2. Click on the square in the top right corner. (This is where all the Google products are located).!

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1 Google+ Google+ is a social media tool that introduces new ways for our community to connect and communicate with each other. Google+ makes connecting with people on the web more like connecting with people in the real world. It's recommended that you go by your first and last name because it will help you connect with people you know and help them find you. Throughout the program we will be utilizing Google+ mainly for its video conferencing tool, Hangouts. (See Hangouts resource for more information) Joining Google+ address is already connected to Google+ and other Google services. You just need to activate it before your first course begins. Set Up Google + Account 1. Open account. 2. Click on the square in the top right corner. (This is where all the Google products are located). 3. Click on the Google Plus icon to take you to Google+. (It will say +you for now, after you activate your google plus account it will say +your.first.name)

2 4.Create your Google+ profile with information about yourself. You will need to fill in your name, gender, and birthday. Make sure to join using the name you're commonly known by. As you create your Google+ profile, please keep the following guidelines in mind: First and last name required: You need to provide both your first and last name for your Google+ profile so it ll help you find people and enable people to find you. Using only one name is not permitted. You can use an initial for one of the names, but not both. For example, J. Smith but not J.S. No professional titles: You can't include titles like Dr. or Rev. in your profile name but you can add professional affiliations to your profile's "Other Names" section like Bill Smithwick, DDS, or Jim Copley, Esq. No special characters: You can t use special characters or punctuation to make your name look different. For example, MikeJones or J@son W@t$on aren t allowed. No celebrity, historical, or other people s names: You can t create a profile using someone else s name or impersonate a celebrity. Pretending to be someone else could cause your profile to be suspended. 5. Once you have filled out the required information, click the Upgrade button.

3 6. Next Google will ask you to add people you know. Google will suggest people or you can search for people you know that are already using Google+. You can search by address, or name. When you have finished finding contacts, or you wish to skip this part for now, click the blue Continue button at the bottom of the screen. 7. Next Google will suggest some interesting people and pages for you to follow. You can choose to follow someone by clicking Follow next to any that interest you and then click Continue. To skip this step entirely click Continue straightaway. * If you skip steps 6 and 7, Google will think you are lonely. This is ok, you can add people later. Just click Continue anyway to proceed with setting up your account.

4 8. You will then be given the option to expand your profile to include places of work, education, and a photo. This will help other users find you when they search. When you have completed all the information you wish to, click Finish. Please do include a photo as it will appear in Hangouts. 9. Welcome to Google+ You can now begin to use all the features that go with Google+.

5 Adding People and Creating Circles Circles are an essential part of Google+. They're the key to sharing The great thing about circles is that they let you group people together based on how you interact with them in real life. Ex: Friends vs Co-workers. Find people: 1. Open Google+. Place your cursor in the top left corner on the Home icon. 2. A list of options will show up in a drop down menu. Click People. 3. Use the menu on the left, or the tool bar at the top to find people to add to your circles. Google will suggest people you may know or you can search using the menu on the left. You will want to create a circle for all students and instructors in your program or by specific courses. Ask your instructor for this information. Google+ s key benefits and features You can find Google+ at plus.google.com. (or through )

6 The main page that appears when you sign in consists of a stream of updates, conversations and shared content similar in many respects to the Facebook news feed or Twitter stream. When you add a contact to your Google+ account, you assign them to one or more circles, which is a way of categorizing and organizing people. When you first sign up, you'll see some 'circles' that have already been set up by Google, including 'Friends' and 'Acquaintances'. You can also add your own. You can share messages or links with everyone or with only those within designated circles. This gives you more flexibility than Twitter and is a similar concept to groups on Facebook. Your circles are private that is, no one can see how you've named your circles or which circles they or anyone else has been put in. The 'Notifications' section will let you know when someone adds you to one of their circles (though not which circle) and when someone has commented on or reacted to content that you've shared or commented on. You can make comments underneath content shared by other users that you follow, and you can also '+1' it. The latter is similar to liking on Facebook. You can also share that content, if the original poster allows it. This is similar to retweeting on Twitter. If the original poster allows it, after you interact with a post, Google+ threads responses and informs you of any updates. If this starts to get annoying, you can mute these updates. The HangOut application allows users to video chat.