Bernie Goldbach in Limerick | Screenshot from our Hangout
WE'RE DABBLING WITH Google Hangouts, hoping to show how they might be integrated into third level education next semester. Part of our experimentation involved a short multi-seat synchronous Hangout during Limerick Open Coffee.
Live video isn't for everyone so the actual mainstream uptake of this kind of free service is likely to be limited to those who don't mind sharing through their pinhole cameras. However, there's a lot to be said about portable mobile collaboration and Google Hangouts (with a lot of free add-on applications) have extended my classroom well beyond the European time zones.
We used Camtasia to record the July 2012 LOCC Hangout because we wanted to include mobile phones in the mix. Google automatically records Hangouts on Air, but those don't serve mobile handsets.
I like the end result of today's unscripted Hangout. We'll do a few more at industry events throughout 2012.
Bernie Goldbach curates information about Google Plus.