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"Google has announced that Google Docs are now included in Hangouts on Google Plus. When in a Hangout, you just click on the new "Docs" button and you can add an existing document, upload a new one, and switch between and collaboratively edit multiple documents at once. This is another great feature of Google+ Hangouts for education. Teachers and/or students can hold study groups, help sessions, or work on other projects using Docs in Hangouts."

There are methods and models for implementing blended learning -- from the flipped classroom, to the flex model. All of them are on the continuum of just how much time is spent online and in the online classroom. Blended Learning can provide a unique way of not only engaging students in collaborative work and projects, but also personalizing and individualizing instruction for students.

Simple, Secure Sharing from Anywhere Box offers secure, scalable content-sharing that both users and IT love and adopt."

Yugma provides desktop sharing, chat and white-boarding. It also supports VOIP conferencing, including a feature that integrates seminars with Skype calls. Presenters can use PC, Macs or Linux. Participants can use almost any system or browser by downloading a Java applet. A free, limited-functionality version allows up to 10 people to participate; more feature-rich versions start at about $200 per year for up to 20 people

"We are pleased to announce full Google Apps for Education Integration with Wikispaces Private Label. Wikispaces Private Label is the most effective way to help teachers and students collaborate, communicate and learn. And now you can have the power of Google Apps for Education tightly integrated with the classroom management, review, monitoring, and organization flexibility of Wikispaces."

Case study of a School who used Google Hangouts for teacher observations. Summary of "pros" follows: "Maynard, the observing teacher in whose class Grubb worked, believes Google+ Hangouts offers a lot of potential for student teachers. "They could sit down with professors and supervising teachers and analyze lessons much easier," she says. "I like how multiple people can be invited as well. In the past there has been just one professor from the university sitting in the classroom observing." With Hangouts, multiple people could participate in the observation--including other student teachers. Plus, she added, the recordings could be useful for new teachers; they could simply take it to a job interview and share it. "That could be a huge part of interviews in the future.""

Adding visuals to a phone conference can make a big difference - perhaps by showing a document, software application or slides. Or maybe you want to conduct a more formal online seminar-sometimes called a Webinar. There are a number of affordable software packages that can help. We talked to five nonprofit professionals about the tools that have worked for them.

DimDim is a fairly new, streamlined online seminar application with support for chat, slide sharing, emoticons, white-boarding, VOIP voice conferencing and video conferencing. Only PC desktops can be shared, but DimDim supports Mac and Linux users for other features. Participants can enter meeting rooms using almost any system or browser, typically without a download. A free, ad-supported version allows up to 20 people to participate; a version without ads starts at $99 per year for up to 20 people.

While focused more on desktop support situations, TeamViewer allows presenters to share PC or Mac desktops with participants on PCs or Macs. Both presenters and viewers must download and install an application-making it more appropriate for internal teams than more public situations. A free version of the tool is available for private use; otherwise it starts at about $250 for six months.

Screenstream(www.nchsoftware.com/screen/). Free for anyone to use, Screenstream allows Windows PC presenters to share their desktop with participants on PCs, Macs or Linux, who view the desktop through a browser with no install required.

SEC is using this tool to do online "carousel" activities. In a face-to-face classroom a facilitator might have large piece of paper taped up all over the room and learners would walk about adding their notes under different topics. This tool serves this purpose virtually.

Really cool tool!

"Scribblar is great for: * Online training and tutoring * Revising artwork and images * Creative brainstorming * Sales and product demos * Interviews and tests"