Sunday, March 15, 2020

Video Calls with Google Meet


There are times that an email or even a phone call is not enough. Sometimes we just need to see those we are talking to and connect on a more personal level. This is where tools like Hangouts Meet come into play. Meet allows you to invite others to have a video call. All they need is a device (Computer/Chromebook with a web camera or a Phone/Tablet with the Meet app). We can see, hear, and even share our screens to show more details on what we are discussing. It is simple, free, and a great way to connect when you can’t be in the same room. Check out the steps below to connect with others!


Start a Video Call:
  1. Head over to meet.google.com.
  2. Click “Join or start a meeting”.
  1. Name this meeting and click “Continue”.
  1. Click Join now”.
  1. You will get a screen that shows all the information you need to share to invite others. (The Meet link or the Meet name will get them in.)
Schedule a Video Call:
  1. Open up Google Calendar and create a new event.
  2. Name your event and click “More Options”.
  1. Add the time and click on “Video Conferencing”.
  1. Add guests to the meeting on the right and click “Save”. You can also just copy the link and share that with others.
All those invited will get an email to notify them, as well as the calendar event added to their Google Calendar. They just need to click the link in the email or in the calendar event to join the meeting. They can also join by now going to meet.google.com and they will see the Meet listed as an upcoming event on the day you scheduled it.

Invite Others:
You can do this in a few ways:
  1. After starting your video call you will get a screen that shows all the information you need to share
    1. A web link to share with others (send this in an email or post in LMS)
    2. A number to call if they are connecting with a phone (they will only have audio)
    3. The option at “Add people” to send invites to their email
  1. You can share any of this information with others. An easy way is to email the link (or post it in Google Classroom/ or your LMS) to others so they can join.
  2. You can also click the “People” icon in the top right corner to invite others.

Other Options:
There are other things you can do while in a call that makes this such an amazing tool.
  1. Mute your Mic and turn off the Video camera.
  1. Bring back the info to invite others.
  1. Turn on Closed Captioning (all your speech will be transcribed on the screen.
  1. Present your screen.
  • Click Present then “Your entire screen”.
  • Click the view you want then “Share”.
  • To stop sharing click “Stop sharing” at the bottom.
  1. See others in the video call.
  1. Text Chat with others.
  1. More options: (click the 3 dots in the bottom right corner for these)





Set Up Meet Through Google Classroom:
This is NEW! You can now set a Reusable Meet in Google Classroom!
  2. Click the gear in the top right.
  1. Go to “General” and click “Generate Meet Link”. 
  1. Click “Save” (As long as you leave the “Visible to Students” switch on it will show up in your Google Classroom Header and Classwork tab.
  1. Check out your new link!
Also in Classwork:
If you need to reset the link for any reason, just head back into settings and click the dropdown next to the Meet code and click “Reset”.



Reusable Meet with Nickname/Code:
  1. Just go to meet.google.com and start a new Meet and name it something (your last name works, but be careful as only one Meet with that name is used in our domain). 
  2. You can invite students to join with that nickname/code (send them an email telling them to go to meet.google.com and use your nickname/code). 
  3. Students just go to Meet, click "Use Meeting Code" to enter the Meet nickname/code you give them, and they join! 
  4. When you are done, close out of the Meet (make sure all students are out before you leave). Students can not get back into the meeting once you close the Meet as long as you were last. 
  5. If you want to do another meeting, all you have to do is go back to meet.google.com, click "Join or start Meeting", and type in the same nickname/code from the past meeting. Students can now get back in using that same Nickname/code. 
In other words, students can not join the nicknamed Meet if the Teacher does not go in first. Watch this video from Eric Curts for details: Nickname Meets with Students

Security Note: The teacher should be the LAST one to leave so this meeting is not left open with students un-monitored. 



Additional tool: Some extensions you can add to make Meet even better!
Need more help? Here are some awesome links:



If you want these directions in a document click HERE!


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