How to Use Google Classroom with Tynker

How to Use Google Classroom with Tynker

Tynker’s Google Classroom integration streamlines the process of importing students to Tynker, assigning Tynker lessons, and seeing grades. This integration is available for free to all teachers and students who use Tynker and Google Classroom.

With the Google Classroom integration, teachers can:

• Log in using Google authentication
• Import all their Google Classroom students with one click
• Assign lessons and have them appear in the Google Classroom streams of both teacher and students
• View how many students have completed an assignment from Google Classroom

Students can:

• Log in using Google authentication
• See the Tynker lessons that have been assigned from their Google Classroom stream
• Click on the Tynker assignment in their Google Classroom stream to be automatically logged in and directed to the correct assignment.
• Turn in their assignments through Tynker and have this appear in Google Classroom.

Requirements for Using Google Classroom Integration

To use this Google Classroom integration, students and teachers must have Google credentials, and students must be rostered in a Google Classroom class.

The Google Classroom integration also works best if students access Classroom on a web-based device such as a PC, Macbook, or Chromebook.

Students using mobile devices must log into the Tynker app with Google authentication rather than the Google Classroom app. If students are trying to use Tynker Junior, they will need to log in using the Tynker Smart Pass, which can be found on the student page of the class in the teacher’s dashboard.

Setup Instructions

1. Log in to Tynker using the Google Authentication option.
   
2. Click the orange Create a New Classroom button if you are adding your first classroom or the Add Class button if you want to add an additional Google Classroom class.
   
3. Tynker will automatically detect if you have Google Classroom. Simply click the Google Classroom button.
4. On the next screen, you will need to enable Tynker to have Google Classroom permissions by clicking Allow.
5. Select the class you want to import to Tynker from the drop-down menu, choose the grade band, and click Link Classroom. All the students will be imported immediately.
6. Assign your first coding lesson to this classroom from the “Lessons” tab.
7. This lesson will automatically appear in your students’ Google Classroom Classwork.
   
8. When students click on the assignment from Google Classroom, it will log them into Tynker and take them to the assignment. The first time they log in using Google Classroom authentication, they must also disable pop-up blockers and give Tynker permission to access their Google account information.
9. When students finish the assignment, they can click the “Turn In Assignment” button, and it will show up as complete in Google Classroom.

Troubleshooting FAQ

My students are not able to turn in assignments.

This issue almost always occurs because your students have not yet given Tynker permission to access their Google Classroom accounts. To fix this:

1. Have the student log out of Tynker.
2. Have the student disable their browser’s pop-up blocker.
3. Have the student log in to Tynker and use the Google authentication option.
4. Students should see a pop-up from Google asking them to give Tynker permission to access their Google Classroom account. Click “Allow”.

When I unassign a lesson in Tynker, the lesson is not deleted from my classroom stream.

Although we can publish to your Google Classroom classwork, Google does not allow us to remove anything already in your classwork. Once you’ve unassigned a lesson in Tynker, you must manually go into Google Classroom and delete the project from your classroom classwork.

I don’t know how to update my Tynker roster.

If you’ve updated your roster in Google Classroom (deleted or added students), go to the “Students” tab in your Tynker classroom and click “Sync with Google Classroom.”

Other tips: Make sure you are logged into Google using the same account you’re using to log in to Tynker. If you are logged into Google or Gmail with a different account in a different browser tab, Google may not be able to authenticate your account.

If you’ve tried these troubleshooting tips and are still having issues, please email us at educatorsupport@tynker.com, and we’d be happy to help you!