Video Conference Options

Lots of people are currently doing video conferencing right now. We are once again in the “wild west” of tools. On the plus side, our “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order would be very different without being able to video conference.

The ability to connect easily with loved ones and friends is powerful. To do so with “cost” (you still need an internet connection) is wonderful. It is far easier to accomplish than in the early days of video conferencing.

The ability to connect with students and work mates is similarly powerful. However, this is new territory for lots of people.

General Tips

• Do not post the link to the video session on social media. Generally, anyone with that link can join. There are examples of people with bad intent joining video sessions.
• Remember (and remind your participants) to carefully review what is in the video window. Sometimes things in the background reveal too much information.
• Mute your mic when not actively talking.
• Let others in the area know that you video conferencing. (There can be embarrassing comments made about friends or family).

Major Players

• Hangouts Meet
• Zoom
• BigBlueButton
• Jitsi
• Facetime

Hangouts Meet

This is officially supported by many districts now. FERPA agreements are probably in place with Google. Hangouts Meet allows up to 250 participants. The teacher has control and can remove participants (other participants no longer have that ability). We can verify which students were part of calls.

• Allows for recording by the teacher only. Recordings will be saved in Google Drive.
• Only teachers can create a Meet.
• Only the Meet creator can Mute or Remove participants.
• Logging for FOIA is in place.

Hangouts Meet is available until July 1st for all school GAFE domains. The additional features may roll-back after that.

Zoom

Zoom is probably the most popular right now. Many districts not have a contract with them to ensure FERPA compliance. The free version of Zoom does not include account management. Teachers really don’t have a way to confirm who is really on the video session. * We have had an issue of students posting inappropriate comments in a chat.

There are some additional features that Zoom has made available for now. Those will end at some point.

“For Districts just now utilizing Zoom in their distance learning facilitation, please be aware that Zoom is asking educational customers to manage their own COPPA compliance via parental consent.”

Zoom sends user data to Facebook.

Popular right now is Zoombombing. Zoombombing is joining a Zoom session and interjecting inappropriate content.

Suddenly, dozens of attendees were bombarded with disturbing imagery.

Please make sure that you check and set appropriate settings.

Skype

Skpe is being replaced. It is one of the older options. Skype is being replaced by Microsoft Teams.

BigBlueButton (BBB)

BigBlueButton is open source option that can be run by a district. Obviously, the district would need to have the hardward and personnel to install and maintain it. However, this set up has many advantages. Information is held within the district and not shared with an outside organization.

Furthermore, BBB can be integrated within Moodle. This provides for a seamless, accountable experience for all involved.

BigBlueButton is web conferencing designed for online learning. BBB includes the following features:

• Participants limited to school Accounts
• Live whiteboard that is multi-user
• Webcam sharing (no time limit, no number limit)
• Chat
• Audio
• Breakout rooms
• Polling
• Screen sharing
• BBB overview for moderators

BBB has the ability to record if your organization supports it. For some districts, they may NOT have that turned on due to disk space.

Jitsi

Jitsi is an open source video conferencing option. It requires absolutely no sign-in and is completely free. You can add a password to the conference. You can also use a phone to access. There are lots of options (Share YouTube videos, shared document creation, tiled video, raise your hand, remove users, mute everyone, etc). There are apps for iOS and Android as well. Jitsi is based on webRTC, which is a current standard.

Here is a nice overview.

This is a really good option for adults. The one thing that is missing in this option is the creator/moderator role. Basically, all participants can mute or remove other participants. Thus, this is probably a great choice for adult teams, but should be used with caution with students.

The data doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. They are not collecting email addresses or other information. You can enter an email address if you want. You can also give them permission to connect to your calendar if you want to schedule meetings.

If you do use this option, make sure to create a complex, random meet name (or let them create the name). Otherwise, the meet may exist and you’ll be joining someone else’s meet.

Facetime

Facetime is great. This is especially the case for family members. Facetime requires that all of the users be using an iOS (or Mac) device. It is really great for one-to-one communication. Facetime can be used with groups as well, but that is less intuitive.