Overall Satisfaction with Google Hangouts
I use it to hold class and to tutor students who are located in various locations. For example, I live on the East coast and tutor someone in Silicon Valley. My students currently use it to record conversations with each other when their language partner is not on campus. I initially used it in its pilot phase to hold a class with students who were located throughout the US and Europe. I would hold class and during the tests, they would take it in front of the camera and send me the results by taking a picture with their smartphone and send me the file in real time. I have also used it to hold international language and culture exchanges as well as meetings. UNG currently uses Microsoft and not Google. Thus I use it on my own. Hangouts addresses innovative, non-traditional, flipped and blended approaches to language learning.
- Ability to connect for free.
- Ability to have single or multiple people join in a hangout.
- Ability to record the session.
- Ability to hold a conversation, chat, upload documents, share a file or video, etc., all at the same time.
- There are time lapses. Sometimes I have to switch to FaceTime because of the delay losing all other tools that Hangouts provides.
- Those new to the program have a hard time navigating the features on Google +.
- Maybe merge all Hangout features onto Gmail.
- No cost to join.
- Able to attract and connect with a wider market.
- Makes me more marketable.
I prefer to use Google products whenever possible. I have used Hangouts in its pilot phase and have seen it grow. Although not without glitches, Google supports Arabic better than the rest.