When the COVID-19 pandemic shifted teaching and learning from in-person to a remote model, the need to connect and engage led to an overnight transformation in education technology tools. Video conferencing software played a key role in giving teachers and students a form of normalcy in virtual classrooms. Google Meet and Zoom are the top two contenders schools selected from to ensure continuity of learning. While Zoom is a solid video communication platform, Google Meet has become a premium solution built for education from the ground up, adding 300+ features since March 2020.
In a three-round stack up, Google Meet proved to be easy to use, reliable, and secure.
Easy to use
As schools embed EdTech in the classroom, time and resources are becoming invaluable for instruction and learning. Google Meet is easy to use so students and teachers can focus on just that. It is an intuitive interface that:
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Is cloud-based and doesn’t require an installed app or plugins so users can join from any device unlike Zoom
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Fully integrates with Google Workspace, allowing users to start a Meet directly from Google Classroom and Google Calendar
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Is consistent on the Chrome browser for Windows, Chrome, or macOS to eliminate confusion
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Has easy to find and launch features such as screen sharing, chat, break out rooms, live auto-captioning, and whiteboard
Reliable
Lags and drops in video calls make for a class period riddled with restarting sessions, troubleshooting, repeating instructions, or even canceling. Google Meet is reliable and engineered to:
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Accommodate peak demand, handle growth, and optimize low bandwidths and unreliable internet connections for minimal outages, downtime, and calls to support
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Conduct a Meet for up to 300 hours, far above Zoom’s 30-hour maximum, for class meetings, extracurricular activities, or events
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Collaborate with 100TB of Cloud storage to automatically save items like recordings, attendance reports, and polls in Drive
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Troubleshoot video meetings and identify the cause of issues with the Meet Quality Tool so Google administrators can receive insights on metrics and statistics, debug calls, and monitor connection delays and microphone/audio levels
Google Meet is a core service and is covered by the same Service Level Agreement as Google Workspace for Education core services for 99.9% uptime.
Secure
With more students developing a digital footprint in school, it is important to keep their information safe from breaches and attacks. Google Meet’s secure infrastructure operates on the same global network as Google and includes:
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Encrypted data so it is not easily stolen by bots or hackers
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Default blocking of anonymous attendees so “Zoom bombing” is prevented (waiting room functionality coming soon) and settings to manage and mitigate security
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Admin controls and safety locks that give teachers more control over their Meet sessions with capabilities such as end meeting for all participants, mute all participants at once, provide share screen access, and more
Google Meet vs. Zoom Feature Comparison Chart
Google Meet has a series of features that enable it to better serve administrators, teachers, and students than Zoom. In response to remote learning, Google for Education configured it to support schools and continues to invest in updates as needs evolve during the transition to hybrid learning. Schools can access even more Meet features with their Google Workspace for Education edition; Education Standard incorporates advanced security and control settings, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade enhances instructional impact and student experience, and Education Plus includes those and more.
To switch to a champion video conferencing software and empower your school’s success strategy with Google Meet or to add Google Meet features to your Google Workspace domain, contact a regional account manager about Google Workspace for Education.
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Catherine Weers
Onboarding & Engagement Consultant -
About the Author:
Catherine lives in Virginia Beach, walking distance to the Chesapeake Bay where she is Amplified IT’s Google for Education Onboarding and Engagement Consultant. Catherine joined the Amplified IT team in 2017 after serving in public schools for 13 years as a teacher in addition to various technology roles. Her current role as Onboarding and Engagement Consultant allows ample opportunity to empower schools, while sharing best practices to get the most out of the cloud solutions they adopt. In her spare time, you can find her at the beach with her family, likely chasing her 2 young daughters and petting all the dogs.