Google Plus Hangouts on Air feature now available to all users

 

Google+, Google's social network, has some great features that other networks don't have. One of them is Hangouts. Hangouts is a multi-person video conferencing system that is free. You can host virtual meetings, help and study sessions, or just chat with family. Google had added the ability for a limited group of people to be able to broadcast their Hangouts to the world.

Google has just announced that Hangouts On Air is now available to all Google+ users worldwide. It will be a gradual rollout though so the system doesn't get overwhelmed all at once.

With Hangouts on Air, you will be able to broadcast yourself publicly to the entire world, see how many viewers you have, and even record and reshare your broadcast. The public recording will be uploaded to your YouTube channel and to your original Google+ post.

This is a great way hold meetings, study sessions, online conferences (which Google did last week), and much more, and have the Hangout recorded for future replay and use.

Here's a video on getting started with Google+ Hangouts on the Air:





Source: Official Google Blog

Related:

Google Plus - tips for using in education, facts and data infographic

Google Plus adds Google Docs to Hangouts

Google+ - More Reasons its great for Education

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

10 Ways to Use Google Plus in the Classroom

Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google Plus now open to Teens, with safety features

31 Great Ways Universities are Using Google+ - apply to K12?

I just read an article entitled "31 Great Ways Universities are Using Google+" and was thinking that K12 could, and should, do many of these. Each way has a link to more information and ideas for that topic.

Google+ is an excellent resource for education, educators and students. It allows for communication, collaboration, sharing and so much more.

Some of the ideas from the article that I think K12 can also use include online meetings, online help sessions with students, increased and improved communication among staff, faculty, admin, students, and parents, student feedback, extracurricular activity communication and collaboration, class conversations, posting of student materials and resources.

Check out the article and see some great ideas for using Google+ in Education.

Related:

Google for Educators Resources, tips, links, lesson ideas, help, and more

Google Plus - tips for using in education, facts and data infographic
Google+ - More Reasons its great for Education

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

10 Ways to Use Google Plus in the Classroom

Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google Plus now open to Teens, with safety features

Top 50 Google Plus Circles for Educators

Google Plus (Google+) is a great resource for educators. You can connect with other educators and share, learn and collaborate, you can keep up with news and current events, you can connect with friends, and you can have video conferences called Hangouts with colleagues or students.

Google+ allows you to share beyond the 140 character limit of Twitter, but doesn't have as much of the games and junk as Facebook.

Like any Social Media network, part of the success depends on who you connect with. Here is a list of 50 Google Circles for educators to join.



Related:

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Email, Google+ - why/when I use each one

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

Google Plus adds Google Docs to Hangouts

 

Google has announced that Google Docs are now included in Hangouts on Google Plus. When in a Hangout, you just click on the new "Docs" button and you can add an existing document, upload a new one, and switch between and collaboratively edit multiple documents at once.

This is another great feature of Google+ Hangouts for education. Teachers and/or students can hold study groups, help sessions, or work on other projects using Docs in Hangouts.

 

 

Related:

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google Plus - tips for using in education, facts and data infographic

Google for Educators Resources

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

10 Ways to Use Google Plus in the Classroom

Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google Plus now open to Teens, with safety features

Google Plus - tips for using in education, facts and data infographic

Google Plus (Google+) is Google's Social Networking service. I love it. You can create circles (groups of people) and only share things with the circles you choose, can have Hangouts (video conferences), share resources, have conversations, and much more. Google+ doesn't have all the ads and games that Facebook does and has a cleaner layout. I think it's a great resource for educators to use with colleagues and with students. You can share resources, have discussions and learn from colleagues. With students, you can post resources, have a Hangout as a help session, and much more.

I've written about Google+ in education many times:

Google+ - More Reasons its great for Education

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

10 Ways to Use Google Plus in the Classroom

Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google Plus now open to Teens, with safety features


Here is an infographic with some interesting facts and statistics about Google+

Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

Google Plus is a great resource for education. Edutopia, a great resource in itself, has a great article "Teaching with Google Plus."

The article goes over some of the features of Google Plus, and how to use Google Plus in the classroom. The Circles can be used for groups or classes, Hangouts can be used for online study groups, and so much more.

I highly recommend the article, and Google Plus, for educators.



Related:

10 Things You Need to Know About Google Plus

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Email, Google+ - why/when I use each one

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

10 Things You Need to Know About Google Plus

Waylou has a great article entitled "10 Things You Need to Know About Google Plus". Google Plus is a great resource for education. There are some great functions and it isn't cluttered with apps and games. You can easily create Circles (groups of people) and selectively share what you want with different groups. Hangouts let you have video conferencing (free) which can be used for study groups and more. I really like Google Plus. This article has some great information about the features and uses of Google Plus.

I highly recommend the article, and Google Plus, for educators.



