Two Relatively New Updates to Google Meet (Not Enterprise)

 

If you have Google Workspace (formerly GSuite) Enterprise Edition, you have all the bells and whistles, so far, for Google Meet. If you're like me, and you are using Google Workspace for Education, you do not have all the Google Meet bells and whistles yet. The Education edition will not ever have all the bells and whistles like the Enterprise edition. Education edition users will get certain features a later times than Enterprise users.

A recent update to the Education edition includes the ability for participants to Raise hand. The teacher will get a notification of the student's hand being raised. The student can also click the Raise hand button to lower their hand if needed. You can find the Raise hand button on the bottom toolbar when participating in a Google Meet video call.

Another new update is reminiscent of Zoom. A popular Zoom feature is to change your background. Now, on the Google Meet Education Edition, you are able to choose from preset backgrounds and blur your background. To access this, click the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click Change background.

What you see below is your background options. By default, no background is selected. At this point, you are not able to upload custom backgrounds.

You may select one of the preset, selected backgrounds or choose between a blurred or slightly blurred screen.

If you have any questions and would like a follow up, contact me via Gmail or Hangouts at ajuarez@techcoachjuarez.com. 

My book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Digital Learning, co-authored with my wife Katherine Goyette is now available on Amazon. Click here to purchase. It is published by Dave Burgess Publishing. Be sure to follow the hashtag #OrganicEdTech and #CVTechTalk for updates.