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Maine EastMaine WestMaine South
Maine EastMaine WestMaine South
Maine EastMaine WestMaine SouthAdmin

Google Meet Help

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Google Meet Fall 2020 Updates 10/14/2020
Click here to review recent updates to Google Meet including  teacher controls, polling, Q&A feature, Attendance Reports, Breakout rooms and Jamboard.

 

New Beta Features in Google Meet! (updated 9/17/2020)

These features are in beta, which means they are experimental. Please use them and play around with their features, but know they may break, disappear or change at any time – so have a backup plan!

 

  • Virtual backgrounds: Students can use a blurred background by clicking on the three vertical dots in the lower right corner (skinny snowman) to turn on background blur. However, this is not always available. This may be due to using a Chromebook vs. a desktop, or perhaps may vary due to how the meeting was generated (calendar, classroom link, open link, etc). It also may have to do with the backgrounds being in the development phase.
  • Whiteboard/Jamboard:  Create an interactive whiteboard that is automatically shared with all students in your Meet. You can use a pre-created Jamboard or create a blank one on the fly! Students can type on sticky notes or text boxes or write with their stylus.You can change the background to pre-selected options (dots, lines, graph paper, etc).  Students can also use shape drawing tools.
  • Attendance:  Automatically generates a list with names and log in times directly sent to your email.
  • Polling and Questioning Feature (Puzzle Piece): Polling: You can poll students during class.  Results are sent to your email with specific student voting information.  You can enable this feature to show the results to the students.  Post questions:  Students and teachers can post questions in the Q/A section.  The benefit is to allow the question to stay there. If you post the question in the chat the student can miss the question or have to scroll up to find the question.
  • Breakout rooms:  You can generate groups that are random or selected. Students have to click join to enter and are automatically taken to room.  You can join their rooms.  To bring them back to the main room, you click “end breakout room” and students receive a return to main room link to click.  Note that students are not automatically returned to the main room.  They must click the link to rejoin.  
  • Shield: In the bottom left corner there is a small blue shield with a lock.  The shield allows you to disable the chat, disable students from presenting, and prevent others from quick-joining the meet (this feature would require permission for people to join but we are not sure if it is functioning).

Screen Layout: By clicking on the three vertical dots at the bottom right, you can choose “change layout.” At the bottom, you can choose how many students you can see on your screen at a time. This will allow you to see all students in your meet.  Please note that any change you make in this setting will not be saved for your next meeting.