When choosing the right video conferencing software for your classroom, there are a few important features to consider. In this blog post, we compare two of the most popular tools, Google
Selection criteria
For admins and school leaders, evaluating the current features of Google Meet and Zoom offers the opportunity to make decisions that make a difference in the everyday learning experience of teachers and students. The aim is to make their use as user-friendly, safe and reliable as possible.
User friendliness
Google Meet is simple and intuitive to use, allowing students and teachers to focus on the content being conveyed:
- Google Meet is cloud-based and requires no installed app or plugins, so users can participate from any device, unlike Zoom.
- Full integration with Google Workspace for Education, so users can start a meeting directly from Google Classroom and Google Calendar
- As part of Google Workspace, Google Meet is part of a holistic collaboration solution: chat, email, presentations, spreadsheets, documents, and more are included
- Consistent use of the Chrome browser for Windows, Chrome or macOS
- Easy to find and launch features like screen sharing, chat, breakout rooms, automatic live captioning, and a digital whiteboard are given in both tools.
Reliability
Delays and dropouts in video calls mean that lessons have to be repeatedly interrupted or even cancelled. Google Meet has numerous features and capabilities to prevent this from happening:
- Handle spikes in demand and optimise low bandwidth and unreliable Internet connections for minimal downtime, outages, and support calls.
- Conduct up to 300 hours of meetings, well above Zoom's 30-hour maximum, for class meetings, extracurricular activities, or events
- Collaborate with 100 TB of cloud storage to automatically save items like recordings, attendance reports, and surveys to Drive
- Troubleshoot video meetings and identify the root cause of issues with the Meet Quality Tool so Google Admin can gain insights into metrics and statistics, debug calls, and monitor connection delays and microphone/audio levels
Google Meet is subject to the same service level agreement as Google Workspace for Education, contractually assuring users of 99.9% uptime.
Security
As students leave a digital footprint at school, it's important to protect their data from breaches and attacks. Google Meet's secure infrastructure is powered by the same global network as Google and includes:
- Data encryption following the latest Google standards to minimise the risk of theft by bots or hackers.
- Default blocking of anonymous participants to prevent "Zoom-bombing" (waiting room functionality coming soon) and settings for managing and minimising security risks.
- Admin controls and security features that give educators more control over their Meet sessions. This includes features such as ending the session for all participants, muting all participants at once, accessing shared screens, and more.
Conclusion – Google Meet or Zoom?
A comparison of Google Meet and Zoom shows that Google Meet offers the great advantage of being part of a holistic collaboration solution. For example, Meet can be seamlessly integrated with other applications such as Google Calendar. Although both tools do not differ too much in terms of usability, reliability and security, Google Meet has a big plus on its side.