Overview
After I moved to Florida, I taught my graphic design class at Lasell College remotely for the first time. It took a lot of discussion, thought, and research. During the previous year, I completed Lasell’s professional development course on online teaching and got my certification. Teaching online doesn’t involve regular face-to-face interactions that adhere to a traditional schedule. Students can do the classwork on their own time, from any location.
Teaching remotely has a different structure. The experience is a simulation of the live classroom, as if I were actually in the room with the students. What I was embarking on was entirely new for our department and school.
I needed to find a free video conferencing tool that would enable me and my students to talk with each other and share our screens during “real-time”. I started exploring tools that I’ve used for client meetings, then researched and experimented with other options provided by our school or recommended to me. Below is my list of viable tools.
Tools
Join.Me
I use Join.Me for client meetings quite frequently, and it works really well. Due to the limitations in number of participants (3) for the free program, we didn’t use it for our class.
Cost:
Free to $10/month to $20/month to $30/month
Number of Participants:
3 (free); up to 250 (paid)
Platforms:
Download app to: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook
Restrictions:
Unlimited number & length of meetings
No time limits
Unlimited toll & internet calls including international conference lines
Features:
Video conferencing, screen-sharing, chat, take control of other participants’ desktops (only during 14-day Pro trial), internet calling, file transfer
Zoom
I have used Zoom for client meetings and webinars, and liked it very much. Due to the 40-minute limit on group meetings, we didn’t use it for our class.
Cost:
Free to $14.99/month to $19.99/month to $49/month
Number of Participants:
100 (free); up to 1,000 (paid)
Platforms:
Download app to: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android. Cloud-based conference room solutions.
Restrictions:
40 minutes limit on group meetings. Unlimited 1 to 1 meetings. Unlimited number of meetings.
Features:
Video conferencing, web conferencing, screen-sharing, group collaboration, chat, and more.
Skype
Everyone uses Skype, right? It has a ton of features and the familiarity factor was appealing. I wasn’t very pleased with the speed and video quality, though, so we didn’t use it.
Cost:
Free (Skype to Skype); mobile or landline calls from Skype require Skype Credit or a subscription.
Number of Participants:
10
Platforms:
Download app to: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox, Alexa
Restrictions:
No time limits
Features:
Video conferencing, audio call, screen-sharing, call recording, messaging, file sharing.
Skype for Business
Lasell’s communication system (Microsoft Office 365) is integrated with Skype for Business. All faculty and students thus have free access to the program. Still, it was not usable for us, because we had problems with the sound. No matter what settings I configured, I couldn’t get the audio to work on my Mac. I could hear my PC colleagues, but they couldn’t hear me.
Cost:
Free (with Microsoft Office 365 purchase)
Number of Participants:
10 to 250 depending on the license you purchase
Platforms:
Download app to: PC, Mac
Restrictions:
No time limits
Features:
Video conferencing, screen-sharing
Free Conference Call
I had used this tool many times for conference calls and didn’t realize it had a video component until I did my research. It met all of the parameters needed for my class, so we used it. There was a small learning curve at the beginning, with an easy overall set-up. The program worked well, but we did experience delays in the audio and some occasional hangups with the video. Make sure you have plenty of bandwidth to handle the upload.
Cost:
Free
Number of Participants:
Up to 1000 participants
Platforms:
Web and download app to: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook
Restrictions:
Up to 6 hours for each call
Features:
Videoconferencing, screen sharing, presenter switching (enables them to share their screen), chat, drawing tools, remote control, recording with playback.
Google Hangouts
A student recommended this tool. It is a great option that is accessed entirely online. Users do not need to download any software. There’s a small learning curve when starting out, but easy to use overall. A few weeks into the semester, we switched to Google Hangouts and stayed with it.