Related:

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Email, Google+ - why/when I use each one

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

Social Media, while sometimes described as a time waster and blocked by some schools, is actually a great tool for education.

Educators can use social media as part of their Personal Learning Network, to share resources, learn, discuss, connect, and more with other educators around the world. They can also use it to connect and communicate with students and parents, have students connect with each other and share, and so much more. Like any other technology, it's how the tool is used that is important.

Schools and educators should use social media for learning, sharing and communicating.

Here are some articles on how to use social media in education:

Create a Personal Learning Network

Twitter - A great resource for Education

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Email, Google+ - why/when I use each one

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security
Great poster for creating a PLN with Twitter

Here is an infographic on social media in education:



Via: Online Universities Blog

Google Plus now open to Teens, with safety features

Google+, Google's social network, is now open for teens. I've been using it for quite a while and really like it. You can post more that on Twitter, have great conversations, have video conferencing, easily choose who to share posts with , and you don't have all the bloat and apps that Facebook has.

Google has changed the age requirements for Google+ so that any Google Account user can join. That means it is now open to anyone 13 years or older.

Google has set some default settings for teens to increase safety and privacy, including setting it so that only people in the teens circles can send notifications and comment on posts. It also sets it so that if a teen has a hangout going and someone outside their circles joins the hangout, the teen will be removed but given a chance to rejoin. This gives them a chance to make sure the new, unknown person is safe to have in the hangout and wanted.

Google also has a Google+ Teen Safety Guide  and Google+ Safety Center for parents and teens that has safety tips and more information about Google+




Related:

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google Pages - great for education

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

There are a variety of social networks out there that we can use as teachers to expand our learning through a PLN, connect with students and parents, and communicate with colleagues. The three major ones are Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook. They all have different features, functions, and uses.

I use Twitter and Google Plus for real time updates from websites and news and to connect with educators across the globe in my Personal Learning Network to share resources and communicate. I use Facebook to connect with friends and family and keep in touch with former students. You can read more about how and why I use these different services here.

Info.it has a great infographic comparing some of the major features of each of these, from relationships, to sharing, to content.

Which do you use and how / why?

Related:

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, Email, Google+ - why/when I use each one

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

Google+ - more reasons it's great for educators

I'm a big fan of Google+. I have a lot of educators and technology people in my circles and I'm trying to get more of my friends to join. I also have some former students who use Google+ and I'm setting up circles for my classes.

A recent announcement that Facebook will start putting ads directly in the news stream, and the fact that Facebook is full of apps, games, and nonsense, and security and privacy issues, all contribute to my continually decreasing use of Facebook. It's also blocked at school.

I've written about Google+ before and ways to use it in school and I've found some more good resources about Google+ to help people get started using it. It has more features and options than Twitter, but less junk than Facebook. The pages feature is also a great tool for educators and schools and hangouts makes video chat easy. You can easily share you blog posts and tweets to Google+ too.

You can find me on Google+ here.

Here are some resources to get you started:

Educators – Google Plus Is For You by Chris Brogan

How to Effectively use Google+ for Best Results - YouTube video that was shared on Google+ here.

10 Ways to Use Google Plus in the Classroom

Google+ and Google+ Pages - great for educators and schools

Blogger makes it easy to share your posts on Google+

Share articles from blogs with others with ease and continue the conversation

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

Google for Educators Resources

Blogger makes it easy to share your posts on Google+

  

Google has announced that you can now share your blog posts on your Google+ account with one click.

You need to link your blog to your Google+ account first. Then, after you post a new blog post, you will have a new option underneath the blog listing - "Share". Click on this and quickly share your post on your Google+ wall.

This is a great way to share your blog on Google+

Share articles from blogs with others with ease and continue the conversation

There are a variety of ways to share blog posts you read with others. You can copy the link and email it to someone or manually post the link on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook. But many blogs, this one included, have easy shortcuts to use to share articles.

At the bottom of each post on this blog are 6 options for sharing. You can print it using Print Friendly and hand the hard copy to someone (although we are trying to get away from using paper). You can also click one of the icons and share the article/blog post via Email, share it on your own blog, post it to Twitter or Facebook and even +1 share it to Google+.

The power of the web is the ability to share and discuss things with a wide group of people. Using these easy methods, you can quickly share things with others. It's also important to not just read things online, but to comment and contribute your thoughts and ideas also. Comment on blog posts you like or are interested in. Share your ideas, thoughts, and experiences with others. This is how we all learn and grow. 

Infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ security

 VS. 

Veracode has created an interesting infographic comparing Facebook and Google+ on Privacy and Security.



Take a look and see what you think. I rarely use Facebook anymore (a few minutes a day) and use Google+ much more, so I like the fact that Google+ wins (so far).