You may have noticed that the activity here on Talking Pyramids has died down a bit over the past few months. My ever faithful and trusty assistant Bennu has continued posting lots of news items every day on Twitter, which you can read in the side bar on Talking Pyramids.
GooglePlus
The reason for the slow down of posts here on Talking Pyramids is partly due to GooglePlus. Since June last year I’ve been spending a lot of time trying out the new service by Google called GooglePlus. In case you’re not familiar with it, GooglePlus, or G+ for short, is a little bit like a multi-faceted blog, allowing one to post to different ‘Circles’ or groups of people.
Hangouts
One feature that makes Google+ stand out is ‘Hangouts’. These are group video conferences that anyone can launch at any time with any of their Circles or with the public. Up to ten people at a time can participate in a Hangout with the ability to enter and leave as they choose. It’s a versatile tool that can be used on a computer or a phone or other mobile device with internet access.
There have been several notable people that have utelised the power of Hangouts including the Dali Lama, Desmond Tutu, President Obama, Madonna, and a range of others.
Archaeology Hangout
Like many others, I quickly realised the potential use for Hangouts in education. Over the past 8 months or so I’ve seen some very innovative use of Hangouts including guitar lessons, physics lectures, cooking hangouts where each person cooks their own meal at the same time, English as a second language courses, and many more.
I began running weekly Archaeology Hangouts in which Archaeologists and enthusiasts are able to chat about recent news and about other aspects of archaeology. We’ve had some great discussions on topics such as ‘Digital Archaeology’ and the potential of virtual reconstructions of sites, Archaeology Book Club where reading matter is set a week in advance and then discussed with the group, getting the public more involved in Archaeology, and many other topics.
A website has been established to provide support for the Archaeology Hangouts so that anyone can learn more about the Hangouts, check the calendar for scheduled hangouts and offer suggestions for future discussion topics.
The restriction to just ten people in a Hangout means that those who turn up late miss out. Google have rung me expressing interest in the Archaeology Hangout and have said that we may be eligible for “Hangouts on Air”, a feature that allows the Hangout to be streamed live to YouTube so an unlimited number of people can view the Hangout. For now though, only ten people at a time can participate in the Archaeology Hangout.
If you are interested, you are welcome to join in this week’s Archaeology Hangout at 8:30pm UTC Friday, 2nd March.
For more information visit www.archaeologyhangout.com or point your QR enabled device at the Archaeology Hangout QR code below to take you there directly. Looking forward to seeing you there.
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