10 Ways to Use Google Hangouts to Transform Learning

My class "hanging out" with Education Secretary Duncan on Google Hangouts

In our world today, we can stay connected in unprecedented ways. Why just call or text when you can “see” someone who is hundreds or thousands of miles away? Even President Obama used Google Hangouts in 2013 during his fireside chat with the country. If you haven’t used Hangouts before, it’s time to examine the possibilities.

In education, using Hangouts is a great way to connect and collaborate with other educators without giving out your phone number. It’s a powerful tool for making connections, working collaboratively, and introducing the world to your students. Many educators have embraced Hangouts to enrich both their students’ learning experiences and their own professional development. Below are some ways educators are using Hangouts to step up the learning.

Make Student Connections

You can connect students with their peers from around the country, or even from abroad if time zone differences permit. Below are some ideas on how teachers are using this fabulous video calling tool in their classrooms.

1. Book Talks: Classes that are reading the same book or similar genres can discuss novels together and make book recommendations to one another.
2. Mystery Hangouts: In this activity, two classrooms video chat with each other but do not reveal their individual locations. Before meeting online, both classes research facts about their own state and create clues about their location. Then, each class takes turns asking “Yes” or “No” type questions in a race to solve the mystery. More details on how to get started could be found on my blog here. To find classes to connect with yours, visit the Mystery Location Calls Google+ Community or reach out to members of the Connected Classrooms Workshop Google+ Community.
3. Presentations: Give students an authentic audience. They can present their projects to other classes or adults. Recruit parents, community members, or career professionals to provide a captive audience for your students.
4. Project Collaboration: Classes that are studying similar themes or topics can collaborate on a project together in a way never possible before.

Bring in the Experts...For Free!

1. Guest Speakers: Inviting a speaker into the classroom has never been easier...or cheaper. Video calling enables anyone from around the world to “visit” a school. Also, as an added plus, Google Hangouts has the ability to handle up to ten people in a video call at once and up to fifteen using a Google Apps account. This means that there’s never a dull moment or radio silence during the call. Last year, my classes were able to participate in two amazing Hangouts on Air. We got to speak with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee and Education Secretary Duncan.
2. Virtual Field Trips: With video calling technology becoming more popular, many companies are now offering virtual field trips via Hangouts on Air, which is a public Google Hangout that broadcasts a live recording of the event. After the video call ends, it is archived on the host’s YouTube channel for anyone to view again later. Here are a few companies that are offering or (have recently offered) virtual field trips that could bring that out of classroom experience to your students: Learn Around the World, Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants, and SeaTrek.TV. Occasionally, announcements of virtual field trips from various members of the Connected Classrooms Workshop Google+ Community will be posted.

Learn and Collaborate from Anywhere

1. Virtual Classes: One year, we had one student at my middle school who progressed so quickly through his math studies that he was ready for Algebra II. Unfortunately, we didn’t offer this course on our campus, but we did at another school in our district. Thanks to Google Hangouts, this student didn’t have to transfer schools and, instead, he attended math class virtually and received all his instruction online.
2. Office Hours: Sometimes students need more one-on-one attention or perhaps they were absent and need to catch up on what they missed. Teachers can schedule Hangouts to hold virtual office hours to provide the assistance students need.
3. Professional Collaborations: With everyone just a video call away, educators can work on projects and share ideas with anyone around the world. Many educators have forged powerful connections (called PLNs) via social media platforms like Twitter and Google+, and they’re using Google Hangouts to learn together or to plan professional development events for educators like Edcamps and PLAYDATEs.
4. New Twist to Webinars: More and more, companies are turning to Hangouts on Air to host their webinars. It gives educators a choice: watch the webinar live and participate in a “Question & Answer” session with the presenter or watch it later at one’s convenience. A great example of this is the webinar series from Imagine Easy Solutions.

The possibilities of using Hangouts in education are endless. How will you transform your learning and the learning of your students?

Abbreviated version of this post was originally published on WeAreTeachers.

Oh, The Places We Will Go with Google’s Connected Classrooms!

What if you could take your students on unlimited field trips?  What if your class could visit Antarctica or speak with a NASA astronaut? With Google’s Connected Classrooms, this is now absolutely possible.

In recent years, Google has taken their video calling service, known as Hangouts, to a whole new level by introducing the ability to broadcast a live recording of it. These Hangouts on Air allowed anyone to create broadcasts on the Internet for free. Then, Google stepped up their game by launching a new educational outreach program called Connected Classrooms, in which students around the world can participate in virtual field trips via Hangouts on Air.

During every Connected Classrooms event, a few classes are invited into a special Hangout on Air where students can ask questions and interact directly with experts and distinguished guests. Other classrooms can follow along by viewing the live broadcast, submitting questions in the Q & A feature of Hangouts, or by accessing an archived recording at their leisure.

