Google Meet picks up new 'breakout rooms' feature: Details here
What's the story
Google Meet, the dedicated video conferencing product owned and operated by Google, is getting a major new feature - breakout rooms. The capability will make it easier for educators to manage large classes, although it might take a little time to become available for all Google Meet customers around the world. Here is all you need to know about it.
Problem
Handling large online classes can become overwhelming
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large part of the world has gone remote, but the shift to working from home has not been easy, particularly for teachers around the world. Every day, educators face a number of problems in online classes, including the case of managing a huge live class itself. Plus, it even affects the learning experience of the students.
Feature
Breakout rooms can offer a solution
To tackle this problem and let educators better manage classes, Google Meet is getting 'breakout rooms'. The feature will let meeting hosts split participants into smaller groups, where they can hold discussions or work on group projects. The rooms will remain active at the same time, and the moderator will have the ability to jump between them for monitoring the students and their discussions.
Details
100 breakout rooms can be created
Google says that the creator of a call can make up to 100 breakout rooms during the meeting. The participants will be assigned randomly and equally, but the moderators will have the option of manually moving people into different rooms. This can help in making sure that the groups are equally balanced and students do not make a mess of the breakout discussion.
Roll-out
Roll-out taking place in phases
The introduction of breakout rooms marks the latest improvement in the constantly upgrading Meet experience. It is expected to allow teachers to offer "increased engagement" in their online classes but is rolling gradually at this stage. Currently, the feature is only available to Enterprise for Education customers, although Google says it will be available to more users by the end of this year.