Google plus in the higher education space. Are educators ready for social media learning in schools?

Abstract

Social Media have an increasing influence on higher education. In the past mainly privacy issues discouraged educators from using social media in teaching but with Google Plus a new way of communicating is promised. Apart from the possibility to post information for students use a videoconferencing tool or a tool to get updated on selected topics instructors can also use Google Plus as a tool for cross-course communication. In general nearly all web services can be adapted for educational use. It requires some experimentation from research and educators in order to find out ways to use Google Plus to improve education and cross-course communication is only one part of it.