Thing 15 | Things Like Skype

It was nice to use a different element, format, and scenery to introduce the new lesson concept to the students.

Skype

How might Skype be used in the  classroom? Blog about your experiences with Skype and ideas for classroom use. Was it easy or hard to make it happen?

I have used Skype in my classroom to talk with my students from another part of the school. The students arrived to the classroom and the teacher's aide was inside the classroom for crowd control and to set up the system.
I was located in the garden as we talked about our "Space" for Public Speaking.

I think Skype could also be used for group or partner projects, school to school collaboration or classroom to classroom collaboration,  etc.

I love the idea of being able to do a unit on a book, then to Skype chat with the author of the book and ask him/her any questjions you have. For instance, "What were you thinking when you wrote the book?" "Why did you choose that character?" It would be amazing!

I would love to use Skype in the future to talk with a student who was absent due to an illness at home. Let the absentee know that we miss them and care for them. It builds morale and community for our group of learners. It shares and teaches concepts that the standard curriculum manifesto can't teach.