Even though in some countries the economy is opening up again, there are still a lot of schools that will keep meeting online or at least some form of hybrid learning. This means apps like Google Meet will still come in handy and so Google is bringing some education-focused features in the latest update and also upcoming updates. Moderators and admins also get more controls and new features like public live streaming, improved hand-raising functions, and other things to make sure that attendees keep engaged and hosts keep everything in control.
These features and improvements will not release all at once, with some coming in the next few months. Multiple teachers will soon be able to co-host the classes and students who are in the Classroom roster will be able to automatically get in when the teacher is present. When a breakout session ends, attendees will get a warning and then be brought back to the main session. Hosts will get a video lock function so they can turn off everyone’s video with one click. Multiple hosts will also be coming soon so you can partner with other people to help manage your class.
To help keep students active and engaged, the refreshed Meet experience lets you see both your students and your presentation at the same time. You will also be able to choose from different layout options so you can choose what to focus on. The hand-raise icon and sound have been improved with those raising their hands appearing in a grid and the teacher will see how many raised their hands and in what order.
Meet also now supports closed caption for five languages: English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish and soon, they will offer live translated captions for teachers on the Teaching and Learning Upgrade or Education Plus. The latter will let you listen to someone in one language and see captions in another supported language. Meet will also soon be able to do public live streaming through YouTube so those outside the institution will be able to see the session.
There’s no timetable yet for the upcoming features they mentioned but we’ll probably see them go live in the next few months. Google Meet says they will keep adapting to the needs of the school communities, both for remote and in-person learning.
