Skype in Education

What is Skype?

Skype is a 21st Century Communication tool which tangibly expands the walls of traditional education by allowing students and teachers to connect with people all over the world through synchronous, real-time discussions. Skype provides opportunities for collaboration and communication through text chats, audio chats, video conferences, group conversations and instant file sharing. The best part is, Skype is free! You can download here.

I have been using Skype a lot with my classes.  The more I have used it, the more interested I became in different ways educators can use it in their classrooms, whether online or face-to-face.  If you aren't familiar with Skype, you can watch my video that I created.  Below is additional information for using Skype in the classroom.




What you need to get connected:

• A computer with active Internet connection
• A Webcam with microphone
• A Skype account on both ends
• An LCD projector to project the Skypecast live (if in classroom)

Why use Skype?

• Connect with the world for free!
• Provide effective and efficient communication.
• Catch and hold students’ attention.
• Supplement instruction.
• Connect students with experts worldwide
• Connect students who are learning similar and/or related content
• Connect with students’ parents/guardians
• Engage students in learning and provide authenticity to education since students typically learn more from actual people than out of a book.
• Broaden students’ view of the world and their own place in the global community.
• Allow students who are absent a chance to participate and stay caught up
• Become a “facilitator” in an online classroom.
• Provide students immediate assistance, feedback, and recognition.
• Help with group work.
• Students can use Skype to brainstorm, solicit feedback and input from peers.
• Students can clarify and reinforce key points of the course content.

Before engaging in any activity, you must have a well-defined objective and well-planned activity!

General Educational Uses

Collaboration – Encourage collaboration
Students can talk with each other and send drafts of files to everyone in the group to review. They can save the archives for later review or to send to classmates who miss the meeting.

Team teaching
Connect with other classes in your school, state, country, or other parts of the world so one teacher can talk to and provide lessons to multiple classes and/or so students can learn about different regions of the state, country, or world from kids their age rather than from a book or video.

• Students can make presentations to other classes within or outside their district.
• Students can collaborate on a project with another class via Skype.
• Teachers can network and collaborate with other educators.

Homework help/Office hours

• Students can contact their instructor for help with homework.
• Students can submit assignments and teachers can return graded assignments and discuss the assignments.
• Teachers can post a note next to their Skype name to remind students of when an assignment is due or to provide encouragement.
• Teachers can use Skype to teach or communicate with class when they are absent.
• Teachers can connect with parents who get to the school but still would like to take part in conferences, parent nights, etc.

Interviews

Speak with experts and conduct interviews in different fields. Before the interview takes place, have students create questions which you will pre-select. During the interview, students will take turns asking questions. Allow students to ask follow up questions as well. Students may interview:

• Scientists
• Authors
• Musicians
• People in different types of careers
• People from other cultures or countries
• Soldiers

Support special-needs students
Skype offers special needs students with new ways of learning. Teachers can have open and constant communication with parents of special-needs students via Skype. Teachers can:

• Provide a description of the day’s activities over a chat or file transfer.
• Conduct Skype conference times after school or during their planning period.
• Help a parent with a struggling learner by modeling effective teaching techniques so they can best help their child at home.

Students have available different modes of communication such as:

• Visually impaired students can participate in an audio Skype conference.
• Hearing impaired students can engage in texting with Skype.
• Students who communicate with sign language can use the video.
• Homebound students can join their class so they won’t fall behind.
• LEP students can benefit from Skype. You can connect with teachers from their home country or with local teachers who speak their native language. They can help translate/interpret, help the students learn more about the LEP students and their culture, and help them feel more comfortable in class.

Specific Subject Uses

Foreign Languages

• Assess students’ speaking abilities by having individual conversations with them as if you were speaking in person. You can also assess students’ speaking while they are speaking to their classmates.
• Host language exchanges where students partner with students in another class. They spend half the class speaking the target language then the other half speaking their native language.

Social Studies/Cultural Studies

• Compare and contrast holiday and cultural celebrations.
• Students experience live traditional dances, ceremonies, music, celebrations, plays, etc.
• Bring the world to your classroom - Skype people/classrooms in different countries to “bring the world” to your classroom.
• Students speak with students or inhabitants of a place where students are studying.

Language Arts

• Read aloud to students. You can have an author read a story over Skype so that the entire class can enjoy a favorite book and then ask questions, you can read a book and have a class discussion, or you can have other remote readers such as local business owners, elected officials, athletes, local leaders, local theater, etc.

Math

• Time zones – Calculate time in other country
• Figure mileage and airfare cost or cost to drive from point A to point B.
• Currency conversion
• Compare McDonald's (or other common food chain) menus in both countries
• Create a grocery list within a budget
• Calculate cost to go to movies
• Create a budget for living in that country compared to what it would cost in America (housing, cars, education and so on)
• Figure out how many soccer fans can fill that country's stadium compared to how many football fans fill a local stadium.
• Do math problems together and possibly a game/tournament with another math class

Music

• Students listen to other musicians.
• Students interview musicians.
• Students perform.
• Students create music with another class.

Science/Health

• Talk to people in different parts of the world about different types of climates, diseases, landscapes, natural disasters (some people live in areas that have earthquakes, tornados, volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.)
• Interview scientists or researchers that pertain to what students are learning e.g. Meteorologists can talk about weather.
• Conduct science experiments while on Skype.
• Students conduct science experiments and collaborate with other classes.
• Have science fair with other classes. Students present their projects.
• Doctor’s talk about diseases, health, nutrition, etc.
• Skype with local zoo.

Instructor Recommendations for Skype Use

Schedule students' Skype subscription in the class orientation. The sooner students are exposed to Skype, the better they will learn how to use it and adjust to the learning experience. Be sure to tell what Skype is, provide tutorials, and inform students of necessary accessories such as a headset, a microphone, and a broadband connection.

Discuss profiles. Give students an idea of what type of username they will use. While is may be appropriate for adult learners to use their real names, I would not advise that for younger students. In fact, it may be best for the younger students to avoid using their full name or real name and to avoid any name that can be misconstrued. In this case, I would create names and passwords for each student and assign it to them to use for class. Advise students not to fill out profile and not to Skype anyone they don't know. Be sure to check their profiles.

Conduct test calls. Have students add the instructor to their contacts and then conduct a test call with the instructor. During the text call, explain how certain functions operate. Once the test call is successfully completed, students can add their classmates get to know their classmates better with an icebreaker activity.

Divide students into groups and conduct conference calls. Discuss how the conference features work, how to speak, mute, add a contact to the conference, what to do if someone accidentally gets dropped from the conference, etc.

Provide technology use protocols ahead of time. For example, if someone gets disconnected from the chat, the group leader can immediately add that person back to the meeting.

Record sessions. Record Skype sessions for later viewing, reading, or listening.