Google announces new features for Chromebooks

New Delhi : With an aim to empower teachers and students, tech giant Google on Wednesday announced that it is sharing new updates to Chromebooks, Google Classroom and Google Meet. For those using the Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Google said it is adding features focused on increasing interconnectivity, control and efficiency in the classroom to Google Meet. “Now, Meet calls can be auto-transcribed directly into a Google Doc for easy lesson reviews and the ability to search for keywords and concepts,” Shantanu Sinha, Director, Google for Education, said in a blogpost. Google said that now users can, with Picture in Picture in Meet, where they can navigate other tabs in Chrome while viewing 4 tiles of students in a Meet call. And to keep the class engaged and regularly check for understanding, teachers can now add polls and Q&A to Live-streams, and live-stream directly to YouTube. The company is also adding new features like the Screencast app, built into Chrome OS in M103, where users can record, trim, share and view transcribed screencasts — and create a custom library of videos automatically saved in Google Drive. “From sharing devices to 1:1, to teachers using Chromebooks alongside students, we’re constantly evolving our features to meet the needs of the classroom,” Sinha said. Cast moderator is a new mode coming to select devices with Google TV that enables both educators and students to wirelessly share their Chromebook screen to a class display using an access code so that only folks in the same classroom as the display can cast. Google is also rolling out new integrations and tools to improve teachers’ day-to-day tasks and help students grow their skills.  “Practice sets lean into adaptive learning by giving students instant feedback on their answers and real-time support if they get stuck — providing automated insights for teachers to identify potential gaps in students’ understanding,” Sinha mentioned. Practice sets are now globally available in beta, and in English only, for Google Workspace for Education customers with Education Plus or Teaching and Learning Upgrade.