This study investigates the use of Google Classroom as a tool for teachers of students aged 10-12 years old. Specifically, it considers the use of Google Classroom in facilitating and developing mathematics discourse and mathematics processes and asks teachers to share evidence of how Google Classroom increases engagement for their students. Qualitative data were collected in the form of teacher interviews and emails.
The evidence from the study shows that all four teachers have demonstrated knowledge of the Google Classroom domain and received recent specialized training within the past two years in strategies for increasing engagement and developing mathematics discourse for students aged 10-12 years old. Eight major findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Creating a safe and respectful environment and classroom community is a critical component for fostering mathematics discourse in Google Classroom for students aged 10-12 years old that requires specific teacher strategies; (2) Posting student work publicly on Google Classroom may be a powerful tool that increases student engagement; (3) Teachers in this study develop mathematical processes online in Google Classroom with different frequencies due to their background experience and comfort level; (4) Designing purposeful tasks online with Google Classroom that engage students in the mathematics processes is difficult for some teachers; (5) Teachers who lack self-efficacy in teaching mathematics to students aged 10-12 years old may rely on Google Classroom to present curriculum and to answer questions from their students or parents; (6) Google Classroom is most often used by teachers in this study to communicate with parents about students and to communicate mathematics homework; (7) Teachers may be able to calm parent anxieties about student learning by providing online mathematics resources through Google Classroom; and (8) Providing parents with access to online mathematics resources on Google Classroom has the potential to increase parent engagement in mathematics.
Implications from this study suggest that teachers are provided with Google Classroom to use in mathematics to develop discourse and mathematical processes, but their overall background knowledge in mathematics and comfort level with technology dictates how it is used. Teachers can increase student engagement in mathematics by providing course content and additional resources to parents through the use of Google Classroom. Suggestions for areas for further research are included at the end of the study.