Computer hardware and software issues

I use an early generation I3 HP laptop with 4Mb memory for online teaching. It is an excellent system and very productive, despite being seven years old. I do not plan to replace it until the issue of Windows 11 compliant systems is finalised. I do not intend to switch to Windows 11 yet, but, of course, do not want to be caught out with an operating system not supported, whenever that happens (2023?).

Incidentally, my backup PC is even older. It is a 2009 Acer laptop using an Intel Centrino. It works.  The disk access is slow, so I have all the files I use with students on an SD card. When I use it the online students have not noticed any difference except for the occasional sound blip.

For the online teacher - Google Meet or Zoom? Surprisingly, Google Meet seems to use twice the amount of systems resources as Zoom on my system. Meet occupies 540Mb of internal memory, whereas Zoom occupies 256Mb. CPU utilisation, with any users, is 33% on Meet and 14% on Zoom. The problem for Meet users that this presents is that the CPU fan is in continuous operating mode during Meet classes. Accordingly, in Meet the system is less responsive and adds a few decibels of noise. 

  

Pre-loading an image onto Zoom whiteboard

It is not possible, which is a shame. It is something I would like to do. It does not involve a lot of programming by the Zoom people. I am waiting. In the meantime, I share MS Paint instead with the class. Not quite the same thing - I know.

Zoom or Google Meet - which is the best?

I use both. They are different but in many ways operate in a similar way. Other platforms, such as Microsoft Team, are also good, but I do not use them, so any information I could give would be via a third party. 

In this blog, I will mainly focus on personal experience using these two platforms for classroom-type teaching. They work really well for classes. I do not think they are entirely suitable for webinars - but this blog is not about webinars. 

Zoom is not available in Syria, but I understand that Google Meet can be used in Syria from personal accounts. Being based in the Middle East, this is an important issue for me. Correct me if I am wrong, or out-of-date.