Google Classroom App: Your Complete Guide to Making and Adding Learning Videos 2024

Teaching today’s learners has gotten more exciting with the wealth of technological innovations that make learning and engagement more fun and meaningful.

Unsurprisingly, many educators worldwide now use Cloud-based platforms to communicate, collaborate, and engage everyone in the learning community. Leading the way is the Google Classroom app.

The beauty of Google Classroom app is its compatibility with many third-party programs that teachers, instructors, and trainers can leverage to integrate various features in promoting and facilitating learning. And one of the most effective ways to enable understanding and comprehension of learning content is by adding videos to the Google Classroom.

This article will help you learn more about making and adding educational, high-quality, and engaging videos to Google Classroom.

An Overview of Google Classroom

As the name implies, Google Classroom is a virtual venue for teachers and learners to meet, communicate, collaborate, engage, and work together to promote learning.

It is a suite of internet-based tools and programs that allow instructors to set assignments, evaluate students, and perform other tasks we usually associate with schoolteachers.  

Teachers and learners can use different Google products in the Classroom. For example, it works seamlessly with Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Earth, Sites, and Calendar. They can leverage Gmail for asynchronous communication and Google Meet or Hangout for real-time or synchronous meetings. 

Many third-party websites and apps also work with Google Classroom. You can check ASSISTments for the math curriculum, BookWidgets for interactive learning content creation, and CK-12 for learning resources from Kinder to Grade 12. ClassCraft, ClassTag, DOGONews, Dreamscape, Edpuzzle, Explain Everything, and Flipgrid are also noteworthy apps to have on Google Classroom.

Attaching or Uploading Videos to Google Classroom

Research shows that videos can help people learn content better by ensuring more effective memory recall and more efficient mental processing.

Educational videos are not only advantageous to learners. These materials are also beneficial to teachers, affiliated institutions and organizations, and the academic community. 

Kaltura said that more than nine out of ten (93%) teachers look at educational videos as instrumental in improving the learning experience. Videos break down insurmountable barriers, such as student idiosyncrasies and geographical location.

With the advent of the Google Classroom app and similar platforms, the challenge for teachers is to produce high-quality, learner-centered videos. The videos must not only engage learners but also provide an enjoyable experience.

The best way to add videos to the Google Classroom app is by uploading already-finished video content. You can use any video recording software and edit the material before saving it to Google Drive. It’s crucial to store learning videos on Google Drive because Google Classroom automatically establishes a bridge with this Google product to facilitate the seamless upload and synchronization of content.

You don’t need an expensive video camera to create video content. Your smartphone’s built-in camera will suffice. However, it would be best to set the video settings to a lower resolution to keep the file size more manageable.

Most people use their front-facing or selfie cameras to shoot for the Google Classroom app. Once done, you can tap the “Share” button on your video screen and upload the file to Google Drive. 

You’re now ready to add the video to your Google Classroom account. Here’s how.

1.   Launch the Google Classroom app from your mobile device (smartphone or tablet).  

2.   Select the assignment you want to add the video to and tap “Add Attachments” and “Pick Video.”

3.   Choose the video file saved on Google Drive and follow the instructions for uploading. Uploading files can take a while to complete, depending on the video file size. You’ll see the progress bar fill up before a notification that the upload is complete.

4.   Click the “Turn In” button to finalize the assignment submission. Wait for a confirmation message, “Done,” before closing the app. If you uploaded the wrong video file by mistake, you can click the “X” button and select “Confirm.”

You can proceed to upload the correct content. If you have an existing educational video on YouTube, you can also upload that on the Google Classroom app. The process is pretty straightforward.

5.   Launch the Google Classroom and go to “Classwork.” Click on the “Create” button.

6.   Tap “Assignment” and fill in the details.

7.   Click the “Paper clip” symbol and select “YouTube” from the options. 

8.   Choose the YouTube video you want to upload and tap “Add.” Alternatively, you can paste your YouTube video’s URL.

9.   Don’t forget to click “Turn in” before closing the app.

Making Learner-centered Videos on Google Classroom

Creating learner-centered, high-quality videos on the Google Classroom app is now possible.

