Google Meet for Teachers
Recent changes improve Meet for online classrooms
Google is rolling out some exciting new features in Meet to increase usability for virtual classrooms. If you have been using Zoom because you like their breakout rooms or whiteboards, you might consider using Meet this spring. Many of these new features are even helpful to increase active learning in a socially distanced classroom, and they are certainly valuable in a hybrid setting.
Whiteboard
Jamboard was added as a feature in September, and this is a gamechanger. In addition to acting as the usual presenter whiteboard, it has great functionality to facilitate collaboration in a hybrid classroom. Our students really love using it for collaborative work. I watched one class create a timeline of art history using sticky notes and adding images straight from Google image search. If you have a lesson planned, you can prepare your digital whiteboard in advance, with multiple boards and then have the class work in groups to manipulate each of the boards in real time. Since the teacher has control over who can access the board, you can toggle on and off student access as they need it throughout the lesson.
