtual classes. Each has several advantages in terms of linking students and instructors, as well as facilitating cooperation with classes in other institutions, cities, or nations.

Key Takeaways

1. Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive collaboration tool integrating chat, video conferencing, file sharing, and more.
2. Google Classroom is an education-focused platform for managing assignments, sharing resources, and facilitating communication between teachers and students.
3. Both platforms serve different purposes, with Teams focusing on professional collaboration and Classroom targeting educational environments.

Microsoft Teams vs Google Classroom 

Microsoft Teams is a communication platform designed by Microsoft for business and education use. Google Classroom is a platform designed by Google for education use only. Teams includes video conferencing and document collaboration, while Classroom includes assignment management and grading.

Microsoft Teams is a web conferencing platform that integrates workspace chats, videoconferencing, file storage (including file sharing), and integration services. It lets you schedule lessons, give assignments, notes, and supporting materials, and each class or subject may have its own set of digital blinders.

The service works with the firm’s Office 365 membership office productivity suite and includes modifications for non-Microsoft goods.

Google Classroom is a free integrated learning tool built by Google for educational establishments that promise to ease assignment creation, distribution, and marking. Google Classroom’s major objective is to facilitate the procedure of exchanging files among faculty and students.

It also offers virtual classrooms with productivity tools like custom assignments, review and organization of student’s work, an easy grading system. 

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Microsoft Teams	Google Classroom
Founding Year	2017	2014
Ease of Usage	More complex tools	Simple features and tools to use
Document Sharing	OneDrive	Google docs
Platform Development	Before, it was developed for business but then later developed for the learning environment	Developed for educational purposes only
Accessibility in one meeting	25000 participants	250-1000 participants
Analyzing Student’s Progress	No tools for analysis of students’ progress	Better tools for analysis of students’ progress

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams offers a virtual space for large classrooms, meetings, lectures, etc. Microsoft classrooms include a variety of functions, such as making organizing classes or meetings much easy.

Students and teachers have access to Microsoft Office, making it easy to use the word, excel, and PowerPoint. Notes can be easily accessed by the students, even supporting materials.  

Providers can also make teams based on different categories while organizing and maintaining the groups. Assignments, messages, and open discussions are all simplified for both students and teachers. 

Members of a team can create channels. Channels are subjects of discussion that enable team members to participate without using mail or corporate SMS.

Users can respond to postings using photos, GIFs, and memes created by themselves. Users can also send personal messages to a single person rather than just a group of individuals via direct messaging. 

Easy accessibility of materials even after classes, notes are placed in a single location and can be accessed by any connected device. Teachers use these note tools for organizing lesson plans for students in one place.

Thereby, sharing with students is much easier for them. 

Teachers can save time in the classroom by tailoring assignments, sharing resources, and reviewing students’ homework with the help of tools. With teams and OneNote Class Notebook, teachers can assess and instruct students.

What is Google Classroom?

Google Classroom was first introduced in 2014 as an exclusive product for school districts. It assisted instructors and students, but identity authentication from the school authorities was necessary.

Many schools use Google Classroom as a virtual classroom and learning platform to provide digital education to their students. It gives a range of tools with easy and securable usage.

It is known as one of the user-friendly and accessible platforms for learning. It is much easier to provide supporting documents to the group once students added to it.

And the entire class can access it. 

Google Classroom also emphasizes parental involvement. Teachers can connect the family to Google Classroom to exchange student work highlights and get automatic email breakdowns of students’ work and school updates.

Teachers can comment in two-way communication on students’ assignments while a student working on such assignments. So, there’s no incomplete assignment or notes. Besides, a range of management tools is available to teachers that help them to switch between assignments and easier grading.

Thereby, less time in evaluating assignments and more interaction with students. 

A range of time-saving features for both teachers and students include scheduling assignments to multiple classrooms, analyzing students’ engagement, managing several classes at once, and submission of work faster. Also, enhanced grading and feedback features allow teachers to grade assignments efficiently and interact with students more.

And interaction with students to improve their progress.

With the personalized learning features, the platform becomes more adjustable and accessible to students. Moving forward to organization features, a reminder for students, reviews for both, and formatting coursework for students automatically enhance the learning environment.

Lastly, there are originality features, analytical features, and security features.

Main Differences Between Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams

1. Microsoft teams were first released worldwide in 2017, meanwhile Google classroom has been around since 2014
2. Microsoft Teams offers far more complicated tools, whereas Google Classroom provides straightforward tools and software.
3. In Microsoft Teams documents can only really be shared via one drive, however, Google Classroom materials are shared via a cloud-based application; google docs
4. Previously, Microsoft Teams was established for business however eventually evolved for the classroom environment, meanwhile Google Classroom was designed for classroom management.
5. Microsoft Teams can be accessed by more participants, unlike Google Classroom, in which one classroom can be joined by 250 students on a personal google account and by 1000 students on a workplace google account 
6. Microsoft Teams lacks capabilities for analyzing student development, however, Google Classroom has greater tools for analyzing student achievement.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-47411-9_18
2. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Davidson-3/publication/323185079

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023