Google+ and Hangouts for students
Google+ is the latest offering from Google - a social networking tool which may yet rival Facebook (although it’s in its early days). For many people, this development may seem like just another version of Facebook (without the ads and the silly games), but there is one big difference: Hangouts. A Hangout is basically a video chat room that anyone can start, and anyone with the invite link can join. It allows up to 10 people to all see each other, share links, talk, text chat, and watch videos together. This is a great social tool, but also has the potential to be a great learning tool.
If you are learning a language, you could create a ‘circle’ of others who are learning or teaching that language. You could then start a Hangout just with those people, and whoever is online can join you for a chat or discussion about a particular lesson or topic. Language tutors could host small group classes, or just be available at certain times for students to log in and ask questions.
In the past, video conferencing has been a little more difficult to access, with all participants needing the same software and often needing to know each other’s contact details. With Google+, it would be possible to tweet or otherwise share your Hangout address, and whoever in the world was interested could join in and start chatting.
I can’t wait to see what new developments Google comes up with, and how people will use them. For a list of a few more uses for Hangouts, see The 9 Creative Uses for Google+ Hangouts You Didn’t Think Of.
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Aaron G Myers said,
August 20, 2011 @ 10:08 pm
The possibilities of Google + seem pretty cool. I know Mike Newton (Look Out, Knock Head blog) has been regularly organizing hangouts already and wrote about it on his blog as well. He just had a hangout yesterday in Chinese. Pretty cool. I loved the link you shared as well. Lots of creative ideas out there.