Remote Learning with
Google Meet

Facilitator(s): Diana Benner (@diben) | Miguel Guhlin (@mglearn)

Return - http://ly.tcea.org/rlmeet

Come along as we take a practitioner’s approach to Google Meet for teaching remote lessons.



Banner Image Source: The Canvas Project with Kyle Bean

Guest Co-Host: Lisa Marie BennetT

Aside from designing TCEA's Bitmoji Educator online course, Lisa Marie Bennett is an Instructional Technology Specialist at Carroll ISD in Southlake, Texas. She has taught for 18 years, with experience in teaching fourth and fifth grades and technology specials. She currently supports three campuses that range from kindergarten to eighth grade by assisting them with integrating technology into their classrooms.

Lisa Marie is a Google Certified Educator: Level 2, a Seesaw Ambassador, and an Apple Teacher. In her spare time, she pursues photography and graphic design, hoping to create things that bring a smile and a little glitter to other people's day. She can be found on most social media platforms as @lisamarietech.

A Few Google Meet Add-Ons

Now that you’ve installed your favorite browser, it’s time to try out Google Chrome extensions. Several districts have chosen to push these out to all managed devices. In doing so, they enhance the Google Meet experience.

Here are the extensions you can add now:

  • Google Meet Enhancement Suite – This is a Chrome extension that adds more to the Meet experience. The main features include:

    1. Grid Layout: see everyone in your Google Meet in one view, highlight speakers, and set it as your default layout

    2. Push to Talk: quickly mute and unmute yourself with the press of a key

    3. Auto Join: skip the join screen and get straight to the meeting

    4. Smart Defaults: automatically turn on captions, mute your mic, or turn your video off

  • Google Meet Plus – An amazing tool that is a must-have for any teacher. You can drop links, famous quotes, use a whiteboard that tracks who did what.

  • Nod – Quick emoji reactions for muted team members. Nod allows team members to send real-time reactions to presenters and speakers during meetings on Google Meet. You can change Meet to show your full name as well as first name when sending reactions

  • Google Meet Push to Talk – Hold the space bar in Google Meet to talk instead of fumbling around trying to mute and unmute.

  • Google Meet Grid View – Show Meet attendees in a grid view

  • Grid View for Hangouts & Meets – From their website, “See everyone in your Google Meet or Google Hangouts Call at once – it’s the grid view/Brady bunch view you’ve been asking for! This extension enables the grid view/Brady bunch functionality for both Hangouts and Meet with a single extension for convenience.”

  • Meet Attendance – Collect attendance in a Google Sheet from a Google Meet automatically

  • Virtual Backgrounds for Google Meet – Check out this Chrome extension that provides you with virtual backgrounds for Google Meet.

Fall, 2020 - Google Meet Updates

Launching in September

  • A larger tiled views with a 7x7 grid so you can see up to 49 students at once

  • A collaborative whiteboard with Jamboard in Meet so you can encourage students to share ideas and try creative approaches to lessons

Launching in October

  • Blur or replace backgrounds so everyone feels more comfortable during distance-learning classes. Note: Admins can disable custom backgrounds as needed.

  • Attendance tracking to see and track which students attended virtual class (G Suite Enterprise for Education)

  • Breakout rooms so educators can split classes into simultaneous small group discussions (G Suite Enterprise for Education)

Launching later this year

  • Hand-raising to help you identify students who may need help or have a question

  • Q&A features to provide a way for students to ask questions without disrupting the flow of the class discussion or lesson, and polling to engage students to share their voice (G Suite Enterprise for Education)

Tips for Google Meet

Tips for Google Meet Teachers

Are you a teacher relying on this tool? Here are a few more tips for ensuring you have control of a Google Meet:

  • Turn on Meet only when you are ready to enter and be the first person in Google Meet. This is important because it gives you ownership of the Meet

  • Assign a nickname to your Meet. When you open the Meet via Calendar, it provides you with the option to create a nickname or identification code. That code is then associated to the web address or uniform resource locator (URL) that is created.

  • Switch off the Admin Console option that grants students the power to start a Meet

  • Make sure you are the last one to leave the classroom. If you must, expedite the exit of any students lingering behind.