Since we enjoyed Google+ Hangout when we used it for the Web-Conferencing Lab, we decided it would definitely work well for our Leadership Assignment. It was extremely user-friendly and accessible.
Some Advantages:
One of the biggest advantages was that we could use Google Docs during the presentation. We didn't have to share our screen or only have one person typing. We were able to all collaborate at once. We pulled up the assignment description and as we talked we were also able to type our plan. We could also type issues or things we needed more clarification on and easily go back to them. We spent a great deal of time analyzing each requirement and discussing what we thought it meant and how we were going to address it in our group. It was convenient because then the document was atomically saved into each of our Drives. We can also then easily go back to it later, and also share it with our instructor
Another advantage was that the video automatically saves to the Google+ account and to Youtube. There was no saving to a hard-drive or making sure the format was compatible. We didn't have to email the file to each other or put it on Google Drive. Within minutes a link to Youtube was created and we were all able to access it and post it to our blogs.
Google+ Hangout is also very technologically savvy. It knew which person was speaking and would make their face the focus on the screen. Also, a green bar would light up when that person was speaking. It made it easy to follow the conversation. As someone who hasn't done web-conferencing (aside from Skyping with a single person), I was glad that Google+ Hangout made it easy to use and follow.
Some Disadvantages:
Overall, I was happy with the program. However, one disadvantage we found was that you can only record one video per session. You can't stop recording and then re-start without leaving the Hangout and creating a new one. This usually wouldn't be a problem, but when you're recording for something more professional it was necessary. We only had three people, but I can imagine if you had a larger group, it would be frustrating to keep having to leave the room and then re-invite everyone.
Another disadvantage is that you have to have a Google+ account to use it. Since all our group members had a Gmail account, we all had access to Google+. If someone had another email, they wouldn't be able to join.
I really think Google+ Hangout has a lot of awesome features and makes it easy to web-conference. Below is our brainstorm for our leadership project:
1 comment:
What a busy group! Your group covered a lot of ground and had some good discussions as you worked through the project planning.
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