Angie Wassenmiller, R.N., BSN

The newest Google product to hit the scene is Google+ (aka Google Plus). I approached Google+ with hesitation, having been excited about, and then subsequently disappointed by, Google Wave and Google Buzz. Haven’t heard about Wave or Buzz? Well, it’s no surprise… they were terrible. However, I was still giddy about getting an invite to Google+. This is, after all, what Google does. They hand out select invites, and then the invitees can invite a certain amount of people, making everyone with an invite feel like one of the “chosen.”

What is Google+? The short answer, and what you’re most likely to hear/read, is that it’s Google’s Facebook competitor. However, that is too much of a simplification of its features. These features, I’ll add in advance, have wonderful capabilities for instruction! The key difference is that you can “stream” information to select groups, which Google+ refers to as “circles.” So, the first thing you do is set up your circles. Preset circles are friends, family, and acquaintances, but you can add your own (think “students,” “ED 101 Class,” or “Science Colleagues”). Once you have circles, you can post (as you do in Facebook), but indicate to whom you would like the post to appear. So, I can choose all my circles, just my friends, friends and family, students, etc. As with Facebook, you can share pics, videos, and links as well. The ability to set up a circle for, and stream information specifically to, a course or group of students presents excellent possibilities for classroom sharing and collaboration.

Another feature that separates Google+ from Facebook (in a big way): the “hangout.” Anyone can start a hangout, which allows people to connect using a webcam and mic. When you start a hangout, you can invite anyone in your circle, but you can also invite via link. I was in a hangout last night and, while there are some kinks that Google needs to work out (mostly associated with sharing YouTube videos), it was pretty slick. The audio was crystal clear, and the video worked great. When someone speaks, Google puts that person’s image front and center. Participants without audio can communicate via chat. As it turns out, one of the folks in my hangout took a screenshot last night. Don’t ask me why I’m not looking at the screen, but at least you can see what it looks like!

We now have WebEx, which is the recommended way for instructors to host virtual office hours, but students cannot initiate their own WebEx meetings. If they were all connected in Google+, a student could start a hangout, letting other students know that they are available to study together, collaborate, chat, etc. You can have 10 people in a hangout at one time.

A final feature of Google+ is “Sparks.” Sparks allows you to get streaming information about topics in which you are interested. So, for example, “Instructional Technology” might be one of my sparks.

Initial thoughts on Google+…

I really like the ability to stream information to specific groups of people. Obviously, one should still assume that everything on the Web is public, but it at least allows you to target your posts. The hangout feature has great potential for simple collaborations, but will not support interactions that require more advanced sharing features (i.e. desktop sharing, file sharing, whiteboard, etc.). These types of meetings are best reserved for more sophisticated apps, such as (at Concordia) WebEx. Will it replace Facebook? I doubt it. People are pretty immersed in Facebook and most of them, hearing that Google+ is simply another Facebook, probably won’t even bother giving it a try. However, if I wanted to establish a social/collaborative environment for a specific group, I would bypass Facebook and head straight to Google+.

Do you ever find yourself needing to randomly select names in class? Maybe you’re assigning groups, doing a review game, throwing out a verbal pop quiz… whatever. Click here for a super fun random name selector. Simply enter your students’ names and click “go.” The name selector will scroll through the names with the sound of a slot machine. Once it lands on a name, the name is announced to the class. The former elementary teacher in me loves this, but I would 100% use it with my higher ed students too!

NOTE: If annoying music starts playing when you open the link, go to “options” and pause the video that is there. The video autoplays on my Mac, but not on my PC.

I came across Tiki-Toki today, a great tool for creating multimedia-infused timelines. Instructors can use Tiki-Toki to share timelines, complete with images, links, and videos. Students can use it for, well… the same thing! To familiarize myself with Tiki-Toki, I started this simple timeline of the World War II events that took place in 1943.

I was first asked to decide which kind of account I would like. There is one free option and two paid. Here’s an overview of their features:

Of course, I chose to stick with the free version. I was then able to start creating my timeline. This process was pretty easy since Tiki-Toki provided me with instructions as I clicked through the various options.

You first enter the details of your timeline, including the title, start/end dates, introduction, etc. I really like that you can change the background of the timeline by adding your own image. To add an image, you can click on the magnifying glass and search images in Flickr that are labeled Creative Commons or choose your own Flickr images. The image source is automatically credited, which is pretty nifty. You are supposed to be able to enter the URL for an image, but this didn’t work for me (could be user error). One piece of advice regarding images: nothing happens when you click on your image of choice. I kept thinking that it wasn’t working, only to realize that Tiki-Toki had already inserted the image.

Once you’ve finished the settings, you can start creating timeline events, which Tiki-Toki calls “stories.” For each story, you can add a title, date, and basic information. The real beauty lies in how you can enhance the story with links, images, YouTube videos, and additional text.

When you’re finished, simply share the link with others and they can enjoy your timeline! If you have some extra budget money and can afford the educator account, you could have your students group edit a timeline. This would be a great feature for group projects.