Benefits of Skyping?!

This is my first year teaching and I am excited about all the possibilities that technology will open up for my students. As the year is winding down and testing is soon to be over I wanted to do some collaboration projects with other classrooms.

We have never used Skype with another class but my kids would love the experience.

I teach first grade and if there are any other classes out there that would like to help us out with this I would be greatly appreciative. We are a Title I school and our kids do not get out much. I am hoping this will open up the world outside of their backyard!!

My Skype name is mrmattallen

Thanks!

Tags: 2.0, Collaboration, Skype, Web

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Permalink Reply by Carrie on March 31, 2009 at 2:25pm

Hi! I teach third grade in Atlanta, and we use Skype quite a bit. We have Skyped with people in other countries to find out more about their lives, and we have Skyped with other schools and teachers. We'd love to collaborate and Skype with your class! Just let me know!

If you'd rather Skype with other first graders, I know a first grade teacher here that may be interested in collaborating as well.

My Skype name is: carrie.edmison

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Bogner on July 4, 2009 at 9:50pm

I'm not very experienced with Skype although I do have an account. How do you get all of your students to use it properly and how do you find appropriate people for them to talk to? I'm not exactly sure if the tech people at out school will allow us to use Skype, but I would love to learn more about this project.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Allen on July 5, 2009 at 11:37am

I don't allow students on Skype by themselves. When we do it we do it as a whole class activity.

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Permalink Reply by Stacy Aune on March 31, 2009 at 8:21pm

Just had my first Skype experience with a class from AL and it was fantastic! I would be happy to collaborate with your class. I teach technology, grades 1-6. Do you have a topic/project in mind? Skype: saune1

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Allen on April 1, 2009 at 9:23am

Thanks so much for responding. I did not have a topic in mind...but I will definitely do some brainstorming and think of a topic.

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Permalink Reply by Carol Ross-Baumann on March 31, 2009 at 8:42pm

I have not yet used Skype, but observed a class Skyping another class in Singapore. It was amazing to realize "this is free!" and "do these kids realize it's SINGAPORE???"
I am sure once you start using it, the kids' world will open up. Imagine having a discussion about holiday traditions with kids in another part of the world...what a great way to hav ethe kids start down the road of global citizenry. Good luck to you and all other Skypers- I hope I gett join you soon.

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Permalink Reply by Paula Naugle on March 31, 2009 at 10:10pm

I teach 4th grade in Metairie, LA (New Orleans suburb). Skype name is plnaugle. What would you like to do? Maybe your students could generate a list of questions about New Orleans which you could email (plnaugle@gmail.com) to me. Then my students would get answers ready for Skype session. Your students would interview mine during the session. What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Rigby on March 31, 2009 at 11:45pm

I would love to get in on this! I do not have a skype account at school and am not sure that it would work...firewalls, bandwidth, etc. I have a K-3 self contained and resource Autism Spectrum Disorder class who would love to visit far away places and collaborate on a common student project. Let me get back to you on the tech issues:).

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Allen on April 1, 2009 at 9:24am

What would you like to do?

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on July 5, 2009 at 6:06am

I use skype quite a bit with my classes. It is a user friendly piece of software that most people seem comfortable with using. However, it was blocked at our school, but the technicians have allowed it to be downloaded on teacher laptops and desktops connected to the interactive white boards. As such, it is always controlled by the teacher. As a class we then interact or videoconference with another class within my country or beyond to other countries, including Korea, Russia, USA, Canada, Thailand etc. Most of the classes that we have skyped with, I have met their teachers on classroom 2.0. And as I read the comments below, I see you have plenty of offers for partnerships. Students love this interaction and we went from setting up questions to ask each other, to more show 'n tell type activities. eg show objects that reflect our culture etc.

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Permalink Reply by Brien Dick on July 5, 2009 at 5:15pm

We often think about Skype allowing our classes to communicate with far off communities. What about letting Skype bring parents into the classroom? It's becoming harder for parents to visit classroom performances. A Skype conference call could allow several parents watch a classroom performance when they can't leave work to visit. If students are giving a presentation, a Skype call could allow family to watch it. That raises the value of the work, too.

Perhaps Ustream would be a better use for this, but I haven't used it yet.

Keep us up to date as you use it.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Allen on July 6, 2009 at 5:33pm

Thanks for that tip. I was actually planning on trying UStream for a couple of things next year.

I did not realize you could do a Skype conference call! That's an idea.