By Elise Harcsar
This school year, Irvington schools have chosen to conduct remote classes using Google Meet reportedly because of the safety features that Zoom doesn’t offer. Last spring when distance learning started due to the pandemic, teachers tested different methods of learning such as Google Meet and Zoom.
NPR shared that when the FBI alerted school officials about the hijacking of Zoom by hackers, teachers were advised to use other platforms for online learning. It is less safe for schools to use Zoom because of meeting codes that are used for sessions and could easily be shared.
These incidents of hackers that were reported for joining class sessions and disrupting learning environments are invasive and unsafe for students and teachers to possibly be recorded or exposed to inappropriate behavior.
As we use Google Meet this year, students prefer its easy accessibility; unlike Zoom which doesn’t share theses features.
“I like Google Meet because we already have accounts set up and we don’t need to use anything other than our school email, whereas for Zoom we do,” said sophomore Malka Halliwell.
During the hybrid schedule, students are able to log in to classes by using links attached to Google Classroom pages. Class sessions can be easily accessed without meeting IDs or codes which are less convenient and more public to people outside the schoool. Google Meet also uses your school Gmail account to login to meets, and in order to join a meet, you need to be invited by the teacher.
“I really like using Google Meet because it’s directly connected to our Google Classroom pages and all our work is in one place. Using Google Meet instead of Zoom has made online school a lot easier,” said senior Áine Cleary
Teachers and students are learning to adapt to the hybrid schedule, which has worked well by limiting the number of students in the school at once and allowing students both home and in school to attend classes regularly. During class, teachers are able to include online learners by using cameras, screen sharing, and learning tools such as Pear Deck, keeping the same level of involvement for all students.
“Google Meet works well with a lot of extensions because it is connected to Google, which gives them a monopoly,” said Ms. Lake-Garcia. However, there are aspects that are challenging.
“I have to take several steps in order to share a video, so I wish it was more seamless.”
This introduction of technology to schools is a starting point and window to many possibilities in the future. Virtual learning is also beneficial because it creates another source of communication between teachers and students. Extra help and meetings/conferences can be scheduled virtually, which limits face to face interaction while achieving the same outcomes.
Many questions still arise for the future, now that the school has Google Meet as a resource for learning. Will we ever have snow days again? Will kids have the option to stay 100% online even after COVID-19?
