2. Hangouts
On Air
Taking blended education
with @topgold from LIT.ie
to a new level.
3. Conclusions Up Front
O Hangouts leverage laptops already carried
by third level students.
O Logitech’s C910 HD webcam makes
Hangouts very presentable.
O Hangouts on Air reach syndication faster
than working with Camtasia.
O Guest appearances are limited only by
hesitations about using Google Plus.
11. Mobiles Can’t Do
O Mobile clients cannot run Hangouts on Air.
O You cannot add an app to a mobile hangout.
O On poor 3G, some mobiles should just
listen.
O Sound quality reveals connection quality.
13. About your Set-up
O Know how to toggle off your own sound.
O Consider a dedicated webcam for better
optics.
O Put light in front of you, not behind you.
Screenshots from Bernie Goldbach’s laptop as he presents Hangouts on Air. The original presentation featured in a workshop during Social Media Day in Cork, Ireland.
Bernie Goldbach’s first-hand experience with Hangouts on Air has empowered the Technology, Science and Media department at the Limerick Institute of Technology with a new teaching and learning metaphor. Hangouts work easier than Camtasia recording sessions.
We have a physical limitation with classroom seating at the moment. Hangouts on Air remove a constraint, enabling high definition video from a lecturer’s laptop.
Sometimes we put this webcam on a tripod. It has a ballast weight that keeps it stable on an open laptop screen. It also zooms down to within two inches of text on paper or objects on tables.
This condenser mic has an on/off switch that makes easy work of controlling local noise. It’s built to capture audio where you point it and I know that it can pull audio in from five metres away. We attach it to a boom pole when working with groups between 10-50 people.
These Klipsch S4i earbuds block out all noise and deliver reference audio results. Consequently, we can quickly determine which participant’s Hangout screen is producing unwelcome artifacts and we can mute that participant.
You have to have a session running order in mind.
The Hangout button is the top right function in Google Plus.
If you’re going to have problems running a Hangout over a mobile phone or a proxy, you’ll probably experience the problem at this screen.
I try to co-ordinate at least the window of time that I want to connect by Hangout. I often send a short agenda to participants by direct message.
There are limitations when trying to connect mobile devices to Hangouts.
You can fiddle with your settings before the Hangout goes live.
People often show little awareness for lighting.
Hangouts work nicely on iOS.
I have toggled the camera to the rear position and shared my local environment. This has created interesting conversations.
I can talk to Irish landlines while in a Hangout for two cents a minute.
New Hangout apps have started appearing once a week.
I use each of these apps often. On my campus network, Cacoo is laggy.
The site HangoutGraphics lets you create your own custom “lower third” for the screen.
Software like WebcamMax lets you add your lower third to your webcam stream where it’s picked up by the Google video and voice chat plugin, the one used by Google+ Hangouts.
Both sides of the connection need to be on a laptop because mobile devices cannot load this app.
A lot of the artists in our third level curriculum are discoverable.
Damien Hirst is has three pieces among the 30000 works of Google Art.
Google+ Hangout provides live video and audio. Symphonical provides real-time walls that lets you get things done together.
The Panoramio Hangout Game lets you compete with your friends to find out where a photo was taken while traveling around the world with Google Maps.
I’m trying to use images I’ve shared with Panoramio.
I plan to talk over YouTube clips while inside a Hangout.
The clips you use can be bundled and shared as a playlist.
It’s very handy adding a voice dimension to live edits inside Google Docs.
Cacoo works best for me when it’s a walk-through, not a major edit of a template while inside a Hangout.
If you know the keyboard commands, you can easily create a Mindmap during a live Hangout.
Google Hangouts have encouraged me to make more Slideshare decks.
You can talk through a slide deck in full screen with a private audience while using Google Hangouts.
If you create and record Hangouts, you really should listen and watch your work. That way, you will notice background noise and latency that might have passed you by in the real session.
I have a saved search for “hangouts” on G+ and it’s very helpful. The T9 link to “captions” is the saved search for “hangout captions”.
Both TWiG and MOC have hands-on experience with G+ and Hangouts.
Joe Garde has been using services like Google Hangouts since 2008. I’ve learned a lot from him and recommend his technical expertise. Jane Boyd has faciliated live Hangouts for international audiences. She is an excellent host. Smartphones make mobile Hangouts a doddle.
This presentation is shared via Creative Commons at Slideshare.net: http://www.slideshare.net/topgold/early-hangouts. The blog post: http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2012/07/early-hangouts.html See my curated G+ links at http://pinboard.in/u:topgold/t:googleplus
The Google shortener takes you into a cluster of pages on http://www.insideview.ie dealing with Hangouts.