What about Google Plus (Google +)
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Hi, my name is Sherry Nouraini and I am an adjunct professor of biology at San Diego City College. I plan on using Google plus hangout for holding office hours in the Fall semester.
355 days ago
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Hello, new to the site...new to google+, so I too am basically learning it as I can. Our school district has the education GoogleApps system, but it doesn't jive with google+, which is too bad because then teachers and students could easily interact with google+.
616 days ago
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Is anyone out there using Google + in their classroom? I would love to hear about it, even if it is for use in college courses.
625 days ago
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Thank you Justin, Nora, Kris, and Jake for contributing on this discussion. I am also pretty new with Google+ and still learning about its potential. I will try Google+ for my free online writing class this Fall. I will keep you with the update of what students think about it. The "Hang Out" on Google+ probably can become a place for having a synchronous online class session. Recently, many blogs and users talk about its potential for education. Here are some links to those discussions:
http://learningedtech.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/google-plus-and-education/
http://www.hackeducation.com/2011/07/15/google-plus-and-the-future-of-sharing-educational-resources/
http://www.anseo.net/2011/07/google-plus-and-education/
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/07/how-are-educators-using-google-plus-hangouts/
667 days ago
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I don't know much about Google+ - but everybody is talking about it! Sounds pretty cool. Nora - I wonder how it could be used in education? Do you think that as educators we jump on the newest technologies just because they are new and exciting even if there is no educational value? I may be speaking out of line here. I really don't know much about google+ I hope there is some use for it in education!!
668 days ago
Nora Touparlaki I think that Hery is right, we have to wait and test it in our classrooms, if possible, and find it if it works. I'm of the opinion, that new technologies are here to help, as long as we can deal with them the right way. I wouldn't say that they're of educational value, I believe that they're tools to for both teachers and learners. According to statistics, users of google+ up to now, haven't made up their mind on how to use it, they're not even active users. I'll use it in class, especially for the hangouts, better than Skype. I'm a Tesol teacher, which means that my sts have to learn to speak and communicate in English, so...hanging out on google+ with other sts or even colleagues of mine , who are going to give them precious advice, is of great benefit to them. Here' s a link I found http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/07/how-are-educators-using-google-plus-hangouts/ ... Hery's also suggested mindshhift. I participate in a forum - actually it's a twitter chat - where we're going to discuss the subject in detail soon. I'll keep you informed.666 days ago -
if you need any invites, feel free to send me your email adress! already using google+, but still not sure using it as an educational tool
673 days ago
Nora Touparlaki Hi Adam! yes, you need a google account, that's the easy part:) the more I chat with colleagues on fb, or twitter, the more I realise that there are countries where schools aren't allowed to use the web in class. In my case, since I run my own, small private school in Greece, and I also teach things are much more easier, and I can tell for sure that kids do learn the second language in a more relaxing environment and the most beneficial factor for them is the fact that the use of web and different tools improve their critical thinking. We've have created our own group on fb (of course the account is run by me) where we post announcements, and kids also have their own blogs, commenting each other's posts etc668 days ago -
The things I've read make this sound like an exciting social network that fits well with educational purposes. Partner this up with the potential of the Chromebook, and I think we've got something here!
680 days ago
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Recently, Google has launched its social networking application called Google plus (Google +). Check the Google + at http://plus.google.com. This social networking website is growth quickly and has become an interesting discussion between people who intereted in technology. What do you think about Google +? If you use Myspace or Facebook, do you think Google + will beat them? [Note: If you need invitation for joining Google +, contact me at heryyantothe@gmail.com. I will be happy to invite you in Google +]
There are no announcements yet.
OK, time to liven up this conversation!
I've tried hangouts a few times, with mixed success [I teach English to adult speakers of other languages, globally, and most of our troubles have been related to weak connections].
Skype works better for weaker connections (my experience).
I'm intrigued by the Google+ Air option, and hope to livestream an interview using Google+ Air soon.
Links to blog posts, tutorials, tips, best practices that I've saved in diigo:
http://www.diigo.com/user/blogblossoms/Google+Hangouts
and
http://www.diigo.com/user/blogblossoms/Google+
The new rollouts this week (no more gmail video chat = all hangouts now) and features available with hangouts (multiple users on video/webcam, share YouTube, whiteboards, slideshows, share screen, more) -- and free -- make it of high interest to/for me, but all parties must have strong connection to enable use of these features.
idroo.com
join.me
are two tools I'm currently exploring as well.
***By far the biggest drawback I have with Google+ hangouts is that there does not seem to be a way to easily record them.
Please, please, please correct me if I'm wrong on this?
I use http://voipcallrecording.com/ for automatic recording (MP3s) of all my Skype calls and highly recommend it.
Holly