The Role of Google Plus in Online Education

Whether you a traditional leaner or getting online education, Google can greatly help you integrate social media and technology into the classroom. Google Plus is the latest and advanced social networking platform that offers different valuable online learning tools that students can use to make their learning process easier and interesting. It is somewhat similar to Twitter and Facebook, offering several useful tools that have made Google+ famous among millions of Internet users of all ages.

Circles

The unique and exciting feature of Google+ that makes it a highly valuable social networking platform for online schools and teachers is Google circles. When a Google+ user makes a post or uploads media, h/she has an option to elect everyone or a limited group to share the post or a video.

By using this Google+ feature, an online teacher can easily make a circle for his or her students and can use it to send information about class schedules, assignments and exams. Online students can also create a circle for peers and classmates in a specific circle which will surely foster collaboration among students. ?

Hangouts

It is another unique feature of Google plus that allows students and teachers to join a group video chat and?interact?with one another. It allows up to ten people to interact at the same time. That means using a hangout allows a teacher to hold an online discussion session with up to nine students at the same time. Moreover, students can also use their features to work on group assignments or discuss projects.

Hangouts are especially helpful for students pursuing online degrees. Before the development of Google+, online classes were often conducted using electronic technologies, such as email and class websites. But, now Google+ hangouts have made it easier for the teachers to conduct an online course in real time. Students and teacher can easily communicate with each other. This revolutionary approach allows online courses to function more effectively and brings online education to a completely advanced level.

Google Apps

Together with the circle and the hangout, Google also offers several educational applications that can support online learning environment. OpenClass is an application that allows students to access notes, books, assignments, and more all in one place. Google Docs is another app that allows students and teachers alike to create documents, presentations and spreadsheets which is helpful for collaboration on class documents. Furthermore some general applications include Google Calendar and Gmail, are also useful in online education. Gmail allows students and teachers to communicate via email, while Google calendar allows online instructors to inform students about class and exam schedules.

In a nutshell, Google+ is an advanced technology that helps college students to make their online learning process more flexible. It is undoubtedly the unique opportunity for online students to learn, share and connect with their peers, teachers and other professionals from around the globe in a convenient and comfortable setting.

sleigh bells meek sturgis sturgis whitney houston laid to rest daytona bike week amazing race