Google announced yesterday that Google Plus (Google+) is now available for edu domains.The announcement I received said:
Today, November 15th, we announced that Google+ is available to be enabled as an additional service for all Google Apps for Education domains, including K12 (primary/secondary).
By default Google+ is set to off for all EDU domains.You can enable Google+ for all or some of your organizational units by following the instructions in our Google Help Center article on how to turn on/off services. Please review important considerations before enabling Google+ in our Google Help Center. Please note that as Google+ is an additional service (like Blogger and Reader) it is not subject to the same terms and conditions as core services such as Gmail and Google Drive. Please review the Google Apps for Education Agreementwhich includes a link to the Additional Terms for Use of Additional Services.
This is great news but with it came a bunch of questions. Here are some answers to FAQ's from Google:
- As stated in the admin panel when you try to turn it on: "Users must meet the minimum age requirements for a Google Account (13 years old in most countries) to use Google+. Underaged users will have their entire account suspended.Learn more"
- Here is a link to the age requirements for Google+
- Anyone under 13 that attempts to use Google+ will have their Google Apps account will be suspended. If a student account is suspended, please file a ticket through your administrator control panel and someone from the team will get back to you to help you recover the account.
- There are minor restrictions related to Hangouts. Details can be found in the Google Help Center article on minor controls in Hangouts.
I had been working on training materials and videos on Google+ for the Midwest Google Apps Summit and I have put together a Google Site on Google+ here: Google+ for Professional Development and Collaboration
My favorite video that I made was on how to use "On the Air" hangouts to record demos or even flip your classroom.
What are you doing with Google Plus? How do you see it impacting the classroom and schools?
cross-posted at http://henrythiele.blogspot.com/
