How do I use Google Meet?

The objective of this video is to help you use Google Meet.  There's a lot to Meet, so this video will be on the longer side, but feel free to skip ahead if there's something specific you're looking for.  Let's first get acquainted with the tool.

1. Google Meet is a video conferencing platform that works on virtually any platform...Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Linux, iPhone, iPad, and Android phone.  Video conferencing allows many people to see video/hear audio of each other using webcams.
   
2. Mobile devices require an app, computers just need the Chrome browser.
   
3. Unlike Zoom, there are security features in Meet.  At North Pocono, this means that no one without an npsd.org address can join a Meet without the creator of the meeting approving.  In addition - only employees can create a Meet, only employees can remove someone from a Meet, and only employees can mute other Meet participants.  Students can only join existing Meets.
   
4. Unlike Zoom, no foreign governments have access to the data on computers/devices that use Meet.
   
5. On computers (not mobile devices), Meet can use Chrome Extensions to change or add features to Meet.  This includes things like changing the layout of video windows, adding controls, etc.
   
6. Meet also has the ability to for meeting participants
   
7. There are multiple ways to create and share a Meet, which we will discuss.  However, the one thing to remember is that Meets are not calendar-driven.  You can tell students or colleagues to join a meet at a particular time, but that is simply an agreement amongst people.  From the moment, you create a Meet, it exists.
   

So that's the overview of Meet.  Now that we know what it can do, let's talk about how it can be used.

1.  Meet allows teachers to have a video conference with his/her class.   Every participant in the video conference has the ability to present their screen to the rest of the participants in the conference.  This is a great way for teachers to present to students.  It is also a great way for students to present to the rest of the class.
2. Provided a teacher is also present, it is a great way for small groups to work.
3. Until July 1, 2020, you can also record your Meets (so that students can review lessons at a later time).  After July 1, 2020 (unless something changes), Google will charge an exorbitant price for this that the district will not be able to afford.  At that time, we may be able to team Meet with another products to allow recording.

These are a few ideas to get you started, but your creativity could certainly find other uses for this tool.  Now for the nuts and bolts of using Meet.

There are at least three ways to start a Google Meet.  We will mention all three here, but given that our focus is on using it with students, we are going to go through the steps only for how to use it with Google Classroom.  We'll put out separate instructions for the other methods.

You can create a Meet in Google Calendar, which allows you to send out invitations to your contacts with a date and time for the meeting.  This method lends itself well to scheduled meetings with adults.

You can create a Meet by going to https://meet.google.com.  This method is good to create a quick meeting on the fly for miscellaneous individuals and groups.  For teachers without Google Classrooms, this works well.

For the classroom teacher with Google Classrooms, however, the best method for creating a Google Meet is within Classroom.

Step 1 - Open Google Chrome.  Either use a Chromebook or ensure you are logged in to the browser with Sync On.  If you aren't sure how to do this, there is a Knowledge Base article on this.  Here is the link to this article:  https://helpdesk.npsd.org/help/article/252778 .

Step 2 - Go to Google Classroom and open a classroom (you will have to repeat this procedure for each Google Classroom).

Step 3 - In the upper right corner of your Google Classroom "Stream" page, click the "wheel" button to open Settings.  In the Settings window, scroll down to the "Meet" section.  Click "Generate Meet Link."  When you do this, the slider for "Visible to Students" will automatically turn on.  Click "Save" in the upper right corner.

From now on, there will be on the "Stream" page of your Google Classroom a link to join a Meet specifically for this section.  The link posted never changes.

Step 4 - Every time you wish to meet with this class, click the link on the "Stream" page.   You will be taken to the Meet join page.

Step 5 - The Meet join page is your launch pad for the meeting.  There are several things to be aware of on this page, but the first we will look at is enabling your microphone and webcam.  The first time you visit this page, it will ask for access to your microphone and webcam (if you have one).  You must allow these to be able to use them in Meet.  It may pop more than one window up asking for this access; if it does, click "Allow" in all of them.

Step 6 - Verify webcam and microphone functionality.  Once you've allowed the webcam and microphone, the video from your camera should be visible.  In addition, when you speak the three green dots in the lower left of the video should move.  If video and/or audio is not working, look in the address bar near the top of your Chrome browser for the small lock icon.  Click it.  Ensure that Camera and Microphone are set to "Allow."  If you still don't have working audio and video, send an E-mail to helpdesk@npsd.org and we'll be happy to help.

Step 6 - Set your webcam and microphone status.  This determines whether the camera and microphone are live or muted.  Especially if you are joining meeting early while working on other things, it is good to mute them until you are ready to focus on the meeting.  The microphone is muted by clicking the large microphone icon at the bottom of the screen once.  The camera is muted by clicking the large camera microphone at the bottom of the screen once.  Both camera and microphone are unmuted by clicking the respective buttons again.

