Video communication using Google Hangouts

Read the updated manual on Google Hangout Meet.

Google Meet is a platform for sending messages and conducting phone and video calls. This article explains how to use Hangouts for video communication. The maximum number of participants is 100. Because the University of Groningen has a Google apps for Education licence, Meet sessions can be up to 24 hours (in the free versions, the maximum duration is 60 minutes).

Hangouts also allows videos to be recorded and edited, which can be useful for assignments whereby students need to communicate online, for example. This functionality is explained in ‘Recording video calls with YouTube Live’.  

How does it work?

To start a Meet call you first need to log in with your University of Groningen e-mail address. If you are using a mobile device, you will need to download the Meet app.

There are several ways of making a Meet call. We explain three of them here:

1. At meet.google.com . You may need to log in first (using your e-mail address and University of Groningen P number). After logging in you will see a screen with three options. Select ‘Video Call’.

You can start a Meet call by clicking on the ‘+’ sign. Create a name for the Hangouts call. You can call up a menu bar by moving the mouse pointer to the top of the screen. Use the menu buttons to turn the microphone on and off, invite participants and change the settings.

You can also invite participants by clicking on 'Invite people'

Enter the e-mail addresses of the people you wish to invite (Meet will automatically suggest people from the mailing lists of the University of Groningen). You can also indicate whether you wish to invite people from outside the University. If you do not then Meet will generate warnings if you try to enter non-University e-mail addresses. Once you have done this you can send the invitations.

You can also add various extensions to the Meet environment. ‘Chat’ (to enter messages) and ‘Screenshare’ are enabled as standard.

2. Using Gmail. In Gmail you will see a Meet icon at the bottom of the screen.

Click on this icon and then on ‘Search’ at the top of the Hangouts list. Enter a name or e-mail address. Click on the appropriate name and ‘Start a video call’. Meet will launch and the person will be sent an invitation to join the call.

3. Using Google Calendar.
You can also link a Meet session to any appointment you make in Google Calendar. Click on ‘Add video call’.

The people you have invited will receive an e-mail with a link to the Meet call.

How can you use video communication for teaching?

You can use video communication for various teaching purposes. For example, you can invite a guest to give a virtual lecture, or give a lecture yourself to students at another location. Your students can also cooperate on assignments in Meet, or you can use it to communicate with a student who is abroad on a placement.

Read more

Links:

Hangouts Help provided by Google. Use this online help if you need more detailed instructions.

How to Use Google Hangouts . This YouTube video was created by TeachersTech and is 14 minutes long. This is a somewhat long but very comprehensive video which describes all the important features of Hangouts.