Google+ in HigherEd

There are many ways that faculty and employees can use Google+ to connect with students. Google+’s filtering options, live video chat and photo sharing all offer excellent opportunities to share valuable information and enhance student experience both inside and outside the classroom.

Google+ For Faculty

  • Organize various groups by creating circles. Create circles for your classes, students requiring additional support, or project teams.
  • Share your circles with your class. Your students can follow the circle to receive class updates and connect and share with the class.
  • Solicit questions from students. Share a post to your class circle asking for questions that you can answer in your next lecture.
  • Hold virtual office hours. Create a hangout for yourself and up to 9 of your students. Keep the window open for a certain period of time so students can drop in alone or in groups.
  • Review videos with students. While in a Hangout, you can share YouTube videos and pause, rewind and fast forward to explain difficult concepts.
  • Collaborate with students in real time. Share a document inside of a Google Hangout and work on the document with your students in real time.
  • Research the latest information for use in class. Search on any topic to find recent images, news stories and other public posts.
  • Attend meetings with students and colleagues even if you aren’t on campus. Using your mobile device, you can join Hangouts and collaborate via Google+.

Google+ for Other Employees

  • Create a Google+ Page for your department. A Page allows you to build relationships between people and your department. It allows you to share information, and promote your services.
  • Engage with students before they start school. Create a circle for new students and use the stream to send them relevant information before they arrive.
  • Share ideas with colleagues. Create a Circle for your department staff and faculty and use it to share information and gather their views.
  • Conduct helpdesk sessions or tutorials. Use Hangouts to initiate a support call and enable screen sharing to allow a participant to share his/her screen.
  • Help alumni connect more easily. Share alumni Circles with those in the same field or city. They can visit the circle and network and exchange information with other alumni.
  • Publicize events in realtime. Use Events to share photos of speakers and displays. Create a Hangout On-Air to live stream events and upload them to the college YouTube Channel for later viewing.