Technology can be scary to dive into, especially if it’s something that you’re not used to. It doesn’t
have to be this way! I used to consider myself a tech guru, but it’s definitely something that if you
don’t use it, you lose it! I find myself trying to keep up with all of the new tech things, and it’s
a lot! We all were forced to quickly adapt to being on video, and I want to share with you two
platforms, one that I knew about and one that I just learned about! Both of them are a conferencing
tool, but they have different purposes.
What is Zoom? How can I use it?
Zoom is a tool that allows you to have a meeting live and in color. This kind of meeting has to be
planned, since everyone needs to be available. You can schedule this meeting in advance and send
the link out to all participants ahead of time. Everyone can meet up and participate in the chat.
You can also record this meeting and share the recording later if someone was unable to attend.
Zoom does allow you to share your screen with your students, so you can actively teach a lesson
and you can unmute your students so that they can respond to you. It really allows for the meeting
to be an interactive one, which is what you need when you’re teaching virtually. You will want to
review Zoom etiquette with your students, especially when it comes to muting and unmuting! Your
meeting will quickly descend into chaos if you don’t!
What is Loom? How can I use it?
Loom is a tool that is not designed for meetings. It can be used to send a video message to someone
and you can also record your screen to share something with another person. Loom is great for
recording read alouds and lessons, and then sharing them with your students. It is perfect if you are
envisioning a flipped classroom!
I love that as you record your screen, your students can still see your face if you wish to show it.
It’s perfect for littles who still need facial cues and such. If you intend to record lessons on
anything that’s related to phonological awareness, students definitely need to see your mouth as you
model what they need to learn.
Which one is better?
It’s important to note that the free version of Zoom allows you to have up to 100 participants and
40 minutes of meeting time, which can be perfect for a lesson. You can also host as many meetings
as you want! Loom has announced that their pro plan is free for educators! How awesome is that?
If you already have a Loom account, they will switch it over for you!
Zoom and Loom aren’t necessarily competing against each other, since their primary functions are
different. They do have things that are similar, but I do believe that you can use both of them as you
see fit.
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