ipad - google meet shortcut to specific meeting

[Bev]

Our students have to login to their google classroom meet chat every morning.

On the laptop the link is easily displayed but on an iPad, there is no link and just a small camera icon which they can't always find.

 

I was thinking of putting a shortcut on their ipad homescreen to the specific meeting but it opens in a browser rather than in the google meet app.

 

is there a way to add a configuration which specifies the meeting?

[Bev]

Needless to say, we are using the free education version of all things google

[Brimstone]

How are you sharing the link..email?

[Brimstone]

Maybe this workaround would work for you..?

 

https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/thread/44537041?hl=en

[Bev]

The link is on the top of the google classroom, but it's not very obvious and they can struggle to find it. If they click the link in google classroom then it opens in the google meet app.

All of our pupils have iPads so I was wanting to just put the link on the homescreen but it doesn't open the app when I do that.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Maybe this workaround would work for you..?

 

https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/thread/44537041?hl=en

 

That is what we are doing but it slides down the stream so it needs to be reposted every day. I was hoping to pin it somewhere they can easily find it.

[Brimstone]

The link is on the top of the google classroom, but it's not very obvious and they can struggle to find it. If they click the link in google classroom then it opens in the google meet app.

All of our pupils have iPads so I was wanting to just put the link on the homescreen but it doesn't open the app when I do that.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

 

 

That is what we are doing but it slides down the stream so it needs to be reposted every day. I was hoping to pin it somewhere they can easily find it.

A shortcut is in effect a web url which is why it won't open in Meet when you tap it.

[Koldov]

We are having the same problem here (Meet link shows in the 'class banner/header' on a PC or laptop, but harder to find on an iPad), however it's compounded by the fact we use a different browser (LGfL Home Protect) to cover filtering and not allowing Safari...

 

This in effect means that as our iPads are old, we cannot make the new browser 'default' and therefore no Web Clips or links will open when clicked (they all have to be copied and pasted into the filtered browser) including the Google Meet link, so they have to first find the link, then copy it, then open the Meet app and paste it in!

 

With teachers setting homework like 'watch this Youtube clip' and 'go to this webpage (link)', it's making things a bit more difficult. We're not finding the Google classroom experience on iPads very full featured or intuitive (but then I guess we should all be using Chromebooks).

 

Once they get the hang of it I'm sure it will be fine, just causing a lot of issues trying to explain it to some parents...

[Bev]

We are generally finding google classroom very good, and we only use iPads. But we do allow safari. Not being able to click a link would make it significantly more difficult.

[Brimstone]

We are having the same problem here (Meet link shows in the 'class banner/header' on a PC or laptop, but harder to find on an iPad), however it's compounded by the fact we use a different browser (LGfL Home Protect) to cover filtering and not allowing Safari...

 

This in effect means that as our iPads are old, we cannot make the new browser 'default' and therefore no Web Clips or links will open when clicked (they all have to be copied and pasted into the filtered browser) including the Google Meet link, so they have to first find the link, then copy it, then open the Meet app and paste it in!

 

With teachers setting homework like 'watch this Youtube clip' and 'go to this webpage (link)', it's making things a bit more difficult. We're not finding the Google classroom experience on iPads very full featured or intuitive (but then I guess we should all be using Chromebooks).

 

Once they get the hang of it I'm sure it will be fine, just causing a lot of issues trying to explain it to some parents...

The problem here is not Google Meet, it's a fully featured app for iOS.

 

The problem is likely to be the out of date poor browser solution that replaces Safari, there are plenty of better solutions to filter iPads outside school that allow you to still use Safari.

[Koldov]

We have had a teacher ask for a writeable PDF file (downloaded from a maths platform we use) to be used in Google Classroom for the pupils to fill in, which is also apparently not possible...

 

Also on the weblink front, we use 'Accelerated Reader' and 'myON' for pupil work and I can't use Web Clips for shortcuts to those...

 

But for your OP @Bev, does the link to a new meeting everyday change? Would you need to update it everyday, or is it the same link repeated?

 

Is it more visible to the pupils when it placed in the other sections ("I would recommend creating a post, an assignment, and attaching the link to it using the link icon. That way they will all get the assignment from the Classwork page, and depending upon how your stream is setup, it will appear there too.")?

Edited January 15, 2021 by Koldov

[Koldov]

Well @Brimstone, it's a reasonably new offering from LGfL I believe, based on Firefox and Netsweeper technologies, so 'teething problems' possibly rather than out of date...

 

It does however appear to be shoe-horned into an iPad app as the 'other' version integrates with Chrome/GSuite and works rather better apparently.

