Dive Brief:

• Google's learning management system, Classroom, went live Tuesday.
• The LMS is now available to all Apps for Education customers for free.
• A limited preview of the platform launched in May and reportedly saw over 100,000 educators in K-12 and higher ed apply to try it out.

Dive Insight:

For educators using the Apps for Education productivity suite, this is a big deal. Assignments can be created, distributed, completed in Google Docs, and submitted all on one platform. Additionally, the platform has tools for grading, feedback, questions, comments, Google Drive-based homework collection, announcements, student-teacher assignment collaboration, and an "about" section for information about syllabi or the class in general — but future integration with third-party tools is still not known.

The tech giant is entering a space with ample competition that includes Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Instructure, Moodle, and a host of other names. Of course, that has been said of its forays into other spaces, and it seems to have fared well thus far.