Online Class App: Zoom vs. Google Meet vs. GoSchooler

Online classes have become the norm when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire world.  Schools needed to resort to conducting classes using an online class app or software. Fortunately, we’re able to utilize technology effectively during these times.

Even before the pandemic, many companies already used various tools for communication. Some of these have also become the main tool for educators to teach their students from their homes.

Let’s discuss and compare three tools used as online classrooms today — Zoom, Google Meet, and GoSchooler.

What Makes a Great Online Class App?

Before we dive into the specifics of each tool, it’s important to know the standards of an effective virtual classroom.

1. Easy to Access

An online learning platform should be easy to access for both educators and learners. Find an online classroom that is accessible using a mobile app. This allows the users to have options whenever their main devices become faulty or when they need to have classes in other places.

This also gives a chance for learners who don’t have a desktop or a laptop to attend live classes. Some students may only have a smartphone or a tablet PC. This is why schools should choose an online teaching app that is versatile.

2. Interactive

Another trait that makes virtual classrooms effective is being an interactive tool. Teachers can use various teaching materials that make the class interactive and fun in a typical classroom setup, especially for young students. 

But in a virtual classroom, this can might not be possible unless you use learning apps with features made for this purpose — to engage students during the class.

There are class apps that have amazing features like a virtual blackboard or whiteboard, classroom tools, and even those integrated with interactive games. These extra learning tools make online classes great learning experiences for all students.

3. Collaborative

Lastly, educational apps should have features that will enable students and teachers to collaborate. As much as possible, find a platform that’s a one-stop solution. 

Having collaborative features helps in allowing students and teachers to connect without any need for extra apps. It can save time as well if teachers can notify students immediately using one app instead of using several other apps.

Zoom vs. Google Meet vs. GoSchooler: Which Is the Best Educational App?

We’ll look at the specific features of three apps: Zoom, Google Meet, and GoSchooler.

Zoom and Google Meet weren’t mainly created as education apps. But since the pandemic hit, these have been one of the go-to tools to conduct online classes. 

Many educational institutions use these apps as they can accommodate multiple students in one session. But we’ll also take a look at a new player that just entered the industry, GoSchooler.

1. Zoom for Education

Zoom is quite a familiar name for everyone. It has almost come to the point where video conferences or calls are being referred to as “Zoom” leading to common phrases like “Let’s Zoom.”

During the heightened times of the pandemic, Zoom offered their free video calling services for free without the 40-minute cap per call. This allowed companies and schools to use Zoom without any limitations.

And because the pandemic has begun to worsen, Zoom decided to offer Zoom for Education packages to schools, colleges, and universities.

Zoom for Education Packages

• Zoom Basic — Free Plan

This plan is for K-12 schools affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Availing this plan lifts the time limit that’s implemented for free Zoom accounts.

Signing up for this plan is simple. All you need to do is to fill up the form on their site and wait for confirmation that the time limit has been lifted. Any user with the web domain of your school or university will benefit from this.

• Zoom Paid Plans

To access more features of Zoom for Education, schools and universities can sign up for the paid plans. Prices vary depending on the needs of the school. You can avail of the paid plans here.

• Meetings Plan

Starts at $1,800 per account allowing 20 licenses to host up to 300 people yearly. This package has a recording transcript that keeps a record of the discussions in the classes. The admin and user management portal can help in keeping billings, records, and participants organized. Other features include GDPR & FERPA Compliance, WGAC 2.1 AA Compliance, and LTI & LMS Pro Integrations.

• Webinar Plan

This package costs $3,400 per year. You’ll be able to create event polls and registrations. You can use such a plan for orientations and you can give access to alumni of your school for continuous engagement.

• Phone Plan

This plan is ideal for educators and those in the school’s management. Costing at $180 a year per user, you will have the Zoom app for messaging, video and voice calls, meetings, voicemails, and conferencing. You’ll have emergency alerting as well as Nomadic E911, which can detect your location in case of emergencies and sends it to local emergency agencies in Canada and the US.

• Conference Rooms Plan

This plan costs $499 a year per room with accessible controls for the instructor. The video and audio design are more optimized for multiple users. For those instructors who are used to using a whiteboard, this plan will give you access to a virtual one that’s touch-interactive. You’ll also get features for scheduling and digital signage as well as transcription and recording.

Key Features of Zoom for Education

There’s a very good reason why Zoom is popular among many schools worldwide. Here are some of the benefits of using this popular tool as an online teaching app.

• Usable with Any Device

If a student can only use a smartphone to attend online live classes, he won’t have any problems. Zoom can be used with any device as long as you have an Internet connection. There’s no need to use a VPN as well.

• Can Accommodate a Large Number of Students and Staff

Depending on the plan you choose, you’ll be able to accommodate large numbers of students and staff as well for important meetings.

• Gives Access to Interactive Tools

Going for the basic plan won’t give you extra tools, but at least there’s not time cap to how long you need to conduct live classes which usually go for an hour or more. But with paid plans, your school will have access to an interactive whiteboard and a content sharing feature.

• Allows Hosts to Mute All Participants

Having around 20 to 30 students in one class is chaotic enough and without the ability to mute them all, it can be a big audio mess. Teachers can mute everyone in the class during lectures. This also helps in a better connection for all students since audio can take up a lot of bandwidth.

