The best 4 free video conferencing apps for online classes

The best 4 free video conferencing apps for online classes.

What is the best way to take an online class? What tools can be used to teach online? Video conferencing software has many benefits and unique features that allow you to take a live online class from anywhere. Here's a list of the best free video conferencing platforms for teachers to teach their students online.

With the help of technology, education has advanced to a new level. Online education is expanding its support to make the entire educational process easier and smarter. With the help of the internet, teachers can teach from their own homes and interact with students worldwide as part of online learning. Online education is critical in pandemics or other natural disasters when no one can leave their homes.

Remote learning has a lot of advantages like flexibility, practicality, convenience, etc. In recent years, information and communication technology have dominated education by easily connecting students and teachers and providing many unique features for teachers to conduct online classes effectively.

Basic internet knowledge and technical knowledge of software are required for a teacher to conduct an online class. Many companies offer learning solutions with special features for teachers to take effective online classes to make online teaching easier. Video conferencing or live-streaming are two popular methods of online teaching. Teachers can use video conferencing to connect with a group of students, conduct a live lecture session, and interact with them. Many software and mobile applications with features such as group video calling, screen sharing, and other necessary features for online teaching are available on the market. So, here is a list of top video conferencing apps that teachers can use to conduct live online classes for their students.

Top 4 free video conferencing apps to conduct online classes.

1. Google Meet

2. Microsoft Teams

3. Zoom

4. Cisco WebEx

1.   Google Meet

The logo of Google meet.

Google Meet is a secure business meeting platform developed by Google. You can also hold online classes using Google Meet, which is completely free to use. Google Meet, which is part of G-suite for education, can be used by educational institutions. Anyone with a Google account can use Google Meet to organize an online meeting. To start or join a meeting, users can use any modern web browser on a desktop or laptop to access Google Meet. Installing and using the Google Meet service on a desktop computer does not require any additional software. If you want to use Google Meet on your phone, you can download and install the app from Google Play or the Apple Store.

To start a video meeting or an online class using Google meet, you must first log in with your Google Meet credentials and create a new video meeting. Send a meeting code or link as an invitation to other users or students who you want to join the class after you've created it. You can also invite external participants to the meeting. The video call can be joined by guests or students who have received the meeting link by logging in with their Google account. Members who do not have a Google Account must create or join a meeting by signing up for free using the Signup option. Users can log in and join the video call by tapping the meeting link from the invite and entering the meeting code.

Google Meet is highly secured and compatible across devices. You can host an unlimited number of meetings through the free version of Google Meet. Also, you can integrate Google Meet features in Google Classroom and conduct online video classes. To get more advanced features like live-streaming, recording features, noise cancellation, and many more, you can switch to the premium G Suite Enterprise Essentials plan.

Meeting Participants: 100(maximum)

Meeting length: 1 hour (maximum)

Features:

• Video conferencing.
• Screen sharing.
• Supports Live messaging during video calls.
• Supports Automated live captions powered by Google's speech recognition technology.
• Can preview video and audio.
• Can adjust the screen settings and layout.
• The meeting creator can mute or remove other members present in the meeting room.
• Integrated with Microsoft Office and Google apps. Google users can join the meeting directly from Google Calendar or Gmail, and Microsoft Office users can check the meeting schedule on Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

App link ( for android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.meetings

2.   Microsoft Teams

  The logo of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is a communication and collaboration tool created by Microsoft. It has a lot of helpful features that support audio and video conferencing. Microsoft Teams for Education allows teachers to communicate with their students in real-time. With Microsoft Office 365 apps, it allows for extensive collaboration. Microsoft Teams can be used for online teaching on a computer, a web browser, a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile device that supports Android or iOS.

Microsoft Teams allows teachers to connect virtually with students to improve online education. You can create teams for a group of students, schedule online meetings in the Team calendar, conduct classes, and share study materials using video conferencing. You can manage teams, start a discussion with your students, create learning activities with integrated office applications, take notes, and track student progress with Microsoft Team for Education. To schedule a meeting or an online class, open the Microsoft Team application, click new meeting, and fill out the necessary details of the learning session to invite the entire class to the meeting. Students can attend the online class by signing up for Microsoft Teams and clicking the meeting invitation from the Team Calendar or E-mail.

Educators can benefit greatly from remote learning through Microsoft Teams. It is free to use for teachers and students who have a valid school email address. With the help of Microsoft Office 365 products, it helps to create collaborative virtual classrooms and makes learning simple by providing a personalized learning experience.

