Presented by Stephen Judd at the 2013 National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Google+ is an online social network which allows people to connect, share, and collaborate. By combining personal connections, topical communities, and real-time video conferencing, Google+ has become a valuable tool for Extension professionals as they try to remain current in their fields and learn from their colleagues and other experts. Professional development for Extension staff is critical to maintain and enhance their expertise. Online networks can facilitate this by providing connections to people with similar interests and providing a platform to share insights, resources, and ask questions. This session will focus on the tools available within the Google+ platform that allow people to connect with each other, become members of communities of interest, and collaborate in real-time. We’ll also touch on sense-making - how the process of sharing resources and information can help you better internalize and apply the knowledge you share. While not a step-by-step “how-to,” participants will come to understand why many of their colleagues are active on Google+ and how they can join in the conversation or enhance the experience they are already having.

1. Using Google+ for Professional
Development and Personal
Learning
● Stephen Judd
● U. of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
● eXtension Network Literacy Community of Practice
December 3, 2013 - NAEPSDP Annual Conf.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
and the Office of Family Policy, Children and Youth, U.S. Department of Defense under Award No. 2010-48869-20685.

2. The PLN approach to PD
Not enough courses, workshops, etc. can be
created for YOU to learn what YOU need to
stay current and expand your expertise.
Developing a personal learning network
(PLN) empowers YOU to seek out and share
information that matches your varied
interests.

3. What is Google+ ?
“Google+ brings popular social-media
features like comments, photo- and musicsharing, videochat, etc. to your social
circles. It's basically what any user chooses
it to be, from an ongoing conversation to a
platform of self-expression, with tools for
making it as individual or collective as you
want.” - https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2409856?hl=en

5. Useful for Extension PD?
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Connect with other experts
Share and discuss
Real-time videochat
Broadcast “webinars”
Topical communities
Search / hashtag

6. Connect with other experts

7. Share and discuss

8. Hangouts - Real-time videochat
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Start on the fly
Up to ten participants
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15 in some cases
Share screens, docs, etc.
Richer interaction than
conference calls
Mobile
FREE!

9. Hangouts On Air
● Open to the public
● Max of 10 participants in the video / call
● Broadcast live on YouTube channel and where
embedded
● Automatically recorded to YouTube channel

10. Where the broadcast occurs
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Google+ Event
YouTube channel of HOA creator
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Can be a Google+ Page
Any webpage where video is embedded
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Can create a custom webpage and embed
Hangout On Air when it is created
Need to be able to edit page just ahead of
broadcast

11. Communities
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Connect around topics
instead of people
Can be public or private
Moderation
Threaded conversations

12. Search / hashtag

13. Resources
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Extension community on G+
Network Literacy page on Google+
Martin Shervington Google+ Tutorials
Learn.extension.org - Google+ sessions

14. Feel free to use these slides
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Unported License.
stephen.judd@unh.edu