IntroductionThe use of social media is widespread not only among the younger generation, but also across all age groups. New technologies are constantly emerging, and many children of the digital age seem to adopt them quickly, without much effort. Although a number of free online programs are available, not all are suitable for educational purposes and some may result in only undesirable outcomes for students. In particular, social media can cause serious problems in schools, such as cyberbullying and privacy and security issues (Mishna et al., 2010; Redecker, Ala-Mutka, & Punie, 2010). Educators should carefully select a program that meets educational objectives and provide appropriate guidance to students before using them. Appropriate use of social media can promote student-centered, informal learning and develop student autonomy (McLoughlin & Lee, 2010). Google Hangouts is one of the social media available through Google Plus (Duffy, 2013), and some innovative educators use it. for educational purposes (Isaacson, 2013; Roseth, Akcaoglu, & Zellner, 2013). Google Hangouts is similar to Skype, which offers free audio/video conferencing as well as text chat functionality. Both programs also offer a free mobile app, which allows iPad, iPhone, or Android users to easily access the programs. There are many other features unique to Google Hangouts. Unlike Skype, Google Hangouts is free for a group conference and anyone with a Google Plus account can be invited to join the group conference. Video conferences on Google Hangouts can be recorded and uploaded to YouTube for sharing. The user can decide whether they are shared publicly or only with friends. Additionally, Google Hangouts allows for screenshots, screen sharing...... middle of paper ......the video conference was expected to last approximately 45 minutes to an hour. After the activity, the researcher distributed an online survey created with Google Form to assess the perceived ease of use and usefulness of Google Hangouts. The survey was constructed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and included four sections: 1. demographic information and previous experience with Google Hangouts and/or any other web conferencing program, 2. ease of use, 3. utility. , and 4. feeling about the activity. A total of 30 American and Japanese students completed the survey. Data analysis is currently underway and will be completed in February 2014. The researcher intends to examine the descriptive data for each construct and compare the U.S. and Japanese data. Additionally, participants' overall learning experiences will be analyzed based on their reflective writing..