STUDENTS’ EVALUATION OF GOOGLE HANGOUTS THROUGH A CROSS-CULTURAL GROUP DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Abstract

The study investigated perceived ease of use and usefulness of Google Hangouts as aninstructional/learning tool. Forty-two teacher education students at U.S and Japaneseuniversities participated in an online cross-cultural activity using Google Hangouts anddiscussed cultural differences between the two countries and their teaching philosophies.After the activity, students responded to a survey to evaluate the ease of use andusefulness of Google Hangouts. Qualitative data were also collected through the survey toexamine their overall learning experience. The results indicated that Google Hangouts is auseful instructional tool, but not easy to use. Although technical problems occurredduring the conference, the activity provided valuable experiences for both U.S. andJapanese students. The study provides suggestions for how Google Hangouts can beintegrated into online classrooms based on the findings.