Digital Conferencing with Skype

"Learning becomes increasingly authentic as it expands beyond
the walls of the classroom, and being able to have a phone
call or a video chat with someone on the other side of the world
can make learning come alive."
- Seven things you should know about Skype

It goes without saying that the World Wide Web removes the walls of a classroom, but sometimes I still find myself amazed at the extent of which this is true. Take for example the free service called Skype (If you're interested, look into Oovoo as well). Skype provides free Internet chat and video conferencing as well as a pay option to call land line and cell phone numbers from the computer. Forget email as a method for interaction. Skype allows face to face communication to anywhere in the world.

Needless to say, the educational possibilities are infinite. And there are no shortage of websites about Skype in the classroom. Here are just a few I found to be helpful:

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7032.pdf
http://edtech-rice.blogspot.com/2008/02/skype-pilots-in-classroom.html
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6515247.html

There is also a blog that was created only days ago that is intended to be a contact of sorts for teachers looking to integrate Skype. It's rather bare on content and participants right now, but there's certainly a need for a source like this, so skypeintheclassroom.wordpress.com is at least worth mentioning.

I would also like to use this post as an all-call for educators looking to collaborate using Skype. I'm itching to try it out in my classroom - if you are too, leave me a comment and we can work something out. (Incidentally, I also posted a similar request on the Teach-nology message board. If you're visiting Classroom in the Cloud from that forum, thanks for stopping by!)

Save to delicious Saved by 0 users