Google Introduces New Tools to Assist Teachers and Students in Virtual Education

Published by Ushna Arif Wednesday, August 12, 2020

To make virtual education easier, tech giant Google just introduced several features that include an updated Google Meet service for conferences and a brand new homework helper tool. 

Google Meet has been updated with a feature of a larger tiled view that will display up to 49 participants and it will be rolling out in September after being announced in June. The tiled view in Google Meet initially displayed 16 participants at a time when it was first introduced in April. The addition in the number of meeting participants that can be viewed at once will make the layout similar to Zoom's. 

In addition to the updated tiled view, Meet will also be getting a 'Jamboard' which is Google's digital whiteboard product. Another option that users will be able to access on Meet will allow blurring or replacing the background. 

Moreover, customers of the G Suit Enterprise for Education will have the option to create breakout rooms in Meet, that will break virtual classes into smaller group discussions. Teachers will also be able to keep track of attendance. 

Google is also planning to roll out new moderation controls later this month to help teachers and Meet moderators manage their classes more conveniently. The controls will prevent people from joining meetings after they have been removed from the room or their invitation to join has been denied twice. This will allow classes to continue smoothly without interruption. Other moderation options that will be rolling out in September include being able to end classes for everyone at the same time, bulk approving or denying requests to join a class, turn off in-meeting chat, restrict who can present in class and control that a class doesn't start until the teacher has joined. 

There are also other tools apart from the Meet updates that Google is introducing to assist students in learning on their phones. For instance, students will now be able to visualize about 100 concepts in STEM subjects by searching them on Google and then looking at a model of the concept in augmented reality on their devices. Moreover, students will be able to get help for solving a problem by simply taking a photo of it via the Google Lens or Google's education app, Socratic. 

Google's new virtual education tools will certainly be of great help to both teachers and students in the current state of a pandemic when education all over the globe has been virtualized.