By partnering up with educational institutions, non-profit organizations, businesses, and famous individuals, Google has created a fantastic program that will bring the world into your classroom. Below are some places where students have ‘been:’

• Seattle Aquarium – Classrooms everywhere were treated to a free field trip to the Seattle Aquarium’s Window on Washington Waters exhibit where a scuba diver in the tank took live questions from the audience and broadcasted this interchange to the world.
• Above the Arctic Circle – This hangout started above the Arctic Circle in Alaska and ended in Berkeley Lab in California. Students learned “how and why scientists study permafrost to better understand the vulnerable Arctic ecosystem — and what may happen to it as the climate changes.”
• Dogsledding Through Google Glass – Dave Freeman, a wilderness explorer and dogsled guide from the Northern tundra of Minnesota, took students on a “ride” on his dogsled. Students were able to experience this unique trip through the wilderness from his Google Glass perspective.

Those adventures sound amazing, don’t they? After learning about Connected Classrooms, I couldn’t wait for my class to participate. When when our turn came, I couldn’t have been more ecstatic.

To commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Connected Classrooms partnered up with Peace Jam, and they invited three classes to speak with Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee. My students and I couldn’t believe our luck. Then, a couple of weeks later, we received another special invitation. The White House, in partnership with Connected Classrooms, was looking for one middle school class to speak with Education Secretary Duncan. I am proud to say that my students conducted themselves with poise and maturity as they presented their questions to these distinguished guests.

Google+ Hangout with Education Secretary Duncan

All my students were absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to participate in these two wonderful Connected Classrooms events. Not only did they learn from the wisdom of our special speakers, they also learned how to conduct themselves professionally in front of a live camera. The students who presented their questions practiced their public speaking skills in an authentic environment. They also became the superstars at our school that day and were the subject of their classmates’ envy. What student doesn’t want that?

To participate in a Connected Classrooms event, you will need to join the Connected Classrooms Community on Google+. By joining this community, you are also tapping into a global network of educators which was never possible before. Are you teaching Spanish and want your class to chat with other classrooms in Spanish-speaking countries? Are you teaching social studies and want your students to actually talk to their peers who live in the country you are studying?  Connected Classrooms is the place to find these contacts. Feel free to reach out to the other educators in this community. Everyone is very welcoming and quick to respond, and I’ve witnessed many fantastic connections formed through this community.

Join the Google+ Connected Classrooms Community if you haven’t already. I look forward to interacting with you there!

This post originally appeared on the CUE Blog on June 10, 2014.

Is Technology Just a Tool?

Recently, I had a conversation with someone about using technology in the classroom. Though it was acknowledged that students should learn with technology, the conclusion drawn was this. Technology is just a tool.

I think this could be true, depending on what type of teacher one is describing. Teaching with technology just to be cool, modern, or hip is not good pedagogy. However, to downgrade technology to being just a tool misses the point as well.

Could I perform my job without technology? I'm not the type of teacher who teaches straight out of a book. Whenever I come across something that I think I can use in the classroom, I'm always adapting it, revising it, and trying to improve it. It's hopeless. I can't stop tinkering.

I prefer to create my own teaching materials. Even now, after teaching for over 18 years, I still constantly revise my own teaching documents and presentation files -- sometimes from one class to the next because I want to give my students the best work I can produce. So could I effectively do this part of my job without technology?  No.

What about research and learning? Without the Internet, I couldn't look for new literature, author biography, current events, or digital media with which to supplement my lessons.  For example, one year, I decided to augment my "Flowers for Algernon" unit with medical articles about disabilities to help my students appreciate the challenges of living with a disability. Prior to the invention of the Internet, I would have never thought about doing this because I didn't have the resources.

So how do my students benefit from a technology-rich curriculum?

Having access to technology has enabled my students to write for a global audience. As a result of blogging, my students are far more prolific than those from my previous years, and they also have the added advantage of being able to connect with other students around the world through Quadblogging.  This has shown them that the world is bigger than they realized, giving them glimpses of other cultures to which they previously wouldn't have been exposed.

Having access to technology has enabled my students to participate in the Mystery State Project and to have had the opportunity to Skype with a State Senator. We're finally able to bring the world into our classroom.

Having access to technology has enabled my students to create more digital media projects like video animations, live action movies, still photography, comic strips, and podcasts to name a few. These projects taught them how to be creative and collaborative. They learned the importance of revising their work and the necessity of observing copyright laws when choosing their media. They were also more engaged during the learning process.

Could my students learn without technology? Yes. But did technology elevate my students' learning to new heights? Without a doubt.

Like it or not, technology is immersed in our lives - in our homes, at our jobs, and out in the world.

