"What is Skype & Skype in the Classroom?"
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Simply Skype Introducing Skype in the Classroom
Bring the World to Your Students
"My students argue that videoconferencing with another class, in another country, is
the best and most powerful experience for them. They beg for more and more."
~ Anne Mirtschin
As the videos above explain, Skype is a free audio and video internet-based calling service that has a dedicated education division known as Skype in the Classroom. A growing community of teachers and classes attest that @SkypeClassroom is well-designed for connected communication, whether with the class down the hall, down the road, or across the globe. Your students can collaborate with and learn from so many more individuals than just those within the walls of their classroom. (For great tips, specific tutorials, and teacher-specific trouble-shooting be sure to check out this site's Resources tab!)
A powerful affordance of this technology is the ability to engage in real-time/synchronous communication and collaboration (made even more powerful with built-in chat and file sharing features) but when coupled with time zones this can become a constraint. Innovative Skypers won't let that stop them, though! "While it is difficult to Skype live, we had great success with collaborative projects, such as eBooks, music videos, and Minecraft! For Mystery Skype we usually use video Question & Answers." |
Live from @SkypeClassroom...
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"Why should I use Skype with my classes?"
Teachers don't need just another thing to do added to their already full plates. Skype in the Classroom is not "just" a fun technology to be added to the classroom like there's nothing else to do, or even to be used as "reward time". There is content-rich, impactful skills and learning happening with every properly planned Skype call that students and teachers can reflect on and assess.
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Technology Meet Pedagogy...
Tell us how these activities are sparking ideas for integrating Skype in your own classroom!
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Forum Questions for this page:
Consider the two info-graphic slides above that Silvia Tolisano created to explain how to ensure that a Skype call is also a learning call:
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You've learned about Skype in the Classroom in general, now it's time to consider how it can be leveraged for the important skill of collaboration...
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