The effect of the covid-19 pandemic changed the global education system completely within a year. According to UNESCO, over 1.2 billion children are affected by this pandemic situation. They are left out of school and have to continue their study through online classes. Teachers, as well as parents, are overwhelmed about student’s futures. They still can’t figure out among those thousand apps, which one could be best for students to do their online classes.
After an overlong survey among teachers’ students and parents, we found out 10 apps that are best for online classes. Also, check this article http://pczippo.com/blog/tech/build-a-smart-home-the-best-automation-devices-and-how-to-use-them/.
- Google Meet
- Google Classroom
- Zoom
- Kahoot
- Skype
- Duo
- Jitsi Meet
- Evernote
- Slack
- Microsoft Team
Google Meet
Product- Google
Last Update – 8 May 2021
Google Meet being Google’s product is one of the most trustworthy apps for online classes. Google Meet is usually known as Google Hangouts. In 2017 they updated themselves as Goole Meet.
Features/ Benefits:
Need a g-mail account: you need a g-mail account to get access to Google Meet. To avoid anonymous people like in Zoom Goole Meet make it compulsory to have a Gmail account.
Meeting duration: in Goole Meet you can continue classes for 1 hour.
Participants: In Goole Meet 250 people can join the class at one time.
Screen Share: you can share your screen with your students. You don’t have to share the whole screen. Just share the tab you want to.
Chat: students and teachers can communicate even through chat boxes during class.
Show all participants: teachers can check who is present or who are absent easily.
Live presentation preview: in the old version while you were sharing your screen you can’t see what you were presenting.
But now you can have a live preview of what you are presenting. That gives you a very helpful confirmation.
You can make shrink your presentation if you want to look for your students whether they are concentrating or not.
Mute all feature: once the teacher selected the option Mute all, no one can unmute their microphone even though they want to. This is a big help to teachers to save the class from nuisances.
Caption: Goole Meet shows live captions during ongoing class which is a blessing for students with a hearing problem.
Pros:
The host can track all participants.
Live presentation preview.
Live chatbox.
Mute all features.
Cons:
The class duration will only be for 1 hour.
GOOGLE CLASSROOM
Product- Google
Last updated- 14 April 2021
Ratings-3.8
Participants-250
Class Duration: Unlimited
Google Classroom just like Google Meet is also a Google product. Here teachers can take the class by giving assignments to students and students have to submit their homework within the deadline. In Google Classroom there’s no option for video conference like in Google Meet.
After the last updated version of 14 April 2021 Google they add some new features after getting feedback from teachers and students and make it more useful.
Features/ benefits-
Classroom to work with tools: in the new version, Google Classroom is including some extra tools like Google Forms. Students can save their progress in form.
Teachers can sync roster: teachers now can sync rosters directly to classrooms from their information system. It becomes easy for teachers to handle classes more comfortably.
Third-party tools (paid): students and teachers can now use any third-party tools, they find helpful without leaving Google classroom.
Student Engagement Tracking: being able to track student’s attendants state teachers can better understand how much his/her students are actively engaged with the classroom.
New Text Formatting: in the updated Classroom students got new cool text formats like bold, italics, bullets, underline etc. this makes them more engaged and motivated to do complete their assignments.
Use originality reports using 15 new languages: Here originality reports are extended to 15 new languages.
Track student’s progress to SIS: now teachers can track student’s progress and can export them to the school’s Student Information System (SIS).
Can use classroom offline: students can write on docs even without any internet connection.
Pros:
- Can use all third-party tools within one classroom. (Paid facility)
- Added 15 new languages.
- Can do assignments even without internet.
Cons:
- Don’t have the opportunity to face to face interaction.
- Few features are paid.
ZOOM APP
Product: Zoom
Last update- 18 April 2021
Participants-100
Zoom is one of the most popular apps for an online class or any business meeting now a day because of some cool features. Zoom is the first one that came up with the idea of the video conference.
Features/ benefits-
Whiteboard– whiteboard is a cool tool that gives students great opportunity to make something new or amazing like a group project or presenting their creative ideas.
Random meeting ID: Teachers are advised to create a random meeting ID that is more Sucre.
Can schedule meeting ID in advance: teachers can create meeting ID in advance. This makes it easy for everyone to join the class on time.
Waiting rooms: In zoom, students have to wait until the teacher let them enter one by one.
Chat in the group or private: Here side by side with the group chat students can chat in private also. This helps solve any quay without interrupting the whole class.
Turn off file transfer: teachers can turn off the file transfer option so that students can’t send any unnecessary things which can disturb the class.
Security- according to Zoom policy they never sell user’s data to anyone. Though in past some users face issues like hacking now their users didn’t feel anything uneasy or uncomfortable.
KAHOOT APP
Product- Kahoot
Last updated- 7 July 2021
Rating- 4.6
Kahoot is a learning app where students learn through different types of games.
Features/ benefits-
Needs pin to enter- you need a PIN, provided by your teacher which is known as Game PIN to enter into the game.
Create Quizzes- you can create quizzes within few minutes and share them with students.
Fun questions: among 500 million questions you can choose whatever questions you want.
Templates: There are varieties of templates on Kahoot. You can choose any template depends on your wish.