It’s the perfect solution for highly-mobile teachers and trainers, empowering them to use their mobile devices to create engaging, educational, and meaningful video content.

It’s also an excellent technique for adding assignments to your virtual class, allowing learners to complete their tasks as specified.

Here’s the process for creating high-quality video content straight on the Google Classroom app.

1.   Launch and log into your Google Classroom account on your Smartphone or tablet.

2.   Go to the “Assignment” section and click on the “paper clip” symbol.

3.   Check to see the “Record video” button, click on it, and start the video recording.

The Google Classroom app automatically saves your video in Google Drive. At the same time, the program inserts the learning video straight into the assignment.

Adding Subtitles or Captions to Google Classroom Videos

Although videos can help your students learn the topic better, you can add captions or subtitles to increase comprehension and knowledge.

Adding in-video text is also beneficial for some learners who might have difficulties hearing the audio because of a health problem or a noisy situation.

For example, some students love studying at night because it’s more peaceful and quiet.

Unfortunately, they don’t want to wake up their family members by cranking up the volume of their mobile devices. They can use headphones, but that might increase the risk of noise-induced hearing loss.

A better approach is to add captions to your learning videos. Your learners can toggle the feature on or off to suit their needs. 

Experts say captions are different from subtitles, although most people think they’re the same.

Captions focus on helping people with hearing difficulties understand video content better. It can also apply to people who cannot turn on their device’s volume because of noise restrictions.

On the other hand, subtitles focus more on people who speak a language different from the video’s original language.

For example, a Chinese video will have English subtitles for non-Chinese viewers to understand the content. Hence, subtitles are crucial if you have international students whose language proficiency might not be impeccable. 

There are several ways you can add captions or subtitles to your Google Classroom app videos. We’ll examine them one by one.

Use Automated Transcription 

This method is convenient and fast, relying on YouTube’s built-in automated transcription feature. You can turn on this feature in your YouTube’s Video Manager by tapping on the “Subtitles & CC” button.

The service automatically transcribes the audio and displays the text on the screen. It will be wise to check the accuracy by watching the video with the captions. Finalize the project by clicking on “Publish Edits” and activating “English.” You can now upload this YouTube video to your Google Classroom account.

Use Google Voice Typing

If you’re not satisfied with YouTube’s automated transcription accuracy or if the video you want to upload to Google Classroom is not from YouTube, you can use Google’s Voice Typing feature instead. The steps are as follows.

1.   Open your video and turn on the volume to the highest possible setting. Hit the “Pause” button.

2.   Open Google Docs and click on “Tools” on the Menu bar. 

3.   Select “Voice Typing” or press “Ctrl+Shift+S.” Notice a microphone symbol on the left panel. 

4.   Tap the “Click to Speak” tab and hit the video’s “Play” button.

5.   Wait for Google Docs to finish transcribing your video.

6.   Play the video while reading the transcript, ensuring accuracy.

7.   Save your work.

If you’re adding the transcript to your YouTube video, you can click “Add New Titles or CC” and tap “Upload a File.” Select “Transcript” from the new window and pick “Choose File.” A more convenient method is to use the “Transcribe and Auto-sync” feature, allowing you to copy your transcription (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) it on YouTube’s transcription window. Finalize your work by hitting the “Publish” button.

Manually Transcribe and Caption the Video

Some of us prefer transcribing videos ourselves. This technique requires patience, exceptional typing speed, and good listening skills. You’ll also need good-quality headphones with noise-canceling features to listen to the audio.

Open a word processor and put on your headphones. Next, play the video and listen as intently as you can. You can alter the video’s speed to understand the words better or use different video player tools to ensure transcription accuracy.

You can then upload the transcript to your YouTube video before attaching it to the Google Classroom app.

Get a Professional Transcription and Captioning Service

Although the techniques we mentioned are reliable and practical, they might not be the best solution for some people. After all, teachers would want highly accurate video content for their Google Classrooms. 

A better approach would be to hire the services of a captioning or transcription company. These organizations offer two types of transcription services: professional and automated.

