How to Use Google Classroom with Tynker

What Is Google Classroom?

Google Classroom is an awesome, widely used service that is free for teachers and students. This paperless system allows you to create classes, distribute assignments, send feedback, and see all your classes in one place. Google Classroom is integrated with Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, as well as most School Information Management Systems, allowing teachers to easily communicate with students, assign projects, view completed assignments, grade assignments, and more. Plus, Google Classroom is now fully integrated with Tynker! This integration makes it easier than ever to teach Computer Science. If you need help setting up or using Google Classroom, please see the Google Classroom Help Center.

Using Google Classroom with Tynker

Tynker’s new 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.

Click here to see a video.

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 GAFE accounts and must be using Google Classroom.

Both students and teachers must have pop-ups enabled the first time they log in to Tynker using Google Authentication. Most browsers have pop-ups disabled by default, so if you do not do this, you will not be able to see a pop-up from Google that asks you to give permissions to Tynker to access your Google Classroom. You will only need to do this once.

Classroom management tools are supported on desktops, laptops, and Chromebooks. Students must also be using desktops, laptops, or Chromebooks to complete their assignments. Students can log in to the Tynker accounts using Google authentication on the Tynker app for iPads and Android tablets, but they will not be able to complete lessons from tablets.

Setup Instructions

Before you begin this process, you must disable your browser’s pop-up blocker.
Log in to Tynker using the Google Authentication option.
You should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access your Google Classroom. You will only need to do this once. If you do not give Tynker permissions here, none of the following instructions will work. The pop-up should look like this:
Tynker will automatically detect if you have Google Classroom. Simply select the class you would like to import to Tynker and click “Link Classroom.” All the students will be imported immediately.
Assign your first coding lesson to this classroom from the “Lessons” tab.
This lesson will automatically appear in your students’ Google Classroom streams.
When students click on the assignment from Google Classroom, it will log them in to 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 permissions to access their Google account information.
When students finish the assignment, they can click the “Turn In Assignment” button and it will show up as complete in Google Classroom.
From your Google Classroom stream, you’ll be able to see how many students have completed the assignment.

Troubleshooting FAQ

I am seeing one of the following error messages in Tynker:

If you do not use Google Classroom or do not want to use Google Classroom with Tynker, you can ignore these messages.

These error messages mean that you have not yet given Tynker permissions to connect with your Google Classroom. To fix this:

Log out of Tynker.
Disable your browser’s pop-up blocker.
Log in to Tynker using the Google authentication option.
You should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access your Google Classroom account. Click “Allow”.

My student is seeing the following error message in Tynker:

This error message means that your student has not yet given Tynker permissions to connect with Google Classroom. To fix this:

Have the student log out of Tynker.
Have the student disable their browser’s pop-up blocker.
Have the student log in to Tynker use the Google authentication option.
Student should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access their Google Classroom account. Click “Allow”.

I am not able to see my Google Classroom classes in Tynker.

This issue almost always occurs because you have not yet given Tynker permissions to access your Google Classroom account. To fix this:

Log out of Tynker.
Disable your browser’s pop-up blocker.
Log in to Tynker using the Google authentication option.
You should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access your Google Classroom account. Click “Allow”.

My students are not able to turn in assignments.

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

Have the student log out of Tynker.
Have the student disable their browser’s pop-up blocker.
Have the student log in to Tynker use the Google authentication option.
Student should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access their Google Classroom account. Click “Allow”.

I have assigned a lesson on Tynker, but it did not show up in my classroom stream.

This issue almost always occurs because you have not yet given Tynker permissions to access your Google Classroom account. To fix this:

Log out of Tynker.
Disable your browser’s pop-up blocker.
Log in to Tynker using the Google authentication option.
You should see a pop-up from Google asking you to give Tynker permissions to access your 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 stream, Google does not allow us to remove anything already on your stream. Once you’ve unassigned a lesson in Tynker, you must go into Google Classroom and delete the project from your classroom stream manually.

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 you’re still having issues, please send us an email at support@tynker.com and we’d be happy to help you out!