Create a question

This article is for teachers.

As a Classroom teacher, you can post short-answer or multiple-choice questions. After you post a question, you can track the number of students who responded. You can also draft questions to post later and post a question to individual students.

Create a question

In classes created after April 17, 2019, posts to the Classwork page appear at the top.

When you create a question, you can:

• Post to one or more classes
• Assign it to one or more students
• Add a grade category
• Change the point value
• Create a multiple-choice question
• Add a due date or time
• Add a topic
• Add attachments

Create a question

1. Tap Classroom the class.
2. Tap Classwork.
3. Tap Add Question.
4. Enter the question and any instructions.
5. For short-answer questions, students can edit their answer and reply to each other. You can turn these options on or off.
   • Students can edit answer: To allow students to edit their answer after submitting, tap the switch to the on position . Students can only edit their answer before you grade it.
   • Students can reply to each other—To allow students to view and comment on classmates' answers after answering the question, tap the switch to the on position .
     To prevent students from seeing each other's answers, tap the switch to the off position .

Tip: There is no character limit for short-answer questions.

Post to one or more classes

1. Next to the class name, tap Next .
2. Tap any additional classes Done.

Tip: You can’t post to individual students across multiple classes. Posts to multiple classes are shared with all students in the classes.

Assign to one or more students

By default, a question posts to all students in the class. You can post a question to individual students. However, you can’t post to individual students if more than one class is included. And, you can’t post to more than 100 individual students at a time.

1. At the upper right, confirm if "All students" isn't selected.
   • If "All students" is selected, to deselect the option, tap All students.
2. Tap the student names you want to post a question to.
3. Tap Done.

Tip: You’ll see the number of students assigned the question in the class stream. To view the students’ names, tap number students on the question.

Add a grade category

For organization, you can add grade categories to questions. With grade categories, you and your students can see the category a question belongs to, such as Homework or Essays. Teachers also see the categories on the Grades page.

You can assign categories on a mobile device, but you can only create new categories on a computer.

1. Next to Grade category, tap No category.
2. Select a category.

For more information, go to Add a grade category to a post.

Change the point value

You can change the point value of a question or make the question ungraded. By default, questions are set at 100 points.

1. Next to Total points , tap a value.
2. Enter a new point value or tap Ungraded.
   • For ungraded work, students tap Turn in. If students miss a due date, the work status shows "Missing" or "Turned in late".
3. Tap Save.

Create a multiple-choice question

1. Tap Short answer Multiple choice Add answers.
2. Tap Option 1 and enter the first answer option.
3. Tap Add option and add as many options as you want.
4. Optional: To delete an option, next to it, tap Remove .
5. By default, when students turn in a question, they see a class summary of answers. To turn off this feature, next to Students can see class summary, tap the switch to the off position .

Add a due date or time

By default, the question has no due date. To change this:

1. Tap Due date .
2. Select a date.
3. Tap OK.
4. Optional: To add a due time, tap Time, enter a time, and tap OK.

Tip: Work is marked "Missing" or "Turned in late" as soon as the date or time due arrives.

Add a topic

1. Tap Topic .
2. Choose an option:
   • To create a new topic, tap New topic and enter a topic name.
   • To select a topic in the list, tap the topic name.
3. Tap Save.

Learn more about how to organize your class stream.

Add attachments

You can add Drive files, links, images, or YouTube videos to your question. On devices with Android 7.0 Nougat and later, you can drag materials to Classroom from another app when the 2 apps are open in split-screen mode.

Tap Attach and choose an option:

Tips:

• If you see a message that you don’t have permission to attach a file, tap Copy. Classroom makes a copy to attach to the question and saves it to the class Drive folder.
• To:
  • Attach a Drive item: tap Drive ^{Don't see the Drive icon?} the item you want to attach Select.
  • Attach a link: tap Link , then enter a URL, then tap Add.
  • Attach a file from your device: tap File the file you want to attach Select.
  • Attach a YouTube video: tap YouTube , then choose an option:
    • To search for a video to attach: in the search box, enter keywords and tap Search the video you want to attach Insert.
    • To attach a video link: enter a URL, tap a video Insert.
  • Take a photo: tap Take photo , then take a photo, then tap Done .
  • Record a video: tap Record video , then record a video, then tap Done .
  • Add a new PDF: tap New PDF . You can write notes or draw images on the PDF. When you're done, tap More Save.
  • Delete an attachment: next to an attachment, tap Remove .

About Drive files with earlier versions of Android

Attaching files from Drive on your Android device depends on which version you’re running. To check which version of Android your device uses, go to Check your Android version.

If you use Android 4.4 KitKat: you won't see the Drive icon , but you can still attach Drive files:

• Tap File select a file to attach.

If you use Android 4.3 Jelly Bean: when you tap the Drive icon , you’ll be asked to update your device. For instructions, go to Update your Android version. The update might not work on some older devices, but you can choose another option:

• Copy the file link from your mobile browser tap Add link to attach it.
• Use a computer rather than a mobile device.

Post, schedule, or save a draft question

Important: If you see a message that you don’t have permission to attach a file, tap Copy. Classroom makes a copy to attach to the question and saves it to the class Drive folder.

• To post the question immediately, tap Assign .
• To schedule the question to post at a later date:
  1. Tap More Schedule.
  2. At Schedule for date, tap the date, and select a date and time.
  3. Tap Schedule. The question will automatically post at the scheduled date and time.
     • To schedule the question in another class, schedule it first for one class and then reuse the question in the other class.
• To save the question as a draft, tap More Save draft.
• To see scheduled and draft questions, tap Classwork.

Edit a question

Important: If a question is posted to several classes, editing it in one class doesn't change it in any other class.

1. Tap Classroom the class.
2. Tap Classwork.
3. Next to the question, tap More Edit.
4. Choose an option:
   • For a posted question: Make your changes tap Save.
   • For a scheduled question: Make your changes tap Schedule.
   • For a draft question: Make your changes tap More Save draft.

Add a class comment to a question

1. Tap Classroom the class.
2. Tap Classwork the question.
3. At the top, tap Question.
4. At the bottom, tap Add class comment, enter your comment tap Post .

Reuse a question

To reuse a question, see Reuse a post.

Delete a question

If you delete a question, all grades and comments related to the question are deleted. However, any attachments or files created by you or your students are still available in Google Drive.

Warning! Once deleted, there's no way to undo deleting a question.

1. Tap Classroom the class.
2. Tap Classwork.
3. Next to the question, tap More Delete.
4. To confirm, tap Delete again.

Have students see or add comments to a question

When you create a question, you can instruct students to leave class comments. In both multiple-choice and short-answer questions, students can read and respond to class comments. Students can also comment privately to teachers.

To learn how to manage student comments, go to Set student permissions to post and comment.

Related articles

• Add a grade category to posts
• Edit or delete a published post
• Grade and return question answers
• Set student permissions to post and comment
• Use a screen reader with Classroom on your computer