12 Days of EdTech Tools – Day 4 – Big Blue Button, Discord, Google Meet, and Zoom

December 14, 2020
Kathryn Fortin
Education, elearning, training
0

“Four Calling Birds” Our recommended Virtual Meeting Platforms

Our fourth day of our 12 Days of EdTech Tools is on virtual meeting platforms. The four virtual meeting systems that we are going to discuss are Big Blue Button, Discord, Google Meet and Zoom.

Why these platforms? Well, all of them are a little different, in their own way.

But, all of them:

Are easy to use
All offer video meetings/webinar options
Will integrate with Moodle (Discord with Zapier only for messages
Have a FREE version
Offer the option to screen share
Allow you to connect to via cell phone, if needed
Have options for people to dial in to connect without video (Meet and Zoom are the easiest for this, to use Discord, you need to have a verified phone on your Discord account – required for the official LTT Discord, BigBlueButton will depend on how you have set it up).

We use Google Meet (previously named Google Hangouts, Meet soft-launched in 2017) the most at Fortech, with Zoom (launched in 2013) coming in a close second. Discord started with gamers wanting to chat with each other in 2015, today it is used in many classrooms. I found out about it from my high schooler who was using it for her classes and also to connect and talk to friends. BigBlueButton (opensource) was originally called Blindside and I first started using it when supporting Moodle in 2009.

They all work relatively well, especially for the price, if you are paying nothing! The paid versions (Discord is only free) offer longer meeting times, more attendees, and recording options.

If you pair any of these with a tool such as wooclap or kahoot, you can really take engagement to the next level! We are covering both of these in future posts in this blog series, so stay tuned! You might even find a discount code…or two!