Skype

I am currently doing some research on Skype and was wondering if anyone have used it before and what your experience with it was like? How would you suggest incorporating Skype into the classroom?

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Permalink Reply by Shamini Dias on March 23, 2009 at 6:59pm

Hi Lana

I use Skype - and love it in the classroom because it is really user friendly and we're not wrestling with tech most of a lesson. Here's how I've used it.

I am a writing, literature teacher and also do a lot of creative writing projects with students (mostly work with upper elementary and middle school age kids). I've used Skype to work on collaborative projects with other schools in another country for instance. I did a project when I was in Singapore and collaborated with a school in the US to write origin stories together - the kids use Skype to connect with each other's classrooms to plan projects, interview each other (writing an interview of each other was part of the project - they made a magazine), give feedback on story drafts etc. web cam attachment made it easy to share and discuss story illustrations.

Because Skype to Skype is free, and a couple of kids could share a computer terminal, we managed to get the whole group in Singapore talking to their counterparts in the US. It was highly engaging.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on March 24, 2009 at 4:08am

Hello Lana, I am a great fan of skype and have blogged about it quite a bit. It is so easy to use, allows chat, audio and/or video between two parties. I teach in Australia and we have been fortunate to skype with classes in many countries. You can read my post here. There is a wonderful "Around the world in 80 schools" project with Langwitches, using skype as well. You may wish to join that, if it is not too late. There is also a wiki to join, if you are interested in finding other schools.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Bowling on September 25, 2012 at 2:24pm

I have found that Skype is very useful. The only problem I have found when using it is when I use WiFi. When using the WiFi the video is slower and cuts out sometimes. If I am using an Ethernet cord, however, it works great. You can incorporate Skype into your classroom by having a type of pen pal with either another whole classroom or with individual students. Another way could be if you want to have a guest speaker speak to your student but they cannot come to the room you can Skype with them and still have the information as if they were with you in person.