What is a Google hangout?
Google+ is Google's new social networking tool and one of its really great features is the Google hangout that comes with it. I only discovered the amazing potential of all the Google plus products when attending the Google Teacher Academy in New York in October last year. Google has put a lot of funding into developing Google+ and they are committed to making it work well for education, so it will just get better and better I am sure. So, to get back to Google hangouts, once you have created a circle of friends in Google+ you can choose to hang out with them on Google+. You can hangout with one other person or nine other people. This allows you to video chat, IM chat, watch YouTube videos together, work on Google documents together and much, much more.
What does a Google hangout look like in operation?
This is what a Google hangout looks like. You'll see all the people on the hangout underneath the main screen, and whoever is speaking is picked up on the main screen.
You can also have a lot of fun with Google hangouts and add some effects to your appearance.
So what is the process then for creating a hangout
1) Go to your Google+ account, look around and select 'Start a hangout'
2) Invite the participants. You can also tick a little box to ensure they get the invite in their email box as well as via Google+
There is also a way of scheduling a hangout so that everyone knows when it will take place, but we'll look at that later.
Here is a Slideshare showing the steps:
Summary of benefits of using a hangout
Google Hangouts are part of Google+, Google's new free social networking tool. On a Hangout 10 people (a possible 15 for a school that is on Google Apps) can:
*video chat
*IM (instant message) chat
*watch YouTube videos together
*collaborate on a Google Doc
*use a whiteboard collaboratively
*add effects for fun
*record the Hangout directly on YouTube
*live stream for more viewers
*A minimum of two people
*and more…
Ideas for using a hangout in the the classroom
• Read a story
• Bring in an expert/guest speaker/author
• Share from a Slideshare
• Homework tutoring
• Professional Development meeting
• Work on a project together
• Virtual penpals
• Global classroom discussions
• Career Day wit panelists
• Attend other hangouts (Google has a whole library of hangouts)
• Extended discussion on a class topic
• Subject-related hangouts
• Conduct workshops and seminars
Additional reading and viewing
a) A tutorial
Please note that Google updates its products continually so some features in this video might look different.
b) Further Reading
*How to use Google Hangouts
*How to Use Google+ Hangouts for Teaching
*How to create a Google event
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