Google+....will it help me?

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Abdulsalam Haykal
For those who have been living under a rock lately, you would have not heard of Google+ and the fantastic opportunities it provides for you to network with other people, I hope that this link helps you.  I am not going to make this a blog post about Google+, but I am going to talk about one of the tools that educators could you to collaborate professionally in an interactive way. 


When I heard about Google+, I wasn’t (and I still aren’t) sure where it was going to fit into my scheme I things.  I use Facebook to keep up with the latest gossip with my friends, I use Twitter to interact with educators on a professional basis (and a bit of Darth Vader and Lord Voldermont for light humour) and I use the Learning Place to keep up with my Education Queensland stream.  Like a sheep, I joined and created an account.  I started to ‘circle’ people and it was going ok.  I think that whilst this tool will never replace Twitter, it is a place that you can network with like minded professional people.
 
So everything was going fine and then I heard about this thing could a Google Hangout.  My definition of this experience was is that it is like Skype on steroids.  During the September holidays, I was lucky enough to participate in one.  I didn’t even think about recording the conversation but upon further reflection I should have.  How awesome would it be to interact with a group of people and record it for future reference or share your conversation / thoughts with others around the world on a particular topic?  The possibilities are almost endless. 

Below is a video explaining / demonstrating how the tool works and here is a link from Mashable on some tools that you could use to record your Hangouts (or any other screen capturing)  I truly feel that this could revolutionise the way people interact with their PD and each other.  How awesome would it to have a group of educators debating / sharing ideas with each other, have that video recorded and share with the wider world?

In regards to #change11, I would love to use this with a group of educators to keep me 'on track'.  I am really struggling keeping up with the workflow and would love to hear if people are already using this to interact and reflect.  It would be great if they already were and I could just 'join in' but I would be willing to start one if others were keen.  If you are keen, please let me know by leaving me a comment.  I would also be interested to hear your thoughts about this tool.  


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