Step 7 - Click "Join now."  You will be taken into the meeting.

Now we'll learn how to manage the meeting.

First, set the view.  By default, there is only one view.  Meeting participants will show along the right side of the screen.  Those speaking will show up in the main part of the screen.  This is a great view for a meeting with up to six people.  After that, it can be difficult to work with - you may only see someone when they are speaking.  If you have followed the instructions to use the Chrome browser (either with a Chromebook or a signed in Chrome browser with Sync on), you will have in the upper right corner, on your Meet toolbar, a grid icon.  This is the result of the Google Meet grid view extension that North Pocono installs for you.  It makes Meet look like Zoom.  It is secure in that it shares no data with anyone.  However, it is from a third party, so occasionally, Google will update Meet and it will break this "grid" view.  For the time being, though, it is nice.  In the near future, Google plans to add a feature of this type to Meet, although I understand it may be a bit limited at first.  For now, we will use it.  You can turn it on and off by clicking the grid icon in the Meet toolbar.  You can also set options when hovering over it.  Sometimes, changing an option doesn't take effect until you turn the grid view on and off.

This view is especially helpful to the teacher.  However, it may not be as good for students, depending on the activity.  If the class is having a whole-class discussion, the grid can be good for the class.  However, if the teacher is presenting his/her screen to the class, grid view will make the teacher's screen appear as one more participant...it will be a small square rather than the whole screen.  If you ask your students to use grid view, you will want to teach them how to turn it on and off so that presenting your screen to the class works well.

Next, let's talk student management.  There are tools and controls to mute students and to remove students from meetings.  However, constantly having to do that takes away from the concentration you want to spend on identifying students that need help, explaining material, and orchestrating learning.  I recommend that you spend some time teaching your students the etiquette for your video conferences.  Things that I find that help are having them enter the meeting muted and setting a protocol for when they can both unmute and present.  If you must take control when they aren't being cooperative, however, you can mute them yourself by hovering over their image and clicking the mute icon.  If you aren't using grid view and can't see them at the moment, you can click the people icon in the Meet toolbar in the top right, click their name in people panel, and then click the mute icon.  If you need to force someone to leave the meeting you can  click the circle with the line in it in the same panel.  Please note that, for security reasons, people can only unmute themselves.

Next, let's talk about recording.  If you want to record your meeting so that students can review later, we have an opinion from our solicitor that recording classroom instruction is legal so long as it is done for educational purposes, is announced at the beginning of the recording, and no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is contained in the video, which includes but is not limited to addresses, social security numbers, student ID numbers, telephone numbers, and email addresses).  We would also suggest that it is never shared in any way other than through the Google Classroom in which it is recorded.  To begin recording, click the three dots on the right side of the call control bar at the bottom of the screen and click "Record meeting."  Recording will take a few seconds to begin.  When it is running, you (and your students) will see a red "REC" icon in the upper right corner of the Meet screen.  Once that is present, you should, before doing anything else, memorialize your announcement that the meeting is being recorded by stating on camera that "This Google Meet session is being recorded for educational purposes, including student replay.  It is not necessary for parents to record this session."  To stop the recording, return to the three dots on the right of the call control bar at the bottom of the screen and choose Stop Recording.  The video will be saved in a "Meet Recordings" folder on your Google Drive.  You can share it with your Google Classroom as you would any other document.  Please note again, however, that recording functionality is likely to be gone by July.

The next topic is presenting your screen.  If you would like to share the content of your entire screen with your class, simply use the button on the right side of the call control bar.  Click Present Now, and choose the appropriate option.  The options vary by computer...all will let you present your entire screen or a single window.  Some computers will also let you choose a single browser tab.  After you make your selection, you will be asked to choose the desktop, window, or tab you want to share (click on it).  You may also be asked if you wish to share the audio.  Finally, click "Share."  After a few seconds, you will be broadcasting to your class.  To stop sharing your screen, go back to the Present Now (which will now have changed label to "You are presenting."  Click it and choose "Stop Presenting."
 
Finally let's talk about ending a meeting.  Meet has special security for schools that are using it with Classroom.  If you wait for all students to leave your Meet (or you remove them all from the meeting), and then hang up the call by clicking the red phone button on the call control bar, students will not be able to re-enter your Google Classroom's Meet until you rejoin the meeting.  If you leave before every last student has left, this doesn't work.  If you close the tab or browser or computer before clicking the Hang Up button, it also won't work.

So, this has been a long video, because there's a lot to Google Meet.  It is a powerful tool we are fortunate to have access to.  As always, if you have any additional questions about or have a technical issue with Meet, please send an E-mail to helpdesk@npsd.org and a member of our staff will assist you.