Google Meet will soon receive a number of new features aimed at making life in the classroom smarter and more intuitive for teachers and students.
The first is an addition to the video conferencing service that will automatically transcribe lectures into a Google document, making it easier for teachers and lecturers to share past sessions.
Available in Google Workspace for Education Plus and teaching and learning upgrade plans, the company says the move will save space compared to a full record and may make it easier for students to find certain sections or areas to focus on.
Google Meet in schools
Elsewhere, Google Meet sessions on Workplace for Education can now host polls and Q&A sessions, previously limited to business users, and use picture-in-picture to manage class presentations while keeping everyone in sight the students in the class.
Public events like school assemblies and award shows can now be streamed live on YouTube, making it easier for parents, family and friends to attend special occasions or involve more people in board meetings.
Google also launched a new education-focused app for Chrome OS, with the new Screencast service giving teachers the ability to create a video library of past lessons shared via Google Drive.
These videos can be edited, customized, and transcribed with Screencast, and they also support pen input, allowing students (and teachers) to draw or annotate videos.
Screencast will be available starting with Chrome OS version M103, and the company will do some final testing and testing before launch.
The news comes shortly after the company announced it would combine Google Meet with its more consumer-focused Duo platform into a single platform.
The move will give users "an integrated solution for video calls and meetings" as Duo will be rebranded as Google Meet later in 2022.