In a move that clearly is an attempt to match the functionality of Zoom and Microsoft Teams, Google has announced some new features that will soon be coming to Google Meet for G Suite for Education users. All of the new features that were announced address the many concerns about Google Meet that teachers have expressed in the last few months. Some of these features are available now and some will be coming over the next couple of months.

New Moderator Controls

• Remotely mute all participants.
• A hand-raising function will be coming soon. This lets students raise their hands in Google Meet to indicate that they want to speak in the meeting. 
• Teachers will be able to end meetings for all and prevent students from rejoining after the meeting has been ended by the teacher. 
• Guests can only “knock” or request to join after being ejected from meeting. 
• The default setting for Google Meet will not allow anonymous guests.

Integrated Whiteboard!

• This might be the most-requested feature for Google Meet. I’ve shared a couple of options (here and here) for a DIY whiteboard integration, but this should be a lot easier to use. 

Change Your Background

• Much like in Zoom, you’ll soon be able to use a custom background in Google Meet.