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One of the best ways to effectively teach online is by using some kind of video conferencing tool. Whether you’re interacting with a group of students or with an individual student, there’s nothing quite like video conferencing. If you want tips on the best video conferencing app for teachers, then keep reading!
ZOOM
Zoom is a video-conference platform that has grown exponentially in popularity since the beginning of the health pandemic as it offers features that are generic enough to serve a wide range of functions. Zoom is well-liked by teachers for a few reasons. The free version of Zoom allows users to conduct video sessions with up to 100 participants (with up to 49 being visible at once), which is a higher participant limit than most other services. Zoom’s unique screen sharing function also enables educators to directly annotate on students’ shared screen. Breakout rooms and hands up options help facilitate small group discussions with spontaneity previously only achievable in a physical classroom setting. Zoom’s iconic gallery view gives users the choice to view all the participants in the call, resembling physical meetings and making it ideal for large group meetings.
Left: Gallery view on Zoom. Photo by Zoom.
Right: User annotating on Zoom’s screen share using a tablet. Photo by Zoom.
However, the major drawback of Zoom is its security issues. Teachers typically send scheduled meeting links to students, who can then join easily without registering for a Zoom account. As password protection to these meetings are often disabled to streamline processes for large-group meetings, they become vulnerable to unwanted interlopers. Such incidents have even caused some countries to ban the use of Zoom. Hence, some parents may not feel at ease with their children using Zoom for online lessons.
Furthermore, the free version cuts off your call after 40 minutes of lesson time; a restriction tighter than most other video conferencing services. For you to conduct lessons uninterrupted for the full duration, paid zoom plans may be necessary (starting at $14.99), which may result in lessons being less accessible for you and your students.
As Zoom is after all primarily a video conferencing platform not designed to be a classroom, the educational tools available are also limited. For instance, while Zoom has a whiteboard function, it only offers basic options of a pen tool or a text box. It is also non-expandable, so when teachers run out of whiteboard space, everything will have to be erased before the teacher can continue writing, disrupting your teaching.
Fortunately, if you have already implemented Zoom, such limitations can be solved by supplementing your video conferencing app with other more comprehensive teaching tools. In this case, we highly recommended HeyHi’s online whiteboard. By allowing teachers and students to pen down their thoughts and ideas, it is an effective way to help students with concept visualisation and knowledge retention during a video conference.
GOOGLE MEET
Image: Source
Easily one of the most cost-effective way for teachers to conduct lessons online, Google Meet is a free service for Google users and schools that have registered for a G Suite account. Google Meet is also accessible across a range of devices including desktop, Android, and Apple devices.
Google Meet offers features like real-time captions and support for up to 250 participants and 100,000 live stream viewers. Screen sharing and breakout room functions are also available for more in-depth collaboration or team-building exercises. Notably, unlike most other video conferencing services, teachers can create specific, reusable meeting IDs on Google Meet to avoid confusion during scheduling. Students can also book meetings in advance and the details of the scheduled meeting can be added to their google calendars for easy reference and reminders. Since Google Meet is integrated with Google drive, users can share engaging multimedia files directly from their Google Drives, making it easy for students to collaborate with their classmates on group projects and assignments. This streamlines the way information is disseminated.
Google Suite. Photo by Elle Cartier on Unsplash.
For personal Google accounts, one downside of Google Meet is that your video conferences will be capped at 60 minutes. To have longer, uninterrupted lessons and the ability to record and store meetings for future references, a basic G Suite package will be required, which starts at $6 per person per month.
Furthermore, interface wise, Google Meet’s dashboard is a little messy compared to other services. Some tools may not be in the most intuitive positions although it is still relatively easy to figure it out. You can see each call participant on the right side of your screen, with the video of the person who’s currently talking being highlighted by default. If you prefer a grid view, you’ll need to change the layout settings manually. You can learn more about Google Meet on the G Suite site.