2. Google Meet for Education

Another popular app used for video conferencing is Google Meet. And like Zoom, Google has developed new features that will make the lives of educators and students easier during and after the pandemic.

Google made Meet one of the core features of Google Workspace for Education (a rebrand from G Suite for Education). Let’s see the packages that they offer.

Google Meet for Education Packages

Google Meet comes with the Google Workspace packages. Let’s just focus on Google Meet and the features you’ll get depending on the package you acquire.

• Fundamentals Package — Free Plan

As the name suggests, this package will only give you the fundamental features of Google Workspace for Education. Included in the package is the Google Meet with tools similar to what a person with a free Google account can use.

Usually, Google Meet is used for communication while Google Classroom is mainly used for teaching online. Still, many teachers and students prefer to use Google Meet.

The Fundamentals package is completely free and you will have access to this once you register your school for Google Workspace for Education.

• Paid Packages

Like Zoom, you can avail the paid Google Workspace for Education packages that includes extra features for Google Meet.

• Standard Package

The standard package costs $3 per student yearly. There’s no difference between Meet in Fundamentals with this package. But there are other perks when it comes to other Google apps.

• Teaching and Learning Upgrade

Now, you have an option to upgrade for $4 per license monthly. With the upgrade, you can now host 250 people in a Google Meet room compared to the 100 participants you can host with a free account. You can also live stream and accommodate 10,000 viewers. You’ll also get premium features such as question and answer scheduling, breakout rooms, polls, and more.

• Plus Package

For $5 per student yearly, you’ll be able to live stream to over 100,000 viewers. Other Google apps are also optimized with this package.

Key Features of Google Meet

As mentioned, there are good reasons why many teachers and students still choose Google Meet over Classroom.

• Simple and Easy-to-Understand Interface

Google Meet is easy to use and the interface is basic. Anyone with basic tech knowledge can use this app.

• Anyone with a Google ID Can Join the Class

Basically, anyone with a Google email address already has a Google ID. There’s no need to register for a separate account to log into a Google Meet room.

• Has a Great Security for All Participants and Hosts

When it comes to security, privacy, and safety, you can rely on Google Meet. Online security is very important for schools and Meet will be able to provide this for the safety of students and teachers.

• Only Requires Low Bandwith

Google Meet can provide great quality audio and video without taking too much of your Internet connection’s bandwidth. This makes sure that no one will get disconnected during an online class.

3. GoSchooler’s Virtual Classroom Software

GoSchooler is a newer product in the market that can surely compete with Zoom and Google Meet. It’s an operational management software that has tons of features for communication as well as learning and school management.

We’ll look more into the virtual classroom feature of this tool and how it can help in online class management.

GoSchooler Packages

GoSchooler currently has three packages; Basic, Pro, and Premium. Whichever package you choose, you’ll get all the features you’ll find on their site. But you’ll also get other perks.

You will be able to get the Virtual Classroom app with any of the packages which is an essential tool to conduct classes. This makes GoSchooler an all-in-one software for your school’s online teaching and management needs.

If you’re interested to know the pricing of each package, you can find the contact details of GoSchooler here. You may find that they have more budget-friendly options compared to Zoom and Google Workspace.

Key Features of the GoSchooler Virtual Classroom

We’ll not get into the many features of GoSchooler and only focus on the key tools of the virtual classroom.

• Live Interactive Classroom Tools

GoSchooler has a virtual whiteboard, a live chat for students, breakout rooms, and more. This allows teachers to deliver great quality classes even in a virtual setup.

• Enables Media File Uploading

Teachers can upload media files like presentations and videos as a form of extra learning materials for students. These can also be accessed by the students using the GoSchooler app on their computers, laptops, or smartphones.

• Allows Audio and Video Recording

You can record video and audio of classes that can be accessed using the GoSchooler app as well. This is a great way for teachers to review classes, for students to backtrack on the lessons, and for absentees to catch up.

Which is the Best Online Learning App for You?

So let’s go down to the question, “Which online teaching app is the best?” This will all fall on the needs of the school, teachers, and students.

Zoom is certainly a great way tool for communication and it has proven its capabilities. It has a lot of features that will benefit both students and teachers. But it consumes roughly 1 GB of data per hour and takes a lot of bandwidth. For students and teachers who can’t get a hold of a good Internet connection, using Zoom will be difficult.

Google Meet is a great option for those who want to have high-quality video classes that take up little bandwidth. But there’s only so much you can do with Meet as Google’s tool for online classes is Classroom.

As for GoSchooler, you’ll be the Virtual Classroom is only one of the features that you’ll get from it. Unlike Google Workspace and Zoom, GoSchooler is a software that’s specifically designed to solve the problems with online education.

Still, there’s not a tool that would fit perfectly with all schools. You must check each tool carefully to know which one would be in the best benefit of the teachers and students.

Rohit Rajpal

Rohit Rajpal is an accomplished writer and data enthusiast passionate about unraveling the intricacies of information and data. With a deep understanding of the subject matter, Rohit strives to simplify complex concepts and make them accessible to readers. Rohit’s expertise in the field and his knack for clear and concise communication make his blog an invaluable resource for those seeking clarity in the data-driven world.