In my previous post, I talked about how Live Lessons are Overrated. In today’s post, I’m going to list some special features for both Zoom & Google Meet that would be great additions to enhance your small group instruction, follow-up Q&A sessions, and 1:1 conferences. Like most tech tools, Zoom & Google Meet have an endless amount of customization options. Instead of listing 101 special features of Zoom & Meet, I’m only going to showcase a few features for each product that I find extremely helpful. That’s it, just a list of special features, a brief description of each feature, and a link to learn more. In my next blog post we will take a deeper dive and discuss some effective uses and specific examples of how these features could make your life more efficient or enhance the student experience.

ZOOM'S SPECIAL FEATURES

  1. BREAKOUT ROOMS
    Links: (VIDEO Setup) (VIDEO Example) (Enabling Breakout Rooms) (Managing Breakout Rooms) (Participating in Breakout Rooms) (Pre-assign Breakout Rooms)
    Description: Breakout Rooms allow you to split up your Zoom participants into several smaller groups. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between the smaller sessions at any time.
  2. ZOOM FOR GSUITE ADD-ON
    Links: (Install Add-on) (VIDEO Tutorial) (Text Tutorial)
    Description: Easily schedule, join, manage, and customize meetings from Gmail and Google Calendar. Automatically add Zoom Meeting details to your Google Calendar invitation with 1-click.
  3. ZOOM'S WHITEBOARD
    Links: (VIDEO Tutorial) (Access the Whiteboard) (Annotate the Whiteboard)
    Description: Zoom's Whiteboard allows you to annotate anywhere on your screen during a Zoom meeting.
  4. iOS SCREEN SHARING
    Links: (VIDEO Tutorial) (Text Tutorial)
    Description: Zoom allows for iOS screen sharing from iPhone and iPad, using the Zoom desktop client. You can share wirelessly for both Mac and PC, utilizing iOS Screen Mirroring, or you can connect your iOS device to your Mac computer with a cable to share.

GOOGLE MEET'S SPECIAL FEATURES

  1. GOOGLE MEET GRID VIEW EXTENSION
    Links: (Install Extension) (VIDEO Tutorial) (Updates to Meet Coming Soon)
    Description: The Google Meet Grid View extension brings the "Brady Bunch" style gallery view to Google Meet video chats.
  2. WHITEBOARD TOOLS FOR GOOGLE MEET
    Links: (VIDEO Tutorial) (Chrome Canvas) (Google Jamboard)
    Description: Create your own designs with Chrome Canvas. Express yourself with natural brushes and hand-picked colors. Google Jamboard offers the same features as Chrome Canvas but also adds the ability to share your whiteboard & collaborate with others.
  3. GOOGLE MEET & CLASSROOM INTEGRATION
    Links: (VIDEO Tutorial) (Text Tutorial)
    Description: Educators can create a unique Meet link for each class, which is displayed on the Classroom Stream and Classwork pages. The link acts as a dedicated meeting space for each class, making it easy for both teachers and students to join.
  4. KEEP STUDENTS FROM JOINING WITHOUT YOU
    Links: (VIDEO Tutorial) (Text Tutorial)
    Description: How to keep students from joining a Meet before you have joined, or from rejoining a Meet after you have left.