SKYPE
Image: Source
Having been around longer than most other video conferencing services, Skype is a solid platform for calls up to 50 people. It has evolved tremendously and set itself apart from other services with its increased convenience and accessibility. Users no longer require an account or any downloads to start, and can join link-based Skype video calls through their browsers on desktop. Skype’s excellent security and privacy protections makes it safer to operate than most other services. Skype also allows for screen sharing and other handy features like screen recording and poll-creating. Because it is owned by Microsoft, teachers can reap the benefits of integrating other Microsoft platforms to organise and diversify their curriculum. While this isn’t a complete classroom solution, it can solve the need for occasional classroom video conferences.
LiveBoard
It’s time for LiveBoard!
It is another online educational app, and whiteboard for teachers, available for both desktop and mobile users. It is widely used to teach math, or other k-12 subjects, creating an atmosphere of a real-time classroom. It can even be used offline, in real classrooms. LiveBoard, in turn, has got its unique advantages and downsides as well. Find them below.
Pros:
- LiveBoard works for both mobile and desktop users.
- Record your meetings and keep them in the cloud for further need. Then, thanks to its archive, you can find your previous lessons’ recordings quite easily.
- Real-time drawing.
- Multipage shared boards: you can also insert PDF documents and images.
- LiveBoard allows unlimited boards, except for the free plan.
- Change history: If you ever make some changes on LiveBoard platform, you can be sure that you can go back and see the previous version due to its good memory.
- You have a palm rejection function for free. This means that you can sometimes rest your hand on the tablet, without worrying about leaving unwanted marks while working and taking pictures.
- You can combine LiveBoard with other apps, such as Google Meet or Zoom, without having to choose only one of them.
- Quick interactive quizzes and presence feature: LiveBoard offers the presence feature to get aware when your audience is bored or not present. To solve this problem and make your lesson even more engaging you can utilize the option of quizzes without any preparation. You just need to ask a question and wait for the answer.
Cons:
- LiveBoard doesn’t support copy-paste functionality.
- Sometimes the app crashes when the board opens.
- Only 2 plans support unlimited participants. These are the “Classroom plan” and “School plan.” But these, in turn, do not support audio calls.
Lesson Space
Lesson Space, one of the most used video conferencing apps, is available both on a computer and mobile devices. You can teach in groups or hold one-on-one meetings. The app is super useful and convenient for learning languages, solving math problems, dealing with logic, etc. Currently, the Lesson Space app team is working on various innovative tools such as music teaching. Are you excited? I am so happy to take you to the lesson Space world now so that you can get more familiarized with it. Follow me.
Pros:
- Share your screen to show diverse documents, images, videos, etc.
- Also, share whiteboards, documents, and code editors.
- Lesson Space makes it super easy to join a meeting. The students can join with a web browser. They do not have to download anything or sign up. Instead, they can join your class just by clicking on the meeting link.
- Lesson Space aims at making teaching as effective as possible thanks to the subject-specific tools, special for certain educational fields.
- In-lesson text chat availability.
- Lesson Space app management is not a problem, at all. You can easily create lessons and share them with others. You can keep track of your students’ activities and profiles. Besides, you can prepare whatever you want your students to see.
- You can use a locking function to mute your students and control their screens as well, so that they see what you see on your screen, as a teacher. Then you can unlock them when you feel that it’s time for them to speak.
- Lesson Space allows you to get the analytics and statistics of your lessons.
Cons:
- Lesson Space allows only up to 10 participants, which may be unsuitable for those who hold meetings with larger audiences.
- Lack of recording in case of the free plan: If you want to record your meetings, you should upgrade your plan to pro.
- Lesson Space doesn’t suggest screen sharing on mobile devices while video conferencing.
- “We charge based on connections, not users. This means that each time a web browser accesses a space, that is counted as one connection. If a single user opens two windows, each to the same space, this will count as two connections and be billed for. We give lots of warnings to prevent this from happening”
Lesson Space Team.
Advice: As a teacher, you would rather use a starter or pro plan. The starter plan is for the lessons of 100 hours per month. Pro one is for lessons of 100-300 hours per month, besides you can have access to the recordings of your lessons.
Conclusion:
Many teachers are also interested in online teaching. It is often a good way to earn a part-time living, or to supplement a teacher’s income. Some teachers even use it as a way to retire from their regular teaching job. Teachers that have tried video conferencing software for education purposes will know that there are many places to choose from. Many of these platforms may be good options for video conferencing, but some of them fall flat.