Transitioning to YouTube Live

Moving from Hangouts on Air a Minefield for Edu

I tried YouTube Live Streaming for the first time yesterday. Total disaster.

In September Hangouts on Air, one of the last pieces left in Google+ was shut down. Users were encouraged to move to YouTube Live.

YouTube Streaming will not be an easy or maybe even a possible option for educators.

Google’s Hangouts on Air and the short lived,okay not totally dead yet, Google+ helped launch many of the open courses in the connected learning spaces.

YouTube streaming, with the difficulty I had yesterday of choosing and installing the encoder, then having to configure the server.

Then having to start a Hangout to get other people in.

The audio. That’s on me. I should have realized the encoder was picking up the audio and muting the Hangout did nothing.

The comments. That’s on me i should have realized I was streaming my Hangouts windows.

Yet ease of audio and video control is something educators need in a video platform. We also cam to rely in the built in backchannel for hosts and guests,

A Better Way Forward

Google needs to do something with Hangouts. You can’t let it die. Many Google Suite users in both the business space and education space rely on it.

And AdSense for streaming? Google needs to be very explicit on why I have to install an advertising platform on my videos in order to stream. Even with a clear explanation AdSense will eliminate live streaming for educators.

Yet Hangouts is not Google’s messaging platform. Google has been kicking, nudging really, SMS users off Hangouts for months. I installed Duo and Allo (though I have not gotten one call and anybody I know outside of tech has heard of neither).

So what to do with Hangouts? Why not the enterprise play. Make it a deeper integration into the newly rebranded Google Suite.

The new messaging platforms are more phone number (and gps) based. Hangouts rely on email. So does everything in the Google Suite.

If you have all the code from Google+ for the HoA can there be a place in Classroom? Why isn’t there a classroom like space in the business side? Just turn it on and see what happens. I bethcya it be cool.

Make it so Hangouts works in both. Possible even bring back the ability to send right to YouTube or even stream to YouTube.

I will be better next time. YouTube Streaming is not for amateurs. It will take practice and the proper equipment. I hope teachers and small businesses who relied on Hangouts and Hangouts on Air are not forgotten.