Google Classroom vs. Google Hangouts (Classic)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Classroom
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$0
per license/per month
Google Hangouts (Classic)
Score 2.8 out of 10
N/A
The classic version of Google Hangouts included messaging, voice, VoIP, and video call capabilities. It was replaced by the Hangouts Chat collaboration tool, and Google continues to support conferencing via the new Hangouts Meet.N/A
Pricing
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Editions & Modules
Education Fundamentals
$0
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Standard
$3
per student/per year
Teaching and Learning Upgrade
$4
per license/per month
Google Workspace for Education Plus
$5
per student/per year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsEducation Fundamentals Version - 30-day free trial for qualifying institutions.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Features
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
7.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Course authoring8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content5.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
5.3
Ratings
40% below category average
Hosted PBX00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
User templates00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Call reports00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Directory of employee names00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
6.8
Ratings
21% below category average
Answering rules00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Call recording00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Call park00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Call screening00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Message alerts00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
7.1
Ratings
11% below category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
7.0
Ratings
12% below category average
Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Small Businesses
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 9.6 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 7.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 7.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.7 out of 10
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.6 out of 10
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User Ratings
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google ClassroomGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend
- During the pandemic, the college needs a fast and easy solution to conduct Google Classroom. The integration with Google Accounts and Google Meet allows the university to run and access the Classroom on a large scale. - The teacher wants to conduct some exams in third-party software like Moodle. But we have not found any plugin for this famous open-source learning platform. The exam system in Google Classroom is so poor that it doesn't even fully screen the test when students are writing their exams.
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As previously mentioned, Google Hangouts (Classic) is best suited for ad-hoc, informal communications with external collaborators that would benefit from face-to-face interactions, but don’t require a record of the conversation and don’t necessarily require a high degree of corporate security. For communications of consequence, our corporate toolset is more appropriate, but Google Hangouts (Classic) serves a similar function to FaceTime or Zoom.
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Pros
  • Student-teacher communication - I love using Classroom for this because my students can always go back and check what was on Classroom by looking through the stream. This way they don't have to go dig through emails to find what they're looking for.
  • Posting to multiple classes - I can post the same announcement or assignment to multiple classes at once without having to repeat the process or send separate emails.
  • Streamlining grading - when students turn work in on Classroom, it all goes to one place and then when I'm grading I can open their documents directly from Classroom or my Drive folder. This way, I'm not looking through emails and Google Doc shared files for their assignment.
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  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is embedded within Gmail's scheduler, so setting up the link is as quick as a click of the button. It's a one-step process.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is user-friendly and [has] features to share screens easily.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is much easier to use than its competitors.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) have [a] good connection time and there are few glitches.
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Cons
  • Although usually in the discussion with other LMS apps such as Schoology and Canvas, Google Classroom doesn't possess as in-depth of a platform. There is no ability to set individual learning paths, pace student work with completion settings, or embed other apps directly into teacher-created assignments.
  • The assignment creation options are limited. Teachers can only choose from creating an assignment (usually a link with directions), a material (usually a doc/slide/website, etc), a question, and a quiz.
  • With gamification taking on a new lens in education, there really isn't any way to use gamification elements with Google Classroom. There isn't any way to create Individual learning paths, or use badges and micro-credentials within Classroom. Outside programs would have to be used.
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  • I would like to see improved video support, so that saved videos can be sent back and forth via Hangouts more easily, without having to start a separate meet chat
  • More pronounced notifications of messages would be helpful; pop up notifications are good, but once there is one, additional messages do not pop up
  • Custom muting times would be great, so that if I am in a 90 minute Zoom meeting, I can set it for that time; right now, it is 1 hour or 2 hours. Easy to forget.
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Likelihood to Renew
Testing is particularly important in online learning, and Google Classroom falls far short of other learning management systems in this regard. Security is also a concern: while account control is reasonable for the account used with Google Classroom, the person controlling a particular account is often able to, for example, forward or download proprietary materials.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
This is only a product I would recommend to a humanities teacher. Math and science teachers cannot use this product the same way that I can as an English teacher. It is great for word process and for reading, but unable to handle the demands of math and science. Therefore, I would highly recommend this product to English or Social Studies teachers, but NOT math or science teachers
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The tool is almost self-implemented. It is likely to be available in every pc or mobile device a user or potential user might have, and all you need to do is adding the company's account and you are done. Once you are setted up, you have almost all actual communication methods available in one tool
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Reliability and Availability
We have had very little trouble in accessing Google Classroom. Our issues, if any, have risen from our server and not the Google servers.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Since this platform is provided by Google, the technical support is better than any others, and we are not required to bother about the space constraints for adding the contents. If we have a good uninterrupted internet facility we can access Google Classroom without any delay or lag. They have app support in both Android and iPhone.
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Google Hangouts works great and does not require a lot of work to troubleshoot. Everything is simple and easy to use. Google provides all of the tools that one requires to utilize Google Hangouts and any information can be found in the built-in help tools. There is also a forum for users to report issues and typically, Google responds well and will try to work out any issues.
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Implementation Rating
It was relatively easy to implement due to the simplicity of the platform. Even our more technology challenged teachers found it easy to get started with Google Classroom.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Skyward and Google Classroom are completely different programs that are used for completely different things. The only comparable areas are communication with students. Skyward does so through the class rosters and message center and Google Classroom does so through the classrooms for each student and their teacher, but each is unique in their own way.
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For its time, Google Hangouts (Classic) was a fantastic product and matched up well with all of its successors. Now however, with it having been phased on within Workspace for Education, I would not advise any new users use the product. Google Chat, combined with Google Meet, have superseded Hangouts (Classic) and should be used by default due to their close knit integration with Gmail.
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Scalability
It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Students are able to continue learning in a remote environment
  • Parents have a single, consistent organization structure to make it easy to track assignments and progress for multiple children
  • Much better solution than the quickly assembled Zoom-and-gloom of the previous spring when school abruptly went remote with no planning
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  • I believe it was part of the google suite that was purchased. It was worth the cost as it was cheaper. I believe it is now free, but also becoming deprecated. It is much better to use Teams, Discord, Telegram, etc. Google does not provide enough support or features to make using hangouts worth it these days.
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ScreenShots