Alternatives To Microsoft Teams Students Can Use For Group Discussion

Microsoft Teams is a collaborative communication platform. It is developed by Microsoft. It does not provide services to one sector only. You can see many companies and institutes that prefer to use Microsoft Teams for different purposes. In the recent pandemic of Covid-19, it got so much worth. But there are many alternatives to Microsoft Teams that companies can use for virtual performance. Almost all institutes use these platforms for online classes and many organisations use it for online meetings. In just one year, this platform got users in the form of millions.

Importance of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams has a list of amazing features. You can use it for audio as well as for video calls. You can also join more than one meeting at a time. You can share your concerns in the form of text. Professors can use it to upload study material, while students can submit their assignments over there. In the same way, different companies can use it for live meetings, events or seminars. In this article, we will discuss about alternatives to Microsoft Teams that students can use for different purposes.

What Can I Use Instead of Microsoft Teams?

There are many alternatives to Microsoft Teams that have amazing functionality. Students can use these alternatives for group discussion in the form of text or call. Let’s have a look at alternative platforms that have been shared by experts of a masters dissertation help firm. Students can use them in group discussions.

• Google Meet
• Zoom meetings
• RingCentral Office
• Dialpad Talk
• Slack
• Facebook
• Walkie Talkie
• Spike

If you experience all these platforms for group discussion, you will see amazing features. But every platform has some pros and some cons. Now you have to decide which platform serves well as per your need of the hour. You have to make sure that what kind of discussion you want to have. For example, group discussion is all about audio or video call. In the same way, you have to see if group discussion needs slide share or not. Is there is any need of document sharing? In this way, you have to see your purpose of group discussion and then select any platform for communication.

Does Google Have An Equivalent To Microsoft Teams?

Google Meet and Microsoft Teams have same as well as different features. There are two scenarios to discuss about the equivalence of Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. From a general point of view, Microsoft Teams is better than Google Meet. The reason behind this is the advanced features of Microsoft Teams. It includes document submission and group collaborations. But the second scenario is about group discussion of students. In this context, Google Meet is better. Google Meet is free and linked with your Gmail. Whatever you want to share, you can do that through Gmail.

At the same time, the rest of the discussion can be made on Google Meet. Almost every student has an account on Gmail, so they do not have to install another platform. Similarly, they do not have to spend time on learning new features. If the use of modern features is necessary for group discussion, it is better to go for Microsoft Teams. While using Microsoft Teams, you can show your active participation by using a reaction icon. The best reaction of a hand rising. During group discussion, you can raise your hand to ask a question. In the same way, you can raise a hand for answering a question. Another best use of such a reaction is polling. If you are supposed to collect votes for something, you can ask your group mates to react accordingly.

Free Alternatives to Microsoft Teams

At the student level, you should prefer free alternatives to Microsoft Teams. You do not need highly advanced features for group discussion. So, do not waste your money on paid platforms of communication. Also, you can use paid platforms as a free trial. In this way, it becomes easy for you to start a group discussion and complete your task. Following are the free alternatives to Microsoft Teams;

• Zoom
• Google Meet
• Pumble
• ClickUp

In all of these communication platforms, you can ensure the storage of a file. On the other hand, all these free alternatives to Microsoft Teams can be used on mobile phones as well as on laptops. Some students do not afford a laptop, so they can use these platforms on phones. Also, you can share the screen, and make your group discussion easy to understand.

Which App is better than Microsoft Teams?

Many people prefer to go for alternatives to Microsoft Teams. This does not mean that Microsoft Teams is not a good option to use for group discussion. There are some reasons because of which alternatives to Microsoft Teams are preferred. First of all, it offers equal accessibility to all members of a group. In case you want to have a hold on the whole group, then Microsoft Teams is not a good option. The best example of this case is the delivery of lectures from teachers and students.

Furthermore, a limit on number of channels can frustrate students. Because of these reasons, students use alternatives to Microsoft Teams. The best alternative to Microsoft Teams is Slack. Slack is better than Microsoft Teams in terms of integration. Apart from that, the file storage capacity of Slack is way better than Microsoft Teams. Although there are many more paid as well as free alternatives to Microsoft Teams, Slack is the best among all those software. Students can use a free version of Slack very easily, but they have to compromise on some limited features.

Final Thoughts

Based on all of the above discussed points, you have to see which communication platform is the most suitable for you. The discussion shows that Microsoft Teams is the best platform for a virtual meeting and works well at an organisational level. As a student, it is better to try its free version of Microsoft Teams or look for some alternatives to Microsoft Teams.