Tag Archive for: Google Meets

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Google Jamboard Shutdown – Save Your Jams

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JamboardAs previously announced, Google is shutting down Jamboard on December 31, 2024. Even if you never bought a physical Jamboard, the Jamboard app has bounced around the Google Workspace ecosystem for a while as both a stand-alone app (jamboard.google.com) and as the whiteboarding tool in Google Meet.

Jamboard’s end-of-life is December 31, 2024. This is the last day you can migrate any Jam files to a supported partner application. After this date, files will begin to be deleted, and you will lose access to your saved Jams.

If you have used Jamboard, this change is significant. If not, now is a good time to check out third-party whiteboarding collaboration tools to see if they can enhance your meetings, interactions, and collaboration.

Evaluating Alternative Whiteboard Applications

Choosing the right alternative whiteboard application requires thoughtful consideration of several factors:

  1. Assess Team Needs: Identify your team’s specific requirements. Are tool integrations essential, or is real-time collaboration across different devices a priority?
  2. Review Usability: Evaluate the usability and learning curve of each option to minimize disruption to workflows.
  3. Consider Costs and Scalability: Look at both costs and scalability limitations, especially if your organization is likely to grow.

Three Recommended Tools

Three popular alternatives to Jamboard include FigJam, Lucidspark, and Miro. Each offers unique features designed to support collaboration and creativity.

  1. FigJam: Known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, FigJam is ideal for teams looking to brainstorm and ideate virtually. It integrates seamlessly with Figma, making it an attractive option for design-focused teams. FigJam supports real-time collaboration, sticky notes, and a variety of templates that can speed up the creative process.
  2. Lucidspark: Lucidspark is a versatile platform that emphasizes visual collaboration. It offers features like voting, commenting, and breakout boards, which can enhance team productivity. Lucidspark is designed to accommodate both small teams and large organizations, with robust integrations into various project management and productivity tools.
  3. Miro: Miro is renowned for its comprehensive set of tools aimed at enhancing team collaboration. It offers a wide array of templates, extensive integration capabilities, and supports interactive presentations. Miro’s strong emphasis on team management and project tracking makes it an ideal choice for larger teams or organizations looking for an all-in-one solution.

Your Action: Export or Migrate Your Jam Files

To preserve important Jamboard content, you can migrate your Jam files to one of these partner platforms. Each platform has an easy migration process, allowing you to continue your projects and activities with minimal disruption.

To move Jamboard files to a new whiteboard application, follow these steps:

  1. Educate and Train: Provide training sessions to help your team adapt to the new application. Many platforms offer tutorials and webinars for new users.
  2. Plan Ahead: Start the transition process soon to avoid the end-of-year rush. Allow time to address any challenges or questions.
  3. Leverage Support: Use the new product’s customer support services. They can provide valuable assistance to facilitate your migration.
  4. Monitor and Adjust: After migration, monitor how well the new platform meets your needs. Make adjustments as needed to optimize its use.

Following these steps, you can ensure that your transition from Jamboard is as seamless and efficient as possible, allowing your team to continue collaborating without interruption. As always, feel free to send an email or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors for assistance.

About the Author

Chris CaldwellChristopher Caldwell is the COO and a co-founder of Cumulus Global.  Chris is a successful Information Services executive with 40 years experience in information services operations, application development, management, and leadership. His expertise includes corporate information technology and service management; program and project management; strategic and project-specific business requirements analysis; system requirements analysis and specification; system, application, and database design; software engineering and development, data center management, network and systems administration, network and system security, and end-user technical support.

G Suite EDU Savings and Meet Enhancements

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G Suite Enterprise for EducationG Suite Enterprise for Education Savings

As schools and districts continue to rely heavily on Google Meets, Classroom, and other services that facilitate remote and hybrid learning, Google is extending its 50% discount for full domain upgrades to G Suite Enterprise for Education through October 31, 2020.  Student licenses will remain free provided the ratio of student to faculty/staff licensing is 10:1 or less.

Click here for more information and to request a quote.

Rapid Enhancement of Google Meets

Responding to feedback from educators and competitive pressures, Google is accelerating the rollout of features for Google Meet. As announced at Google’s recent The Anywhere School 2020 event, Google Meets will see the addition of the following features, some of which (as noted) will only be available in G Suite Enterprise for Education.

September
  • Moderator Controls: Teachers will be able to end meetings for all participants once class ends, better manage join requests, disable in-meeting chats, require the teacher to join before students can enter the meeting, and prohibit participants from joining after being ejected or denied entry twice.
  • Larger Title Views: Support for up to a 7×7 grid will let up to 49 students be seen at once
October
  • Breakout Rooms: G Suite Enterprise for Education teacher accounts will be able to split classes into smaller group discussions.
  • Custom Background Support: Students and teachers will be able to blur or replace backgrounds to prevent distractions and keep things consistent for all students.
  • Attendance Tracking: G Suite Enterprise for Education teacher accounts will be able to see and track which students attended virtual class.
“Later this year”
  • Temporary Recordings: This will be available to all Education customers as opposed to the premium recordings only available to G Suite Enterprise for Education, allows teachers to record meetings and share the recording within their district for up to 30 days before the recording expires and is deleted.
  • Hand-Raising System
  • Q&A Features (limited to G Suite Enterprise for Education)
  • Polling : To Engage students (limited to G Suite Enterprise for Education)

 

G Suite Enterprise for Education Savings

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G Suite Enterprise for Education

Click for an Overview

(Updated to reflect extension of the offer through September 30, 2020)

With the need for remote learning and hybrid on-site and remote classes, most schools using G Suite for Education rely on the Google Meets.  In September, Google is ending free access to enhanced Google Meets, including larger meeting sizes, recording, and live streaming.

If you need these enhanced features, you need to upgrade to G Suite Enterprise for Education.

Working with Google, we can offer substantial upgrade savings through September 30, 2020.  Normally $48 per user per year, we can offer G Suite Enterprise for Education for:

  • Faculty and Staff: $24 per user per year
  • Students: FREE

As part of our offer, we will also include our value-add basic support services and our ChromeCycle services at no additional cost.

Click here to learn more or to request a quote.