 

Unfortunately we needed something quick and it appeared to be what we needed (and included in our LGfL subscription), it's a set filter based on the LGfL 'webscreen' we use already in school, but fixed with no provision for altering. I wasn't sure what devices the SLT were going to order (I wasn't asked...) and when the decision was made on iPads, they were ordered and delivered by the next day, sitting on my desk with the message that they were being sent out the day after! So, far better than sending them out unfiltered...

 

Out of interest, what are the other solutions?

[Brimstone]

Here's one of the best...Securly

 

https://www.securly.com

[Bev]

We have had a teacher ask for a writeable PDF file (downloaded from a maths platform we use) to be used in Google Classroom for the pupils to fill in, which is also apparently not possible...

 

Also on the weblink front, we use 'Accelerated Reader' and 'myON' for pupil work and I can't use Web Clips for shortcuts to those...

 

But for your OP @Bev, does the link to a new meeting everyday change? Would you need to update it everyday, or is it the same link repeated?

 

Is it more visible to the pupils when it placed in the other sections ("I would recommend creating a post, an assignment, and attaching the link to it using the link icon. That way they will all get the assignment from the Classwork page, and depending upon how your stream is setup, it will appear there too.")?

 

Our pupils write on PDF files using the pencil icon - I think it's an inbuilt iPad feature. It works very well. The PDF is attached so each child gets a copy, and when they click on the lnk there is a pencil in the top corner and they can click on that and write on top of the PDF.

[Brimstone]

We have had a teacher ask for a writeable PDF file (downloaded from a maths platform we use) to be used in Google Classroom for the pupils to fill in, which is also apparently not possible...

 

Also on the weblink front, we use 'Accelerated Reader' and 'myON' for pupil work and I can't use Web Clips for shortcuts to those...

 

But for your OP @Bev, does the link to a new meeting everyday change? Would you need to update it everyday, or is it the same link repeated?

 

Is it more visible to the pupils when it placed in the other sections ("I would recommend creating a post, an assignment, and attaching the link to it using the link icon. That way they will all get the assignment from the Classwork page, and depending upon how your stream is setup, it will appear there too.")?

 

If the PDF is copyright protected then that's what stopping you from annotating it. Any other PDF's work well with either Google Classroom, Seesaw or Showbie

[Bev]

The link never changes. I have put a post on each class work page but it relies on the teacher putting all of their assignments into folders to keep it at the top of the page.

 

It’s not a huge issue ow was just trying to make it easier.

[Bev]

We are having the same problem here (Meet link shows in the 'class banner/header' on a PC or laptop, but harder to find on an iPad), however it's compounded by the fact we use a different browser (LGfL Home Protect) to cover filtering and not allowing Safari...

 

This in effect means that as our iPads are old, we cannot make the new browser 'default' and therefore no Web Clips or links will open when clicked (they all have to be copied and pasted into the filtered browser) including the Google Meet link, so they have to first find the link, then copy it, then open the Meet app and paste it in!

 

With teachers setting homework like 'watch this Youtube clip' and 'go to this webpage (link)', it's making things a bit more difficult. We're not finding the Google classroom experience on iPads very full featured or intuitive (but then I guess we should all be using Chromebooks).

 

Once they get the hang of it I'm sure it will be fine, just causing a lot of issues trying to explain it to some parents...

@Koldov did you find a way to get your Home Protect browser to open links?

We are on the verge of moving to the Netsupport browser but the inability to open a link from an email or google classroom is quite a hurdle top overcome.

[Koldov]

Hi @Bev

 

Unfortunately not and I didn't have enough time to spend on dealing with it to find a better solution... I had the iPads and within a couple of days all had to be configured and sent home.

 

We managed it somehow, but mostly it was the teachers who did the day to day stuff, I just gave them the copy/paste solution and didn't hear back.

 

Hard to remember now, so much has happened in the last year...

 

We were only using it for the lockdown not as a full-time solution and all the iPads have been returned and wiped (apart from one that's gone 'missing' ), so I can't test it.

 

Sorry that's not much help!

[Bev]

I suspect there isn't a better solution. I've spent the last few days looking at it, as we are 1-1 with iPads so it's still an issue for us, but I don't think the copy/paste will go over well.

[Koldov]

It's to do with the age of our iPads as well, I'm sure IIRC some of my research said later iOS versions have the ability to change the default browser.

 

I had a fairly long email discussion with someone at LGfL, detailing all my concerns (no Youtube restricted mode - either on or off, signing into the browser and ingonito mode were a few - but they might be dealt with now).

 

It was also a bit confusing (vertical learning curve in just a few days) with the various options of the app, the ones that could log-in with google/O365 and needing to control options in those platforms as well (and I'd only just starting dealing with that), but that seemed to only allow control of Chrome and home Protect was built on Firefox.

 

We just chose the RED version and had to deal with it...