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This guide is fairly complete on how to use Google Hangouts, but doesn't mention that you can open a text chat elsewhere on the web, e.g., in your blog or YouTube channel, and thus have a much larger class or group of students join in with text chat, while seeing and listening to the audio-video hangout. Participants take turns dropping in and out. This would be hard to organize with high school kids/teens, but would work with adults or teachers-in-training.

Choice of text, audio, or video chat rooms.

Text analytics, the analysis of open-ended responses on questionnaires, could become the new wave of teacher/student evaluation. Teachers don't have time to read comments from student surveys, but that's where the most valuable information resides. But a chat bot could use text analysis to dig out and compile action points that might make an impact on learning. You can try out Hubert the chatbot by signing up at a link in this article.

This Etherpad clone allows you to set up a live public text chat on the fly. Enter your name and then invite users to share your pad. Use it as a backchannel during a flipped classroom, or with your lecture or conference presentation on land to receive questions from the audience.

Create a text chat on the fly. Set up a public pad without sign-up, then invite others to join you. Use it for backchanneling questions during a lecture or meeting. Or embed a Google Hangout to allow more than 10 users to follow the audio talk.

Similar to the new version of Google Docs, Sync.in lets online writers collaborate in real-time, seeing what each one writes, and even replaying a recording of the developing text (or chat).

Claims to have over 1 million member from 133 countries, practicing 115 languages. Find a partner for penpals/e-pals, use text or voice chat, and use lesson plans with your students. Also includes group homestay exchanges.

"OnSugar is a hosted publishing platform that is based on what we use to publish PopSugar, FabSugar, and the rest of Sugar. Key Platform Features: * 11 different post types: (text, gallery, layout, poll, look, quiz, quote, link, chat, video, & audio) * Free access to a hundreds of thousands of Getty Images® * Fun drag and drop layout tool. Create your look with thousands of fashion images from hundreds of online retailers through ShopStyle, e.g. ShopBop, J. Crew, Net-a-Porter, and others. * ShopSense: Make money by linking to products and retailers NEW * Build your audience of followers with automatic notifcation of new posts * Follow your favorite sites and view an aggregated feed of your followed sites * Post by email NEW * Automatic update of your Facebook and Twitter status NEW * Multiple sites per account * Multiple authors per site * Easy import from Blogger, Wordpress, & Typepad * Full domain support * Free Key Site Features: * Drafts/Timed Publishing * Search * Archives * Pages (e.g. About Me, Galleries, Videos, etc) * Widgets for highlighting content from your site or around the web (e.g. Popular Posts, Latest Comments, Latest Tweets, etc) * Completely customizable themes" Looks like an up-to-date blog tool that allows for lots of different social networking interfaces, and has drag-and-drop tools for layout and adding media. Somewhat commercial, but might appeal esp. to teens.

This is a site much like Babbel used to be--you can study using excises, or choose a conversation partner, or just explore aspects of the culture. I didn't have time to get into it futher, but it might be a nice way to get some basics and converse with a real person. It looks as if the chat is both text and audi/webcam. You can log in with Facebook and use that as a way to connect with others.