The automated transcription service is similar to YouTube’s built-in automatic transcription feature, only better and more accurate. 

On the other hand, professional transcription requires licensed transcriptionists to create the text file for your video. It’s time-consuming, but the results are unbelievable.

You can upload the transcription yourself at GoTranscript.com.

Some professional captioning companies provide open and closed captions for videos. However, it’s worth remembering that open captions might be more expensive because the in-screen text must be “burned-in” or “embedded” into the video file.

Adding “Open Captions” Straight to Google Classroom Videos

Closed captions allow your viewers to toggle the captions on and off depending on the circumstances and their needs.

However, you can “burn” or “embed” the text into the video file if you want to permanently display the subtitles or captions on your Google Classroom app learning videos. Known as open captions, “burned-in” in-video texts are integral parts of the video file instead of a separate “rider.”

Most video creators use Adobe Premiere Pro to add open or “burned-in” captions to their videos. Here’s how.

1.   Select “File, tap “New,” and pick “Captions” from the Menu bar. Alternatively, you can look for the “New Item” button in the Project Panel’s bottom section. Select “Captions” from the small window that pops up.

2.   Adobe Premiere Pro launches the “New Captions” box. The software automatically matches the caption settings to the video sequence. However, we recommend checking the caption file’s frame rate so that it matches the video sequence frame rate.

3.   Select the caption options: “Standard,” “ Timebase,” or “Stream.” Click on the “OK” button.

4.   Open the Adobe Premiere Pro Captions Panel by double-clicking on the caption file. You’ll see this in the Project panel. Alternatively, you can select “Window” and activate “Captions.”

5.   Type your caption text in the Captions panel, and use different formatting tools. You can specify the caption’s position, background color, and text color if you want. Italicization and underlining are also available.

6.   Click on the “Add Caption” button at the Captions panel’s bottom right-side if you want additional caption blocks. You can also delete a caption block by selecting “Delete Caption.”

7.   Click and drag the complete caption file onto the Timeline’s source sequence.

Although Adobe Premiere Pro is an excellent tool for adding “burned-in” captions to Google Classroom app videos, it can be daunting for newbies. If you’re unsure about getting the process right, you can look for a company or individual offering such a service. 

Online captions providers have a “Burned-in Captions” option clients can click at checkout. The service processes the order and delivers the finished product – a video with embedded captions.

If you prefer Apple products, you might want to check out Final Cut Pro X. You can try the software for 90 days for free. It should be enough to let you learn the ropes and decide whether paying a one-time fee of $299 is worth it or not.

Adding Closed Captions to Google Drive Videos

Most of us save our work on Google Drive or any other Cloud-based storage service. Google Drive has the advantage of seamless integration with the Google Classroom app since they belong to the same umbrella organization. It should be a cinch to add captions and subtitles to videos you’ve already saved on Google Drive. Here’s how.

1.   Transcribe your videos to get the most accurate closed caption for the learning material. You can transcribe it yourself, use an automated transcription service, or utilize Google’s Voice Typing functionality. You might want to edit the transcription before uploading the document file.

2.   Log into your Google Classroom account and select the video file you want to add closed captions to.

3.   Click on the “More” button and look for the “Manage caption tracks” option. Click on this selection and tap on the “Add new caption tracks” button. You’ll notice a new pop-up screen appear.

4.   Select the captions document file you wish to add to the learning video. Tap on the “Upload” button to start the text-video integration.

5.   Play the learning video and check if the captions are accurate to the video.

Final Thoughts

Using the Google Classroom app to facilitate effective teacher-learner interaction is a breeze if you know how to add, modify, and manage different learning content, especially videos.

Captions and subtitles can further improve your students’ learning, allowing them to grasp the concepts faster and promote deeper comprehension.

Although automated transcription services make it easy to create captions for your Google Classroom learning videos, no machine can beat professional transcriptionists.

Google’s Voice Typing feature and YouTube’s automatic transcription technology is no match for a professional transcriptionist’s insatiable appetite for accuracy and perfection.

Trust us to be your dependable partners in creating precise captions and subtitles for your Google Classroom and be instrumental in promoting effective learning for your students.