Meeting Participants: 250(maximum)

Meeting length: No time limits for group meetings

Features:

• Video Conferencing with Screen sharing facility.
• Eliminates distraction using background blur option.
• Provides 10GB Team File storage and 2GB personal file storage per person.
• Supports real-time content creation with Microsoft Office apps like Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and OneNote.
• Chat and search features.
• Integration with more than 250 business applications and services, including Adobe, Trello, and Evernote.

App link ( for android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.teams

3.   Zoom

The logo of Zoom.

Zoom is a free video-conferencing tool that can be used for business meetings as well as online classes. You can host an online meeting for free by signing up on the web. Zoom's services are also available through dedicated desktop and mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Zoom allows you to host an unlimited number of meetings. It has several features, including online meetings, video webinars, a phone system, chat, and conference rooms with collaboration capabilities. You can use the zoom plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, IBM Notes, Intel Unite, and Skype for Business to schedule meetings and collaborate with other applications.

For online teaching, you can use Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar. When it comes to scheduling a meeting, Zoom offers a variety of options. You can use the Zoom web portal, mobile app, desktop client, Google Calendar extension, or Outlook plugins to schedule a meeting. You can schedule a meeting or online class as a host by logging into Zoom and clicking on the schedule icon. Your attendees or students can use the Zoom application to join the class and use the meeting id to do so.

You can create a secure virtual classroom with Zoom by changing the meeting settings to suit your needs. The host can share videos, documents, and slides using the screen sharing feature. Zoom is available for Chromebooks as well, but with limited functionality. Some in-meeting controls, such as polling, creating breakout rooms, and so on, are unavailable if you run a Zoom meeting from a mobile app. When conducting an online class, it is recommended that you use Zoom desktop Client because it has many helpful features for online teaching. You can upgrade to a premium plan if you want to use more of Zoom's unique features.

Meeting Participants: 100(maximum for free plan)

Meeting length: 40 minutes of group meetings

Features:

• Video conferencing.
• Screen Sharing.
• Video recording and Transcription.
• Engage with the audience through Chat, polls.
• Enhanced features like digital whiteboarding and real-time annotation.
• Ability to set up breakout rooms.
• Add a virtual background and touch up the appearance using filters.
• Allow virtual hand raising to keep the participants engaged with the discussion.
• Integration with Learning Management System like Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard, Canvas, etc.
• Integration with Outlook and Gmail to support scheduling.

App link ( for android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.zoom.videomeetings

4.   Cisco WebEx

 The logo of Cisco Webex.

Virtual learning is supported by WebEx for education. Schools and higher education faculty can use a separate education toolkit to participate in online learning sessions. WebEx allows you to conduct live online classes as well as prerecorded training. Sign up for a free WebEx account to gain access to the service. The WebEx desktop application is available for Windows, and mobile apps for Android and iOS devices are also available. WebEx Meetings can be hosted or joined from any device, including a smartphone, tablet, desktop, or laptop. Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Salesforce can all start WebEx video meetings.

WebEx meetings or WebEx Team can be used to conduct online classes. Og into WebEx, go to the meetings list tab, click the schedule icon, and fill out the necessary meeting details to host an online class. The list of invited participants can join the class virtually at the scheduled time by selecting the join button on the Cisco WebEx Meeting notification once the meeting has been scheduled.

Cisco WebEx is a highly secure, flexible platform that offers various features to make online teaching simple. WebEx's free version has a limited set of features. A paid version of WebEx Meetings is available if you want to use the advanced features.

Meeting Participants: 100(maximum for free plan)

Meeting length: 50 minutes

Features:

• Online meetings through HD video conferencing.
• Screen Sharing and File Sharing.
• Audio-only conference call options.
• Integration with LMS such as Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard, D2L, and Canvas.
• Record the meeting with built-in automatic transcriptions in mp4 format.
• Customizable video layout and meeting access controls.
• Active Engagement features such as Digital Whiteboarding, interactive polling, and co-editing.
• Private and Public Chatting during a meeting.
• Supports calendar integration with Outlook, Google, and Office 365.

App link ( for android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cisco.webex.meetings

Conclusion

To make the online teaching session interactive, you can use any free video conferencing app convenient for you to schedule an online class and conduct lectures using the engaging features available in it. Sometimes, you may encounter an issue in the quality of the sound or video. Having a high-speed internet connection and a good quality web camera will help you take obstacle-free live classroom sessions online through the group video calling apps.