EYE 2 EYE: Google Meet or Zoom
Pro Google Meet: Google Meet meets my standards
Zoom does not
By: Chase Willet
Since the school year has turned virtual for the foreseeable future, students have been exposed to a multitude of online learning methods. Taking the lead, Google Meet and Zoom have become virtual classrooms for teachers and students alike.
Although these applications have the glaring drawback of being unable to incorporate hands-on learning, they provide an acceptable platform for students and teachers to meet. My opinion? Google Meet has stood out as the superior platform of the two distance learning.
Google Meet runs much smoother on the Chromebooks that the students were issued. With the Zoom application, I have run into many more problems than with the Google Meet application. Zoom has become difficult to access for me and other students, as the Google Chrome extension does not connect properly every time. This causes students to log in through the internet which greatly reduces the quality of the call.
One other area where Google Meet runs with more ease is when it comes to the grid-view features. On the Zoom application a teacher has to switch between two or three different pages to view every student in the class. Only a handful can be viewed on a single page. However, with Google Meet’ grid view feature an educator can view every student in the class at once.
Google Meet is an extension of G Suite Enterprise for Education, similar to applications such as Google Classroom. Therefore, students are able to log on to Meet using their school issued Google account. This creates more consistency when students join and, in turn, makes the transition to online learning smoother.
Due to Google Meet being an offshoot of Google Enterprises, only those connected to an Oak Park Google email can join Meets. This makes the site much more secure and avoids the issue of so-called “Meet bombing”. Zoom does not filter different emails with its software therefore, students can share Zoom links and flood meetings with people not enrolled in that class.
I have personally been kicked from class meetings prematurely while using the Zoom application. This was due to my Google account not being able to support the Zoom extension. Luckily, my teacher was understanding, but others may not be so lucky.
According to whistleout.com, Zoom can use up to 1.62 GB of data for an hour call. With Zoom using a large amount of data, the speed of the meeting may start out running faster, however, once you start using data for other things in your class, the call quality decreases significantly and the call can drop at times. I have never had a call drop while using Google Meet along with other school work software.
Having this software as opposed to Zoom will help students concentrate on their classes instead of troubles connecting to the classroom. Google Meet helps to avoid the unnecessary steps that Zoom requires for access, such as the Google Chrome extension. This brings stability to the ever-changing classroom.
Although Zoom does have some more features than Google Meet, Meet is working to add some of these features as well. Breakout rooms are a key feature that Zoom provides. These breakout rooms allow students to join smaller, separate groups that are still connected to the main call. At this time Google Meet does not offer this same feature, but Google is working on adding a similar software to make group work easier in the virtual classroom.
In these uncertain times, reliability is not often found. Giving students a program that delivers this reliability will not only make online schooling easier — it will give students less to worry about during this pandemic.
Pro Zoom: The video chat that zooms past Google Meet
Why Zoom is superior to Google Meet in every way
By: Hayden Brown
Quarantine has been a time of social isolation and it is now impossible to hang out in mass gatherings. Though
there are two options for communication, Zoom is superior to Google Meet.
Many schools that are associated with Google have used Google Meet to hold classes with their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Zoom is far more versatile in every way.
Zoom allows for the instant grid-view function which allows you to see everybody in the meeting. This is nice and allows you to feel more connected with your friends while using the digital program. While Google Meet offers this same functionality, it strains the meeting and often leads to video lag or freezing of certain group members.
Zoom is frequently used for recording meetings and allows for several different options on how to do so. They give you the option to record the screen with voice over, or just the Meet attendees. While Google Meet offers these two options as well, I’ve found that only Zoom allows you to customize these options so you can get the screen recording and the facecams at the same time as part of the recording option. The large variety of options for recording on Zoom is extremely helpful for suiting your specific needs.Google Meet instantly uploads the recording to your Google Drive, but a typical Google Drive is laggy and extremely cluttered, making it difficult to find. It also takes much longer to load than a typical recording off of Zoom — which is usually pretty instant.
Zoom streams at a much faster rate because it takes much more data to run. Whether you see this as a positive or a negative, this means it runs much smoother than Google Meet, which often suffers from extreme lag.
To host a Google Meet, you must have a specialized educator Google account and must set a time for the meeting. Zoom, on the other hand, allows anyone to host, which makes the party more accessible and oftentimes more spontaneous.
Zoom is the video chat I would choose given that it is easily accessible to everyone. Without much time on my first Zoom meeting with friends, we had mastered the functions with ease and had a total blast. I felt that the software allowed for easier connection and avoided many of the problems I had encountered whilst using Google Meet for school.
I personally feel that Zoom offers much more in terms of communication than Google Meet. While both are pretty good options, why not go with the more dependable one? Google Meet better watch out, because this video chat service is zooming to the top! 
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COMMON GROUND
- Zoom takes up more data
- Both groups are looking for ease within the software
- Reliability within software is also important
- Load times are important to the flow of learning
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Chase Willet served as a senior staff writer for the 2020-21 school year.
Hayden Brown served as the Digital Media Manager for the 2020-21 school year.
