Google Applications
Showing posts with label Google Applications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Applications. Show all posts

Use Google+ Hangouts to Learn & Connect

August 07, 2014 Add Comment

Use Google+ Hangouts to Learn & Connect


Google+ Hangouts are a terrific and free tool that opens up new ways to teach and learn. The following video provides three examples of ways Google+ Hangouts are being used that might inspire ideas in your own classroom. Below the video I elaborate on how each idea can be used and include the minutes/seconds in the video at which time you can see each idea in action.

1) Take a class without having to be in the same place. (00.00 in video)
You can have up to ten participants in a Google+ Hangout.  What can that mean for teaching and learning? Here are some ideas. Invite up to 9 classes/individuals to learn from one expert. This can be great in communities where there is perhaps only one teacher for a particular subject but a few students in various schools interested in learning.

Sick or traveling students can participate when they are not able to attend class. Learners can connect with others who share their passions and interests even if they are not in their school / class. For example there might be students from other schools, communities that join your class. Invite up to 9 home instruction students (those who are home because of illness or other reasons) to join in a live class.

2) Invite an audience to a performance. (00.33 in video)
Google+ Hangout provides a great way to empower students to find an authentic audience by being able to invite up to 9 other people to listen to their performance, presentation, reading, etc.  Here are some ideas.

Have students invite some family members and / or friends to watch a performance. Have students find others who share their passions through places like blogs and discussion groups and invite them to watch. Connect with other classes that might want to watch a student perform.  They will be able to chat to give feedback and even give live applause, questions, etc. 

3) Invite others to perform/discuss with you. (00.50 in video)
Google+ Hangout provides a way for you to connect with others even if they are not geographically desirable. This can be great for a student looking to connect with others that may not exist at their school.  Here are some ideas.

A student who wants to study music and perform can do so even if there is no such program in their school or community. With Google Hangout, they can connect with others and practice, perform, and jam together. A student who wants to study a certain type of theater can do so with others and do a virtual reading with Hangout. If you do book clubs in your school, you may discover you have some students with unique tastes.  Let them do book talks with others using Google Hangout.

Support young people in developing their personal learning networks and create times to have online discussions with others who share their passions. 

Tools like Skype have enabled us to connect with another person for quite a few years now. Tools like Google Hangout however are allowing us to connect with many others around the world for free.This has powerful implications for teaching and learning that should not be ignored. These are some innovative ways Google+ Hangout can be used to enrich teaching and learning. I look forward to discovering more with and from other innovative educators. If you have an idea, share it here.

5 ideas for using Google Hangouts

March 05, 2014 Add Comment

5 ideas for using Google Hangouts


If you're an innovative educator, by now, you have probably tried Google Hangouts which let you conduct a video conference with up to ten people / locations FOR FREE! This by itself has terrific potential for teaching and learning tool.

I explained here ways the following ideas could be put to use in the classroom:
1)  Take a class without having to be in the same place.
2)  Invite an audience to a performance.
3)  Invite others to perform/discuss with you.

What you may yet to have tried is live streaming your Hangout and capturing it via YouTube. This is known as Google Hangouts On Air which takes something  that was already awesome, and makes it even better.

You can see what it is here:

You can find out how to set it up here. 

You can discover five great ways to use it for education below.

1) Online classes / webinars
Forget that expensive software. Google Hangouts are now the perfect tool for online professional development and webinars. Now you can live stream that online class and have up to ten participants total. So you can have several expert guests joining the class and still have several spaces for participants to jump in for questions, feedback, etc. Since only ten participants can chat at a time in a Hangout, for a large class use a back channel chat like Twitter with selected hashtag, Today’s Meet.  Remember to assign a back channel monitor that among other things can invite interested participants who have something to contribute to join the Hangout live.

2)    Professional development
The first thing that comes to my mind is that professional development can be live streamed so for instance even if educators can’t be at a professional development in person, they can watch it from their homes and up to ten can even participate.  These sessions are then recorded and available on YouTube for viewing anytime / anywhere.  What’s also great is that YouTube now has simple editing tools, so you can quickly and easily add captions, headlines, cut video etc.

3)    The home – school connection
In the 21st century where many students come from either single-parent working families or those where both parents must work, coming to school is difficult.  Live streaming lets school come to the parent either live or later via recording. Schools can share morning announcements, assemblies, celebrations and more.  Teachers can student presentations and invite parents to actually join the hangout at the time their child will be presenting. It is there later for parents to share with friends and families to brag far and wide.  Views and comments can also be exciting and motivating for students. The account holder has comment moderation privileges, if there are worries about possible inappropriate comments.

4) Meetings
Sometimes not all participants can physically attend a meeting, but with live streaming they can watch from where they are live, or view later.

5) Poetry Slam
It is not unusual for schools to collaborate with other schools for poetry slams. In the past this was often done via something like Skype.  With Google Hangouts On Air, you can have multiple classes collaborating and on the day of the actual slam, the event can be live streamed and the school community invited to watch. For those who can’t watch live, they can watch the recording.
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