With the new term fast approaching it can feel pretty daunting with all this new terminology and jargon to learn. Within the TEL team, we have received quite a few queries from staff about what’s the ‘best’ technology to use when it comes to online video conferencing and meetings, particularly when it comes to Zoom, Meet and WebEX. It’s a good question! The short answer is all of them, which doesn’t help I know. So firstly we advise to think about what you want to ‘achieve’, what’s the purpose of using the technology, is it to create an online classroom within Moodle? Is it to create an event, with conference-style presentations? Or is it just for a one-to-one chat? All have pros and cons which we have tried to outline in this post below. We hope you find it useful!
Let’s get started!
There are many articles that cover what each system does and the benefits of each one, some of which are featured below:
- Techzine – Zoom vs Google Meet vs Teams vs WebEx Meetings vs BlueJeans
- Troop Messenger – Google Meet vs WebEx vs Zoom You will notice that this is written by a company trying to offer themselves as an alternative
- TechRepublic – Zoom vs Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Cisco Webex and Skype: Choosing the right video-conferencing apps for you
- Reviews.org – Youtube – Zoom vs Hangouts vs Skype vs Webex | The Best Zoom Alternative is … Surprising
- 2020 Video Conferencing Review. Zoom vs Microsoft Teams vs WebEx vs Google Meet
- Unify Square – Zoom Vs WebEx: Choosing the right video conferencing platform
From the University’s perspective, we have licences for all 3. So where articles talk about the limitations of a free licence, they do not apply to us for Zoom, WebEx or Meet.
My quick summary of each tool from a “Virtual Classroom” and learning and teaching perspective is this:
Zoom
- Can add a classroom directly in Moodle
- Has video-enabled breakout rooms
- There is no link between Moodle and the creation of the breakout sessions.
- 300 users with no time limit
- Can be password protected
- Has a waiting room
- Can be set to allow access before the host
WebEx
- The biggest issue with WebEx is it is actually four products with each version offering something different.
- WebEx Meeting – For Meetings, has no breakouts
- WebEx Training Centre – For teaching, has breakouts but poor video share (most geared towards a virtual classroom with permissions etc)
- WebEx Events – For conference-style presentations
- WebEx Support – For providing a supportive environment.
- Can add a classroom directly in Moodle
- Has audio-only breakout rooms using WebEx Training centre.
- 1000 users with no time limit
- No waiting room
Google Meet
- Not designed as a classroom
- No admin features
- No breakout sessions
- No Moodle integration
- Loads of plugin features such as Tactiq for a live transcription which saves to your Google Drive.
What I would like to offer, however, is the ability for you to share your experiences of each system, both positive and negative, so that a more realistic and natural picture can be shared between academic staff.
Remember we, the TEL team, are here to support you to get to grips with these new technologies, so please feel free to contact us at elearn@port.ac.uk if you do have a query. We also offer TEL Me How Surgeries twice quickly where we can go over any questions or queries you may have. The 2-hour sessions focus on supporting staff with the transition to online delivery and offering guidance around alternative forms of online assessment, please book your place here.
Credit Image: Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