Would you run a company without technology? Then why would you run a school without it?

Skyping with a State Senator

Today my students had the privilege and honor of Skyping with Senator Kimberly Yee from Arizona.

We just recently finished a persuasive speech unit. During the unit we read "The Gettysburg Address" and "I Have a Dream." I also add a third speech, and it's usually something very recent, like President Obama's inauguration speech. It obviously varies depending on the year we're in. As we studied the speeches, my students learned about the rhetorical strategies used by these dynamic orators - allusion, simile, metaphor, symbolism, and so on. Then, students were instructed to write a speech that would enact positive change in the world. They spend a couple of weeks researching facts that will support their idea (a great opportunity here to teach how to discern valid sources). Afterwards, they write a speech incorporating three facts and numerous rhetorical strategies.

In line with this idea of changing the world, I thought, "What better way for students to understand this than to video conference with an elected official?"

Fortunately for me, I met Senator Yee last summer at the Partner's in Learning U.S. Forum in Redmond, Washington -- an all-expense paid trip, courtesy of Microsoft. Each year, Microsoft selects educators from all over the country to showcase the innovative ways we are using technology in our classroom. It was a wonderful experience, and all the participants shared their projects in a science fair setting. On the second day, Microsoft hosted professional development sessions and gave us the opportunity to also network and collaborate with other educators.

Senator Yee was one of the judges at the event and the only elected official. Immediately, I realized that she'd be a great guest to have in my classroom, considering the speech unit that I usually taught in the spring.

As my class got ready for our video conference session this morning, my students were excited and awed at the idea of being able to speak to a state senator. We had a list of questions ready, and no shortages of students who volunteered to read them. In fact, many students were arguing over who will get to ask the questions. They had to battle for this role, rock-paper-scissors style.

When the call came through, the whole room was silent and attentive. My students were polite and respectful, and they came up eagerly to the camera when it was their turn to ask a question. I was especially impressed by one student who prefaced his question with a "Good morning, Senator Yee," something I had not prompted him to say.

Here are the list of the questions we had.
1. How did you get started in public service?
2. What is the campaign process like?
3. What is the lawmaking process like?
4. What does a typical day look like for you?
5. What is the best part of your job?
6. What are some fun things you get to do?
7. What are some challenges of your job?
8. Do you travel a lot?
9. Do you get to meet famous people?
10. What advice do you have for us?

Senator Yee did a fabulous job of praising my students for their thoughtful questions, and she answered them with energy and enthusiasm. One especially memorable part was when she shared that as a high school senior, she introduced a bill, which eventually passed into law. I thought that was such a great message for my students to hear - that we do have the power to affect our futures, regardless of age.

It was such a great experience, and I hope to invite more guests into my classroom. If you use video conferencing with your students, please share below.

Let the Guessing Begin

Last month, I stumbled upon the Mystery State Project. In this activity, two classrooms video chat with each other but do not reveal their individual locations. Before meeting online, both classes research facts about their own state and create clues about their location. Then, each class takes turns asking yes/no type questions in a race to solve the mystery.

The first clue should be rather general and vague with each subsequent clue becoming more specific and obvious.

The other class went first and our exchange were as follows:

1. Other class:  Our professional baseball team is very famous.
2. My class:  Are you on the East Coast?
3. Other class:  No.
4. My class:  We are west of the Mississippi River.
5. Other class:  Are you located in one of the central states?
6. My class:  No.

Some classes like to assign specific roles to students (i.e. greeter, clue giver, questioner, researcher, runner, photographer, videographer, notetaker, etc.).  However, I like giving all my students some camera time with the other class so this is the method I implemented.

1. Form teams of three or four students.
2. Set up three or four chairs in front of the camera.
3. Each team gets a chance interact with the other class by giving clues and asking questions.
4. Teams waiting in the wings can strategize as they wait their turn.  They should also be furiously researching and debating over the answer, maybe even tweaking their clues or questions if needed before they sit in front of the camera.
5. The team that guesses the location of the other class can win a prize.

It was a fun activity for both my students and myself. I loved how they immersed themselves in researching our state so that they can come up with the best clues. Inadvertent learning. Which teacher doesn't applaud that?

When the day came for our online meeting, both classes were really excited. Our mystery partners were enthusiastic and welcoming. Both sides worked hard to guess the other's location with the use of search engines and maps. The period flew by quickly, and soon we had to say goodbye. Later my students asked when we could do it again.

To find other educators who are involved with mystery video calls, you can join Google+ Communities like Connected Classrooms or my friend Jo-Ann Fox's Mystery Location Calls.

What do you think of this activity? How could you adapt it to your classroom? If you'd like to join us in this activity, please contact me. I look forward to working with you!