Can’t decide what video conferencing platform is best for your online learning? If yes, you should read further on some of the top video conferencing platforms to make your choice easy.
Online learning with video conferencing platforms is finding increasing use in the classroom since the outbreak of coronavirus.
Video conferencing has changed how we communicate and has been an important part of the education system for decades. As schools embrace new technologies and respond to the evolving requirements of their student body and faculty, this resource is becoming more efficient in the classroom.
Finding the right video conferencing platform that best meets your needs can be overwhelming. This is because there are lots of platforms available today with varying features and usage.
This article will help you pick the right solution for your education system.
Benefits of Video Conferencing for Schools
Real-time Conversation:
At school, there is always something that comes up that you need to attend to. Whether it's a classroom discussion, field trip or crisis management situation, a video conference platform will be able to connect participants on the same screen at the same time in real-time. Through video conferencing, teachers can communicate with students no matter where they are. They can engage in visual and audio conversations in real time.
Encourages interactivity:
Video conferencing for schools encourages collaboration and participation for teachers and students. It is a means of communication between parents, teachers, and students, allowing everyone to be up to date with class activities and school updates. Video conferencing platforms can help teachers, staff, and students stay in touch and can help in situations where most students cannot attend physical lessons. This simplifies the dissemination of information outside of class.
Online learning through video conferencing delivers real abilities that translate easily into life skills. These skills include research, self-learning, self-engagement, and technological literacy, where eLearning resources improve the learner's computer skills. Video classrooms allow students to stay in the classroom while exploring a museum or aquarium live via video streaming.
How Video Conferencing in Schools Can Benefit the Teacher
Video conferencing can benefit teachers in two ways:
- One-on-one and group video communication: Teachers can have a one-on-one session with each student to build a more trusting relationship that positively affects the future educational process. You can use this approach to build closeness, or help a student better understand a particular topic. It also helps make sure that all curriculum is completed and no one is left out.
- Group Video communication on the other hand helps you teach a large group of students at the same time remotely when in-person lessons are not possible. Teachers prefer group video conferences to communicate with parents, students, and colleagues.
Top Video Conferencing Platforms for Schools
Firstly, what should you consider when choosing the right video platform for your online learning? The different platforms available come with their different features, though they claim to do the same thing, some aspects differ and one platform might have more of what you need than the other. Some features to look out for include video quality, ease of use, connectivity, durability, content sharing and many more. The majority of these platforms offer both free and paid versions, and the free version is generally feature-rich.
Let's analyse each platform for more information.
Zoom:
Zoom is one of the leading video conferencing platforms that top educational institutions use for online learning. It is a cloud-based video conferencing solution that can hold up to 100 participants. The platform is intuitive. It provides advanced features that enable more interactive class sessions, facilitating small-group discussions previously impossible in physical classrooms. Zoom's screen-sharing capability also enables teachers to annotate directly on students' shared screens.
Here are the benefits included in the free plan: high-quality HD video conferencing, unlimited number of meetings, technical support, break out rooms for discussion, and up to 40 minutes duration. You can also record meetings for later use. You can schedule meetings using the Chrome extension. Zoom platform is secure and is user friendly for new teachers to find their way around it.
Google Meet:
Google Meet is one of the cost effective ways to video conference for online learning. A notable feature of Google Meet is the ability to create specific, reusable meeting IDs, which makes scheduling easier and less confusing. Additionally, students can schedule meetings in advance and add details to their Google calendars so they can easily access them and be reminded. Due to the integration between Google Meet and Google Drive, users can access and share interesting multimedia files right from their Google Drives. This allows students to work on group projects with their classmates and spread information easily.
Skype:
Skype is another popular video conferencing platform you can use for schools. Skype has been around for a long time, but it keeps up to date, and users can join video calls online without installing anything and without signing up for an account. You can join link-based Skype video calls through browsers on your desktop. It offers helpful features to make online learning easier, such as HD quality videos, screen sharing, blur background, class recording and ease of use. You can send voice messages and leave instant responses with emojis using the "smart messaging" feature. You can also start private conversations and group conversations with as many as 100 people. Since it is owned by Microsoft, teachers can incorporate other Microsoft platforms into their classrooms to organize and diversify their curriculum.
Microsoft Teams:
Teams is another popular video conferencing platform for schools. It is free for Microsoft account holders and incorporates all of your existing tools as part of Office 365 (Word, Powerpoint, Excel). This app is not limited to video calls and provides customers with trustworthy privacy and data protection, making it safe to use. Teams is user-friendly and several of its capabilities, including backdrop blurring and AI-powered noise suppression, are also beneficial in schools because they help to create a more conducive learning environment. It can hold up to 300 students on its free version. Not only is it a secure platform for students and teachers, it offers great features including Attendance, Screen sharing, Digital whiteboard, Virtual break out rooms, and access to other Microsoft Office Apps.
TrueConf:
TrueConf is a secure, self-hosted video conferencing solution for education that helps make distance learning easier. This solution supports Ultra HD video meetings with up to 1,000 people and a wide range of collaboration and engagement tools, such as screen sharing and slideshows, reactions, polling, instant messaging, file sharing, and recording lessons. It has many more features to help you get your online classroom running immediately.
Conclusion
Now that you have got a better understanding of the top video conferencing platforms, you can place your order for top video conferencing equipment that will help to run your online learning efficiently.
