6 - C - 2
I have had the chance to connect with a few educators &
Military personal around the globe using Skype.
The one class I taught had the opportunity to Skype a class from Brazil
and learn about their society, culture, and how a student spends and ‘average’
day in Brazil. Another class had the
chance to Skype into and interact with students at a architectural dig. My class was asking, posting questions using
Skype the students at the dug were answering the questions, blogging and had a
back channel during the entire process.
Another chance my class had was to Skype an active Military personal
(which was a parent in the class – to his surprise) that was stationed over in
Afghanistan. He would answer ‘some’
questions, however was limited in his answers because of security.
I plan on continuing to use Skype in the classroom because
those experiences are what the students remember and have a lasting affect of
them. I found most of the contacts in
Skype using: https://education.skype.com/
This is a site were teachers can create account, look for teachers are have
common interests and set up a Skype session.
Thanks to this site my previous students have had memorable
experiences.
I have only ever used Skype in my personal life and for a grad school group project. It is a great tool to use to stay connected with people all over the world. I have never looked very much in to Skype because I am unable to use it in my classrooms due to not having technology devices in my own classroom. We do have a computer classroom, but we would have to buy webcams for some of them so students would be able to use the application. The link you provided is very beneficial. If I ever had the opportunity for students to use Skype in my Spanish classes, I would definitely look in to finding other teachers/students where a Skype session could be set up to learn more about the Spanish culture.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! Love to hear that you are using this in your classroom!
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ReplyDeleteTodd,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with you that these students will remember these types of things. I remember being in school and getting excited for the activities like this. We wrote letters to celebrities. It was so exciting. When students are excited they remember and make real connections!