ANALYSIS- YULA, like many other schools has moved to online classrooms on Zoom. As YULA prepared for online school, IT Director Michael Gillett searched for a platform that could hold at least 200 students, support screen-sharing, and secure classrooms from disruptive intruders. YULA narrowed down its search to five different programs: Google Meets, GoToMeeting, Skype, WebX, and Zoom.

Google Meets, formerly Google Hangouts, is a video chat application for schools and businesses that have G-Suite accounts integrated into their technology ecosystem. Google Meets would have been perfect for YULA because YULA already has G-Suite accounts, but it required a lot of setup time, which the school didn’t have.

YULA’s next option was GoToMeeting. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, GoToMeeting was established as a reliable meeting service for corporations. But GoToMeeting has a steep learning curve and a complex User Interface (UI), which would have allowed a smooth transition. 

Skype for Businesses and WebX were other choices, but both were laggy, hard to use, and in dire need of an update.

Zoom, a practically unheard-of platform before the COVID-19 outbreak, which has little to no back-end setup, a minimal price, and a simple UI, proved the best option. Zoom also has breakout rooms, a unique feature that allows teachers to put students into smaller groups within the class. Zoom’s service is free for schools affected by COVID-19, making it the clear choice.

However, there have been a couple of hiccups with Zoom. Initially, anyone with a link to a meeting could join, so hundreds of unidentified people, blasting music and screen sharing inappropriate material, were able to disrupt Zoom classrooms. Zoom has taken steps to counteract the “Zoom Bombers” by locking rooms after classes start, admitting one participant at a time into the meeting by creating a virtual waiting room, and embedding passwords into Zoom invitation links. 

As YULA’s principal Rabbi Joseph Schreiber said, “I think that the distance learning has been going well. For many it was an almost seamless transition and learning continued with minimal interruptions. Naturally there were challenges, but overall everyone has risen to the occasion. That ability to rise to the occasion and perform well is one of the things that makes YULA so special!”