Thursday, February 4, 2010
Connecting with Skype
This was a bit harder for me than the others "lessons" so far. After setting up my account, I realized I do not have a microphone built into my computer. Then I tried to find a friend that has a Skype account and was not successful. I went with their email account information since I do not know their user name. I was able to find David and Carol's information but I had their user names. I am not certain this would be something I would use in my classroom so I am going to start "playing" around with it this week at home. If anyone has suggestions for how to use it with my students I would love any input. They are young and visually impaired.
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I am also looking for uses of SKYPE. I am at the HS, teaching chemistry and the logistics of the mic and camera seem a bit daunting. I was thinking the conference call feature might be more useful for your students than the camera. Maybe practicing speaking and listening skills with students from another classroom or even country. When I visited the links provided in the class blogs, I was able to leave my information in hopes of someone finding me with a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHey there....
ReplyDeleteI think to truly see what Skype can do, you may need to have it on your classroom computer. Once you have that, you can explore its benefits from two perspectives.
1) Professionally, you can use Skype to collaborate with other teachers, staff members and maybe someday parents. Don't forget, Skype is so much more than a video tool, it can be an audio tool (up to 25 participants) or just a chatting tool where you may have a quick question and its easier (and better) to chat through Skype than to call.
2) From an educational standpoint... mayby you could have a guest speaker or two in your class... or have a parent Skype in to class, or Skype another class in the district, in Michigan or even out of state.. .the possibilities are limitless!
Great work thus far... feel free to Skype me any time!
David
I have begun using Skype as an email service too.
ReplyDeleteI have visually impaired students as well and think maybe it is not much better than a free phone call but for my deaf students I think it would be great because they could see each other using sign language.
ReplyDelete