Google Hangouts

Submitted by David Rosen on Thu, 03/07/2013 - 07:13
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Teechnology and Professional Development Colleagues,

Yesterday, at a professional development webinar I did for the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) the webinar host, , Erik Jacobson, suggested that Google Hangouts might be a good way for adult educators to organize themselves into small work groups (in the context of the webinar's topic, to divide up the work of reviewing free, online instructional videos.) Google Hangouts, I learned, is a way for up to nine people to do a video chat in real time for free.

Have you used this? If so, tell us how, and whether or not you have found it useful, and if so, for what kinds of meetings?

Want to try it out? If so, let me know and I'll send you a Doodle (meeting scheduler) to find a good time for as many of us as possible and (up to nine of us) can try it. If, perchance, I get more than nine inquiries, then its's first come, first to hang out. The hangout I have in mind would be up to an hour. The purpose would be to try out using a hangout and discuss how to use them to organize real-time video meetings or work groups with other adult education practitioners. We can also discuss their advantages and drawbacks. Send me an email if you are interested, and If I get at least four inquiries I'll send you a doodle to see what's the best day/time for everyone.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Comments

I did a trial run with a google hangout with one other person. I agree that these are a great tool for collaborating. You can share documents, see each other in real time (so much better than a faceless voice), and I thought it was fairly easy to set up and use. Plus you can virtually wear a funny hat.

I'd be glad to try this out with you David.  I am currently taking a graduate course on Emerging Technology in Education and am  planning a presentation on the use of google hangouts in education.  I have an 'instruction manual" I've pulled together I can share with the group during the hangout.  Thanks for exploring this...

I've used Google+ Hangouts before for video-chatting with friends and a few times for ESOL tutoring sessions, but I agree that they would be of great use for adult educators to hold meetings and/or for distance learning. I'd be interested in participating in a trial hangout and discussing the many uses of the Google+ Hangout.

I haven't used this google feature but it sounds like it has great potential, especially when working on a joint project.  I hope we can find a time to try it out together!

(That's Google+ for "Amen, me too!")   

I have been wondering if that would be a venue for collaborating on developing math materials...

I've been conducting a series of monthly professional development Google+ hangouts for a careerpathways project. Our Career Coordinators are located over a large, rural geographic region and these monthly hangouts allow us to hold discussions on a variety of topics and share ideas for activities the CCs are doing with project participants in local peer group meetings. It took a little getting used to and there were a few technological glitches that had more to do with the audio and video devices and settings of some computers than it did with Google+ Hangouts. But our 10 CCs and 3 to 4 other staff have been successfully "hanging out" each month for about one year now (some of us sit together at one computer to use one of the 10 possible connections to be sure we have enough connections for everyone to participate).

During a recent hangout, we practiced a learning activity we can do with project participants. To make the activity work, we had to be able to see what the others had written on an 81/2 by 11 piece of paper. We were all able to "show our work" and talk about it to the group using our webcams and audio.

We use the screen sharing feature at every session. Anyone can share anything they have opened on their desktop with the rest of the group (one at a time). I usually create simple PowerPoint presentation slides to display "visuals" when I need to. During discussions, I can type ideas shared by the group on an open Word document or PowerPoint slide while sharing my screen to create a virtual whiteboard or flipchart.

I've tried some of the additional features and apps that are available. For example, there is a chat feature (which is good if someone can hear the group but cannot be heard because of a technology glitch. There are apps to share concept mapping tools for group collaboration as well as an app to share YouTube videos you select in advance. Some apps require a great deal of Internet bandwidth to use and we've had trouble getting them to work when all 10 connections are being used. With only one or two other people connected, these work much better. 

I'd love to try hangouts with a different group of people and learn new ways to use them for project collaboration.

 

Mary Mingle
Adult Education Specialist
WATCH Project
Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit

Thanks, Mary, for this in-depth description of the tool.  Up to now, I had just been lurking on this thread, but your description convinces me that this is one of those pools that I need to do more than stick my toe into!

David, I am guessing that you may already have nine participants, but I am hoping that there will be follow-up discussion and second chance opportunities to try this out!

 

Our staff members work from our home offices and decided to try Google hangouts for a meeting. We had great success with any two of us hanging out, but when we tried to get all four of us in the hangout, the audio was completely distorted for two of us and after rebooting, moving to different rooms, etc., we abandoned the hangout and met in person.

We haven't had time to do more research to troubleshoot why we had the audio problem with 4 of us on Google hangout. We'd like to make it work because it's free but were wondering if we'd have better quality with Gotomeeting. 

