Journal #6: Google +

Parr, Ben. "Google : The Complete Guide." Mashable Social Media. 18 Nov 2011: n. page. Web. 17 Dec. 2011. <http://mashable.com/2011/07/16/google-plus-guide/>.

Brogan, Chris. "Educators- Google Plus Is For You." Chris Brogan. Genesis Framework, 30 Sep 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.chrisbrogan.com/gpluseducators/>.

Google+: The Complete Guide was a very interesting article on the different aspect of Google’s new social network. It described it as the product of Facebook and Twitter combined. Google+ can help with organization of all of your documents and dates and events and it also allows you the opportunity to share different information with different people simultaneously, something that Facebook and Twitter are still developing. The way you can control this is by grouping your contacts into circles. There is also a hangout or a group chat feature that is missing in other social networking sites.

This Blog was about how Google+ can help educators communicate with their class and also come up with new ways to bring and share information with the students. He talked about the importance of the circle and how you can share certain information only with the class circle and how you can share the circle so that everyone in the class has everyone else also. It also talked about the hangouts and how you can have multiple hangouts with separate groups if your class is too big.

What are some other ways that we can get the technology in Google + to help make the classroom experience more interesting for our youth?

The Complete Guide shared some information on Android and iPhones and the Google+ apps for those. We know that our students are very high tech now and that more than half of them have access to a smart phone. We can make Google+ part of our classroom community and use the hangouts for group collaboration and the stream for sharing of different resources. It is a great way to introduce how to safely use social media in a more controlled environment. With Google+ we have more control over what they are viewing and sharing with the rest of the class than with Facebook or Twitter and they can also use all of the other great apps that Google offers for free.

How can fieldtrips and Guest Speakers be more convenient with Google +?

With the hangout app the teacher can blow up the web cam and show it to the entire class and a professional or panel of professionals can be guest speakers without having to leave the comfort of their offices or even if they are half a world away they cans still engage with the students. As for fieldtrips, well if and when everyone in the class has transportation they can check in at a certain site and that way they can have their own learning experience but share it with the rest of the class through sharing videos pictures and posts. The teacher can make sure they were there by having them check in at the site.