Google Friend Connect @ Edtechatouille Friday, December 5 8:31 PM

Google Friend Connect entered open beta today.  I've been waiting and watching for this tool to become more generally available.  As of this posting (12/4/08), Google Friend Connect is installed in this space to experiment with the features etc.  The members gadget is at the top of the right sidebar, if you'd like to try it out.  I may be adding other available gadgets as well. When the closed beta for Friend Connect was originally announced, I was hoping it might be a tool that could be added to various existing educational tools - LMS's etc - to extend their functionality.  Looking at it now, that doesn't appear it to be possible.  Friend Connect appears to be driven at the top level of a domain; remains to be seen if it's possible or will be possible to have multiple Friend Connect instances on a single domain. Given that it's not available in existing educational tools, my next thought is how it might further extend the capabilities of Google Sites - perhaps moving that platform toward being a more capable edupunk'ed learning system.  With many of the tools already available in Google Sites (file cabinet etc), adding the social element may make it more functional and connected to users as a learning space.  However, at first glance, Google Friend Connect can't currnetly be installed into a Google Sites site; I hope that's on a Googler's "features to be added" list ;-)