The coolest thing about Google+ Hangouts is that you can connect with more than one class at a time! The class that is talking is featured on the main screen while the other classes are listening and shown at the bottom. Somehow Google+ Hangouts knows which class to put on top!
Our class introduced ourselves to the others and then we shared some predictions about the book we are reading together, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. We also learned about the other classes and heard their predictions. My kids commented that most of their predictions were the same except my class thinks that Ivan is in the circus, and the other classes predicted Ivan was in a mall! We shall find out soon which is correct when we read the book next week!
Thank you to Mr. Spicer and Mr. Buist for spending some excellent face time with us today!
Here are some photos from the event.
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| This is Mr. Buist's class presenting while the others are listening. |
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| Here some students are waiting to introduce the class and share predictions about Ivan. |
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| Here we are watching the screen waiting for our turn to come up! |
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| Can you see? It's Ms. Abdel-Aal's class talking from next door! |
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| The students talked into the camera on the teacher's laptop. |
What was your favorite thing about meeting these classes on Google+ Hangout today?
Thanks for sharing this post about Google+ Hangout. More schools need to get connected this way. However, first the school administrators need to see the potential and allow teachers to make use of Google+ in their classrooms. How did the schools involved get the approval to use Google+? I love the way you are using Hangout to connect multiple classes. What a wonderful learning experiences for students. I plan to tell the teachers in my graduate course about this and to connect them to this blog post. Maybe, they will leave some comments. I am aout to create a blog post right now to get them to read your blog post.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the blog post I just created to share the information with the students in my Computers in the Classroom course. Most of the students are teachers. They need to see the power of Google+ Hangouts and the kinds of wonderful learning happening in your classroom and others through both Google+ Hangouts and Global Reading Aloud. Some have already expressed an interest in Global Read Aloud and joined. Others just need to understand Google+ and Google+ Hangout. Feel free to leave your own reply on this blog post:
ReplyDeletehttp://computerconnections.posterous.com/learn-about-students-using-google-hangout-to
Thank you.
It is amazing that you're students are able to collaborate within in the classroom and with other classrooms who are reading the same story. I like the idea of blogging and Edmodo because it extends the age old concept of "pen pals". Nowadays students can share, compare and discuss concepts with other students anywhere in the world. This has to help with social skills, confidence, teamwork, responsibility and understanding diversity. The ideas of students in one area may be influenced by the things they experience locally and your students gain a variety of perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI just wonder how much time, in and out of class, is actually spent in this type of investment.
The time investment wasn't any more than any other project. I spent some time finding classes to partner with, reading the book with my class, discussing the book, then about a 20 minute Google Hangout call. You have to be flexible with scheduling the call because you have to take differences in time zones into consideration.
ReplyDelete