Did you know that you can actually upload a PDF scan directly from your iPhone to Google Classroom?
If you’ve ever had to directly send a photo of your workbook to your teacher as a Google Classroom task, you would have experienced the struggles of getting the correct lighting and avoiding your own shadow so that your teacher can properly view your work. It’s downright infuriating at times.
However, all of your problems will go away with this new, albeit slightly more complicated method of submitting your work. This new method will present a more clearer, shadow-free image for your teacher to mark without needing to worry about the image quality.
Scanning the Document
The very beginning of this process consists of simply opening the Notes application on your iPhone. From there, the process for scanning the document is as follows.
Create a new note.
Tap the camera icon at the bottom of the screen in the centre.
Select “Scan Documents”.
Now you will have access to the camera in order to scan a page for your note. You will need to position your camera over your page so that it is top down, overlooking the paper. Just like if it was a regular scanner.
You will now see a yellow rectangle appear over your page. This is the area that will be scanned by the application so that it will be made into a PDF file. One of two actions will now occur.
If the document is able to be read clearly by the camera, it will automatically scan the document and process it for you. It will display this scan directly to you once it has been completed.
The rectangle may flicker uncontrollably, and will not be able to get a good read of the page you wish to scan.
If the latter action happens, that’s okay! Just take the photo normally. Pages will then let you manually edit the area of the photo that will be scanned. All you need to do from here is simply edit the corners so that it covers the page you wish to scan.
Once you have finished with taking the scan, press the “Save” button. If you wish to retake a scan, simply press “Retake” and take another scan.
That’s it! You’ve officially added a PDF scan to your note! Feel free to do a long press on the PDF to rename it in case the name of the file is incorrect.
The benefits of this method compared to a normal photo is that the image quality is much clearer than a cropped photo, allowing for the text on a scan to be much sharper in detail. Any shadows that would normally be present are completely gone, and discolourations in light are neutralised. This method is far superior over a typical photo.
Uploading the Scan to Google Classroom
You can the scanned document you’ve just taken directly to Google Classroom if you have it installed on your iPhone.
If you do not have Google Classroom installed on your iPhone, install it now from the App Store and log in to your school email address in order to gain access to your classes.
The beginning of this process begins once again in the Notes app.
Select the note that contains the document that you just scanned. Long press the document to bring up a mini-menu.
Click the “Share” button.
Scroll through to the end of the suggested apps at the bottom of the window until you see Google Classroom. Then, select Google Classroom.
You will be transported to a window within Google Classroom that allows for you to share it to a given class.
You have the choice of attaching it to an assignment or a new post on the class stream.
For this example, I will be referring to the “Attach to assignment” option. But before you do that, you will first need to select the class which you will be submitting the PDF to.
Select the banner at the top of the page that has one of your classes displayed. All of your classes will then be shown to you.
Select the class which you will be assigning your scanned document to.
Then, you will need to attach the file to your desired assignment.
Select “Attach to assignment”.
Select the assignment you wish to submit the scanned document to.
Google Classroom will then upload the document to your assignment and have it ready for submission. It will then close the window and bring you back to the Notes app. This means that you’re finished? Right?
Sadly, there’s one more thing you have to do, and this is at fault of the sharing system within Google Classroom. Since it immediately closes the window before you can submit the task, it technically isn’t handed in yet.
To resolve this issue, complete the following steps.
Open Google Classroom.
Select the class which contains the assignment you submitted the scanned document to.
Open the assignment and select “Mark as Done”.
Your teacher can now view your work sample in a clear format that is easy for them to read, and is of high image quality. This prevents the disadvantages of normal photos from occurring, and overall presents a much, much better file to use.
That’s it! You’ve submitted your scanned PDF document from your iPhone directly to your Google Classroom!