Google hangout is a wonderful tool that could be used for so much in the classroom. You could record yourself giving a lesson and send it to the students as homework. This is called a flip classroom which is a great idea for the upcoming project based learning. Another aspect that could be of use in the classroom is a group project that the students will use Google hangouts in the classroom with another class from a different city or even country. This could be beneficial to the students as they get to see a different perspective on the topic they are discussing or learning about. This could also be used for teachers learning from each other. You could have a discussion with a number of teachers on ideas they had with certain topics, or test questions, or what aspects of certain lessons or objectives they found their students struggled with. Simply put it is a great communication tool that will benefit learning all around. It could be used for those students that do not feel as comfortable speaking in front of a class so they could record themselves and present that in class with limited talking. Mary Beth Hertz, an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania had the idea for students in elementary school to be using hangouts for a multi-class book club. The students can use the hangout to discuss what they read the previous week and what was interesting to them. This is an excellent idea for the younger grades and will be so much fun for them to see other students they may know or even get to know through the hangout.
Some aspects of concern will be the privacy issues. Some parents may not like their children being online looking at another person face to face. Or if they were to use this tool at home it is a issue with privacy in the home. As Ken discussed in the hangout it was awkward for him to do as he could see right into some peoples bedroom. This is an issue of privacy. It could also lead to other issues with cyber bullying or inappropriate behaviour. All of these issues can be avoided through being proactive in your teaching. Teach the students about hangout and why it is a great tool. Work with them using the hangout, but most of all be smart with the hangout. Talk to parents, administration, and the students about hangout and why it is a great tool in the classroom. When parents hear about this there will not be many that are against the use in the classroom, thus enhancing the learning and experience. References http://www.edutopia.org/blog/educators-schools-google-hangouts-mary-beth-hertz Significant Comments: http://calewinterneted.weebly.com/blog/topic-5-communication-iii#comments http://zacharyrhodes.weebly.com/ed-4764-blog/reflection-5#comments
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