Slides: through the slide option you can create more and more new games to increase student’s engagements.
Can keep reports: teachers can keep records of student’s progress and also can share them with other teachers if needed.
Pros:
Students can learn through playing the game.
A student understands more clearly as there is no pressure.
Cons:
Needed a strong WI-FI connection because of multiple players.
Tracking student’s progress is a complex method.
Sometimes background sounds distract student’s concentration.
SKYPE APP
Product- apple
Participants- 50
Last update- November 15
Ratings- 3.5
Skype is the best alternative for Zoom and Google Meet. Here you can add up to 50 students one time in a class. It’s an apple product but can get access on both IOS and Android.
Features-
Call recording: while taking a class on Skype teachers and students can keep a recording of the class.
Subtitle/caption: like in Google Meet on Skype also you can see the live caption of the instruction between teachers and students.
Smart chat/ massaging feature: on Skype, you can instantly react or can give a reply to anyone during on-going class. Also, you can add @ to mention someone specially.
Private chat: during class students can solve their trivial queries through private chat with each other without disturbing the whole class.
Screen sharing: You can easily share your screen to present any note any presentation without any interruption.
Pros:
- Amazing video quality.
- Requires less internet
- Can send a massive number of a file just by chat.
Cons:
- Only 50 students can join at a time.
- Audio problems disturb often.
- Can’t delete contacts that are not even needed.
DUO
Product- Google
Participants- 32
Last update- 9 November 2020
Ratings- 5
The duo is another best video conference app, created by Google. In DUO’s latest version 32 users can join at a time. You can use DUO on both IOS and Android. Students can use DUO both on mobile and desktop.
Features:
Can link with Google account: you can use DUO in your contacts Justas in what Sapp by linking it with your Google account.
Knock Knock: because of the knock-knock feature recipients let a live preview of whom they are calling until the person picks up the call. With this feature, you can keep your privacy in a safe mood.
Encrypted video and audio: while using DUO you don’t have to be stressed about your privacy. All the video and audio calls are encrypted.
Data saver: This can be an ideal app for students with less internet connection. After choosing Data Saving mood DUO will take care of your data.
Pros:
- Encrypted videos and audios
- Burn less data
- Can use on multiple devices.
Cons:
Till I didn’t find any cons I should mention.
JITSI MEET
Participants-75
Ratings- 4.3
Jitsi Meet is a free and secure video conference app that can be used on multiple devices. The video and audio are one-to-one encrypted which makes sure that student’s and teacher’s security are never be interrupted.
Features:
Chatting: on the desktop, you can keep chatting with others students during ongoing class.
Audio-only option: Teachers can choose the audio-only option when it’s needed.
Can play youtube videos: during class, teachers can play any youtube videos for the students without any interruption.
Can live stream conference on youtube: if Jitsi Meet is configured teachers can make live stream of their classes on youtube directly from Jitsi Meet.
Raise/ lower hands: students can raise their hands for any queries without making any noise. They also can lower their hand when the problem is solved.
Pros:
- Can be used on multiple devices.
- It’s an open-source application.
- Can run well even in a low network connection.
Cons:
- Doesn’t have any privacy policy of the host. Anyone can be an admin, can mute anyone.
- Need to share full screen instead of only individual windows facilities.
EVERNOTE
During online classes, we need to collect lots of notes and this becomes a headache to organize them. Here comes our most desire app Evernote. In Evernote, we can organize and share any notes anytime. Teachers also can share any note to his/her students.
Features:
Create an account: you need to create an account in Evernote to use it.
Can share notes: Teachers can share any note to students through WhatsApp, Gmail etc.
Pros:
- Use friendly for students
- Can be used on all devices.
- can sync note organization effortlessly.
Cons:
- Free services are too restrictive.
SLACK
Ratings- 8.9
Slack is another top-listed video conference app where teachers can take the class with 150 students at a time. Slack can be used on each device.
Features:
Devices: slack can be used on all kinds of devices.
Can take a call without leaving class: teachers can attend their calls without leaving the meeting and after the call ends they can join easily without any interruption.
Screen share: like all other apps Slacks also has this cool feature. Teachers or students can present any documents or presentations by sharing their screens with the entire class.
Can create channels: Teachers can create individual channels for each student.
Pros:
- Can create channels within Slack.
- Easy to share something off-topic.
- Can be downloaded straight on the desktop.
Cons:
- Limited storage.
- Conversion deleted after 14 days.
MICROSOFT TEAMS
Product: Microsoft
Participants- 250
Ratings- 8.4
Microsoft Teams is a Microsoft product that has cool features that make online classes easy and helpful. Microsoft Teams can be used on all devices. Here you can share up to 10 GB of files during class. In Microsoft Teams you can share your screen with everyone.
Features:
Teams and channels: teams and channels are made for conversation boards between teachers and students.
Screen share: teachers don’t have to share their full screen. They can only share the exact chrome tab they need to share.
Can share up to 10 GB files: during ongoing class, teachers can share documents up to 10 GB.
Pros:
- Increased productivity of team members.
- Can share up to 10 GB files.
- No additional cost for using team 365.
Cons:
- The limited number of channels.
- Lack of notifications
- Too many tools to organise.
Let us know which one is best app for your online class.