Cost:
Free to $5/month for Google Suite version
Number of Participants:
Hangout Chat = 150
Hangout Video Call = 10 (25 for G Suite accounts)
Hangouts On Air = 10 +unlimited viewers
Platforms:
Web, Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook
Restrictions:
No time restrictions.
Features:
Hangouts is one of the apps in Google’s suite of tools, so users with a Google account have immediate access. Those without Google accounts can also be invited to Hangouts by the host. Videoconferencing, screen-sharing, chat, take control of other participants’ desktops, deep integration with other Google apps (like file import). Quality of video and sound varies from high-end to very good, depending on bandwidth and time of day.
GoToMeeting
A colleague recommended this tool. It didn’t have the necessary features for us and only offered a free trial.
Cost:
Free trial to $14/month to $29/month to $39/month
Number of Participants:
50 (free trial)
Platforms:
Online access from Desktop and Mobile devices.
Restrictions:
40 minutes, unlimited number of meetings
Features:
Video and audio meetings, screen sharing, chat, dial in conference line, business messaging
WebEx Meetings
My brother recommended this tool. They only offer a free trial, so it wasn’t an option for us. Yet, it’s a great tool that you may want to check out.
Cost:
Free (trial) to $89 per host/month
Number of Participants:
3 (free); 100 (paid)
Platforms:
Web (free version); Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Blackberry (pro paid version)
Restrictions:
30-day free trial
Features:
Videoconferencing, desktop-sharing, whiteboarding, remote control of other computers on the call, collaborative document management. Must register for an account in order to use it.
Big Blue Button
Big Blue Botton is integrated with Lasell’s content-management system (Canvas), which made it very attractive. A tool that caters to the higher education community’s needs, it had a lot of the features I was looking for, but the interface was so dated and clunky that it made me cringe. There was also a noticeable delay in video streaming, which could have been due to Lasell’s configuration or bandwidth.
Cost:
Free (for Lasell faculty and students). Contact BigBlueButton to obtain current pricing.
Number of Participants:
Unknown
Platforms:
Cloud
Restrictions:
Unknown
Features:
Video conferencing, audio meetings, screen sharing, chat, whiteboard, and presentation features.
Ring Central
Our school offered this as a solution. But, the offer came several weeks into the semester, and I didn’t have the time to test it out.
Cost:
Free (for Lasell faculty and students) to $19.99/month (Essentials plan) to $24.99/month to $34.99/month to $49.99/month
Number of Participants:
4 (Essentials) to 200 (higher plans)
Platforms:
Desktop and Mobile
Restrictions:
Number of toll-free minutes (varies with plan)
Features:
Video conferencing, audio meetings, screen sharing
Conclusion
After using Free Conference Call for the first couple of weeks, we switched to Google Hangouts and stayed with that for the remainder of the semester. There was a noticeable improvement in video quality, only occasional delays in the stream, and easy access for all in and out of the classroom. Meeting hosts must have a Google account. But, anyone can be invited to a meeting, even those without Google accounts.
The one issue we encountered was sound quality. My initial idea was to have all of the students join the meeting individually on their computers. With everyone (except me) in the same room, audio feedback began the moment the second person joined the meeting. It grew worse as each person joined, becoming like a loud chorus of croaking frogs! It was an unbearable, horrible sound!
We quickly learned to use only one computer. From that point onward, one student would join the meeting on the teacher’s computer console, which is configured with three large wall monitors. That solved the audio feedback problem.
Nonetheless, I still had trouble hearing all of the students. We then bought a microphone (Blue Snowball) to place in the center of the conference table. That helped a lot. Yet, it wasn’t quite enough. We found it best to place the microphone directly in front of any student that was speaking.
I must give a shout-out and a high-five to all of my wonderful graphic design students! They initiated the idea of me teaching remotely, patiently moved through the challenges we encountered, and were true partners in finding solutions and offering suggestions. Their design work during the semester was outstanding! I owe them a debt of gratitude.
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Hi Anne: Thanks as always for your generous, informative info.
Denise