Google Classroom allows teachers to set assignments for students to complete and these are automatically marked late if they are submitted after the due date has passed. However, some students have been unclear about what “Due tomorrow” means on their Google Classroom assignments when there is no time specified. When should you submit your work by? What time will your work be counted as late?
If an assignment, assignment quiz or a question set on Google Classroom does not show a specific time and only says “Due tomorrow”, then the assignment is due by the end of the day tomorrow. If your assignment is “due tomorrow” and doesn’t have a time specified on it then you should submit it by 11.59 pm the next day to avoid being marked late.
When students get assignments on Google Classroom they can see it on the left of their stream. (Click on 'Stream' at the top of your page to get to the stream.) Here they can see which day the assignment is due and also the time. As you can see above the Test Assignment is due tomorrow at 11.59 pm.
Sometimes though, students get assignments from their teachers on Google Classroom labelled “Due Tomorrow” but with no time specified and this can be a little confusing.
You can click on the assignment title on your Stream to see more information about your assignment and you may now see the specific time listed. You might not see a time listed anywhere though.
If you don’t see a time listed anywhere then what does “due tomorrow” mean?
Does this mean the assignment is due by the time tomorrow begins (i.e. tonight at midnight) or does it mean due tomorrow by midnight - the end of tomorrow?
The reason you might have a missing assignment hand-in time is that when teachers create assignments on Google Classroom, they don’t have to set a time. When setting assignments, quiz assignments or questions teachers must select a due date and they can set a specific time although it’s optional.
I did a quick test on my own Test Google Classroom and found that if a time is specified then it shows up on the student’s stream and if a time is not specified then the assignment is just labelled “Due tomorrow”. There are three types of assignment teachers can set on Google classroom that require students to submit work for: Assignments, Quiz Assignments and Questions. The test showed that the time shows if it is set for all three and if the time isn't set then Assignments, Quiz Assignments and Questions would all be just labelled "Due tomorrow".
It could be that your teacher has a set time when they always expect assignments to be handed in by. Maybe they like to have assignments returned to them by 2 pm so that they have time to check them before going home at 4 pm.
Some schools might have a rule of thumb regarding assignment submission times where every assignment set in the school is always due at 6 pm on the due date no matter which grade you’re in, which subjects you study or who your teacher is. They might do this to help students stay organised by avoiding confusion over timings.
11.59 pm is the default time Google Classroom gives for the assignment to be due by if no time is chosen by the teacher. This means that if you don’t see a time set for an assignment on your stream then your teacher is expecting it back by 11.59 pm the following day unless they have said otherwise.
For example: If it is now 2.05 pm on 1st June 2020 and an assignment is labelled “Due tomorrow” but with no time, then it should be handed in by 11.59 pm on 2nd June 2020.
You could use the Private comments section on the right-hand side of the Assignment page to ask your teacher what time your assignment is due if you’d rather not assume that 11.59 pm will be the cut-off. This might be a good idea especially if you usually get specific times to submit assignments by and you think your teacher may have forgotten to select the time or made a mistake.
You can find out more about Google Classroom and other platforms at the Online Learning Platform Directory.
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