NOTE FOR EDITOR: Using Google+ For Instructionusing Google+ For Instruction

Authors : Kevin YEE, Jace HARGIS

Pages : 9-11

View : 38 | Download : 11

Publication Date : 2011-12-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Introduced in July, 2011 in a beta test of invited users only, the new social media service Google+ insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(or G+); quickly spread by word of mouth, and Google leader Larry Page insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(2011); blogged that within sixteen days it had 10 million users. By August, it had 25 million users insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Cashmore, 2011);. Even with slower growth ahead insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(still with no marketing budget);, the service looks likely to crest 100 million users perhaps as early as ten months, a feat that took Facebook three years. Other social networks, most notably Facebook and Twitter, have been used increasingly as instructional tools, since they are platforms with which students are already familiar insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Maloney, 2007; McLoughlin & Lee, 2007);. Selwyn insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(2009); found that students often eschew official channels for communication in favor of less formal community-based formats such as Facebook, implying a growing need for instructional communication tools that will be used willingly by students. The question is whether Google+ can be used like Twitter or Facebook to augment instruction, or even, perhaps, to improve upon those predecessors for academic purposes.
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