Betsy

Betsy, 

I can understand the frustration. Our best quality hangouts have occurred when everyone is working in offices located in larger buidlings with faster broadband Internet connections; folks who worked from home sometimes experienced audio distortions and delayed video. Perhaps their home Internet connections had something to do with this.

Some audio and video problems were fixed when we finally got the hang of changing Google+ Hangout "settings."

Some issues, however, required the user change their own computer's audio (speaker and microphone) and video settings. Many of our staff members never had to do this before, so they had to get help from co-workers or family/friends locally or bring their laptops to our main site where I could "experiment" a bit to change settings.

You can also access a Google+ hangout using an app on most smartphones. This app has limited features. For example, a person accessing a hangout by smartphone might not be able to share his/her screen. But if you are on the road, it is a nice way to connect. Audio and video quality can be compromised depending on the smartphone, the speed of the data service you use and even your location across the country.

I've tried hangouts with an iPad and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the video and audio.

 

Mary

I've used Hangout with family and friends but not in the work environment.

Starting the 19th, I will be holding 3 one-hour traininings over 3 days with Kentucky regional programs. The idea is to be live in one location, and present to other groups so they could participate in the session. The goal is to be able to include more geographically remote groups, as well as deliver a replicable product so that counties would decide to team teach in the future.

The 3 sessions will be iPad focused - 1) iPad Basics (General Settings + Downloading Apps), 2) Use of non-platform specific apps, and 3) using iPads in Project Based Learning (PBL). With this being the first attempt I am unsure what to expect, but if anyone would care to join I'd be happy to send you an invitation. Session will be from 3E/2C, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - everyone involved will be new to the program so it will be clunky.

I am game to hear feedback after the training - maybe have a 2nd Hangout where we can talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. Mary, your knowledge would be quite valuable. Regardless I will give an update after March 25th.

Anyways, I am off to be getting invitations together for the training!

Barry Burkett, Instrucional Technology ConsultantKentucky Educational Televisionhttp://technologyinadulteducation.com/

 

Barry:   If I'm free on the dates and at the times of your events, I'd like to try to connect to your group for your training sessions.

My email address is mmingle@csiu.org . Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks!   Mary

Hi All,

I am posting for the first time, even though I read multiple group posts every week.  The idea of joining a Google Hangouts group and learning what is possible really caught my attention.  David, if there is still room, please put me on the list.

Moira

 

Thanks to all who said they were interested in the Google Hangout. It has been scheduled for Thursday, March 21st -- but the response was so great, it's now full. I am hoping that one or more of the participants in that hangout may be willing to host at least one more, as several people seem to be interested who were unable to be included.

Perhaps some people who did not sign up because they already know how to use Google Hangouts might be willing to host another demo/exploration hangout. If so, please announce its availability in this CoP. I used doodle.com to find a date and time that was best for most (but unfortunately not all) who were interested. That made scheduling a snap.

This experience suggests that there may be a lot of interest here in learning about other technologies. I wonder if other members of this CoP would be willing to host hangouts or webinars to demo and discuss technologies that might be useful for adult literacy educators. Think about it, and let us know when you're ready.

Is there a technology (hardware, software) you would be interested in learning about?

Sometime this spring or early summer I could do a shortened, one-hour version of the face-to-face presentation I will be doing at COABE, and that I did last November at the Georgia state adult education conference, on using free online instructional videos. I just did the first online version of it for a couple dozen adult educators in New Jersey through the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL). I will be doing it face-to-face in early April at the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult education annual adult Education Conference. I would be happy to do one more one-hour, online version at no cost provided someone who has a webinar platform invites me, and that its availability is announced here first.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Can those of you who try the Google Hangout share your experiences and thoughts about how you can use the "hangout" for instruction, professional development, program administration, etc.? Also, what were the lessons learned as far as the technology?

For those of you that are still interested in learning more and participating in the Google+ Hangout, it's still possible to watch a live stream of the Hangout if someone in the huddle uses the "On Air" feature of the Hangout. This feature allows users to stream their Hangout through Google+, YouTube, and your organization's website. Maybe this is something we'd like to consider.

Similar to how one would join the huddle, if someone in your "Circles" is broadcasting a Hangout to their Google+, you will see a link on your newsfeed. If you click this link, you will be brought to a live stream of the Hangout. Although you won't be able to parcipate in the discussion, you will still be able to listen and see everything that the participants will experience.

Another benefit of the "On Air" feature is that you can easily save the live stream to your YouTube account for anyone to access and view later. If you want to learn more about the Hangouts and/or this feature, you can go to http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html#tab0 for more information.