Google+

I am a social networking addict.  I love connecting, communicating, and collaborating I cannot get enough.  I take part in weekly twitter chats where I can get a plethora of information.  Facebook is where I socialize.  And Google+ has now become my go to place to communicate and find resources.  I am loving the compatibility it has with all the other google apps and it is growing.  The user friendly and clean features make it fun and appealing as well.  Below is my list of ways people can use Google+ in education to enrich their overall experience in the classroom and potentially outside the classroom.

1. A great LMS: Edmodo, Lore, Schoology, etc. are great but it's kind of like tricking kids into social networking and they catch on fast.  Using an LMS is a great way to keep things organized and communicate with students and I think Google+ can be accessed in this way by creating a Community for your class.  If you are a GAFE school this can be done if your administrator gives students access to Google+.  I have started implementing this in my classroom.  The students are using a school account so rules apply.  I think it is a great way to teach digital citizenship, keep contact, and keep things organized (assignments, due dates, discussions, etc.).

2. Staff Meetings and Collaboration: About a week ago I had a meeting to attend but I was not available, but because we are a GAFE school I was able to join in on the meeting via google hangout.  It was a great experience and it was just like being there.  I think it's a great idea to get staff involved on Google+.  Staff can post updates on what is going on in their classes, events can be lined up, and it's a great way to communicate and share information.

3. Resource Center:  Since Google+ has opened up their community feature (similar to groups/pages on Facebook) people are able to connect in a new way.  People (especially teachers) love sharing information and joining these communities is a great way to access this shared information.  Some good ones to join are Google Apps for Education, Google Apps in Education, EdTech, Tech in Edu., and Educational Technology.

Chromebooks

Imagine a laptop that is simply a web browser with multiple options for web apps.  It sounds crazy but this is the concept behind the chromebook, Google's take on a laptop.  No more Microsoft Office, Firefox, Safari, or the horrid Internet Explorer.  No more movie maker, garage band, iphoto, etc.  The Chromebook takes away the world of software and programs and replaces them with a world totally immersed in the web.  You can download apps for the chromebook, but everything is saved to the cloud as there is limited memory on the device.  You simply type everything on Google docs, it saves automatically to the cloud and there are no worries of a crashed hard drive, viruses, or any other bad thing that could happen to your normal computer.  It does need internet access to run, unless you download the offline apps that will allow some function outside of a wifi area.  They are simplicity at the max, but amazing at that.  Everything is synced properly.  All google apps are obviously compatible and once a user logs in tot he chromebook using their google username and password they never have to log in to any other google app again.  The most amazing part is the speed.  Ten (10) seconds to boot up.  WHAT...10 seconds.  No long annoying updates before use, you can choose when to update and the updates are quick.  You can use any typical web app (similar, Macbooks, Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, etc.) as you are online anyway.  The trackpad and keyboard are similar to Macbooks.  No more clutter as you can't save anything to your computer and the desktop will become obsolete.  Great management from a teacher and tech director's standpoint.  Anyone can log on to any device as long as they have a google account.  Simply put they are amazing.  They are cheap to with the Acer model at 199 and the Samsung model at 249.

I understand this post is a little sporadic and rambly (not a word but you get what I am saying), but these things blew my mind today when I was being shown them and playing around with them.

Just another nerdy google apps post

Did you know you can record your google+ hangouts and upload them via YouTube?  Well you can and it's pretty awesome for multiple reasons.  Whether it's flipping your classroom, recording a lecture, keeping meeting notes, or whatever floats your boat you can share them with the world to see (which has its downsides).  Here's a step by step approach to recording and uploading:

1. You have start a hangout by clicking the "Start a Hangout" button on your Google+ profile...it looks like this:

2. You then need to title your hangout, invite people, and click the option "Enable Hangout on air".

3. It will ask you if you want to verify your YouTube account (do it).  Then start the hangout.

4.  To start recording you need to click "Start Broadcast" at the top of the screen.  This will create a live broadcast (obviously) for people to watch on YouTube.  Once the Google+ Hangout is over the live feed will be automatically replaced with a recording and people will be able to view anytime after that.