Starting the 2020-2021 school year has been anything but ordinary. Modifications being made to Antioch Community High School students’ learning experiences are drastically different than those of the 2019 fall semester, as well as the changes that were made when ACHS first moved online this past spring. The debate regarding the better video call service, Google Meets or Zoom, has arisen due to their interchangeability. Some are finding it difficult to adjust to Google Meets, as Zoom was used more frequently in Antioch’s spring semester and is therefore a more familiar platform.
“Zoom has not broken down on me yet, so I want to trust Zoom more,” senior Kelsi Sheren said. “I have been booted out of Google Meets so many times.”
The quality of a virtual lesson can depend on the abilities of the calling service. Zoom has been known to be able to host a larger capacity of up to 500 people in a single meeting compared to Google Meets’ capacity of 250 people.
Connecting to classmates and getting to know teachers must be done using unorthodox methods that depend on the features these video call platforms offer to users. Google Meets has a wide variety of reactions in a scattered dashboard, whereas Zoom has fewer of these features in a neater space.
“Google Meets is easier to learn on because it’s open on a tab whereas Zoom has to be downloaded on your computer,” junior Bella Bussone said. “Although, Google Meets is also very glitchy.”
Some students have been struggling with the transition into E-Learning, but teachers are also struggling to reconstruct their classes to accommodate all students. Depending on the computer being used, there may be an increased amount of technical difficulties when using Google Meets or Zoom. Complaints have been made regarding the amount of internet strain Google Meets has caused and the resulting slow connection. Lessons have to be modified to fit whatever domestic situations students are learning in, as well as the teacher’s capacity to learn new technologies.
“I think both platforms are easy to use, but they both had a learning curve and initially I really struggled with finding features in Zoom and playing media in Google Meets,” English teacher Sarah Ogborn said. “I’ve just taken what has always worked for me in my classroom and transferred to what we’re doing right now.”
Although the situation at hand is less than ideal, adapting to the new technology and methods of learning can be essential. Zoom and Google Meets are just two of many video call services, but the debate over which service is preferred remains.
