Let's Hangout on Google+

On Sunday, June 3, 2012, I participated in an on-line discussion hosted by the Webheads network and met Curt Bonk, a Professor at Indiana University, and author of The World is Open. Curt talked about Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success. The archive is here.

I reached out to Curt on Linked in and we began to exchange messages. He sent me his book which I've read and found to be a great resource. You can see how I used sticky notes to point to pages and links I intended to look up after reading the book. Then I went to this page on his web site and found that he has already done much of this work for me. He has excerpts from each chapter, and has posted links to organizations that he talked about in the book, in a chapter-by-chapter sequence. It's really a great way to connect readers with content.

Curt was in Chicago last Friday and we met for breakfast. So in less than month I went from not knowing he existed, to sitting for breakfast and talking about learning, the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers (Curt's from Wisconsin!).

As I've connected to the Webheads and others I'm dramatically expanding my network and the ideas I have available to do my own work in Chicago. Most recently I've participated in a couple of Sunday morning Google Hangouts. You can find links to these in this archive of Webheads events. These are FREE. Anyone can participate.

So what's next? I'd like to create a Google Hangout where I can connect with others who already share my own vision of helping inner-city kids. While I host forums on Ning, Linked in and Facebook, the Google Hangout offers a way for us to connect in live, but informal, conversations and relationship building.

We can talk about the November 19 Tutor/Mentor Conference in Chicago, or Volunteer Recruitment efforts taking place during August and September. Or we can talk about ways to connect during January 2013 National Mentoring Month. Or we can just share a bit about what we do in different programs and different places, what works, and what challenges we need to over come.

Are you interested? Connect with me on Google+ and lets schedule a time to "hang out".