Meeting Colleagues on Google Hangouts

Wednesday I had my first meeting on Google Hangouts. While I've tutored students via Skype, I'd never explored Google Hangouts. It's a good thing I did, as Skype is apparently outlawed in Oman so Google Hangouts is the obvious way for my Arabic students to connect with their peers at the Omani school.

One thing I liked about Hangouts was the seeming ease with which I can share my desktop (although I haven't yet tried it). I believe this is also possible in Skype, but the procedure isn't readily apparent. Overall, the Hangouts interface was easy to figure out, even the first time.

Arranging a time to meet the members of my cohort was a bit challenging, and ultimately only two of us were in the Hangout. The third member of our cohort had created a Google+ account with a Yahoo address, and I invited her using her Gmail address so she didn't have the opportunity to join us. I've put the appropriate account into my circles, though, so next time she'll be there.

I would have liked having her there, as I'd already done one-to-one video conferencing many times with Skype. I'm looking forward to our next meeting so I can see what a real, multi-person conference call is like. Also, I plan to share my desktop so I can see how that works.

It was great meeting Jiun; we discovered we work in the same building. Her Chinese international school shares a building with my French international school. She's in parent teacher conferences all week, and next week both our schools are on spring break. After that, though, we hope to meet for lunch and get to know each other face to face.