Skype in the classroom could revolutionize the way college students go about school. Group projects can be done remotely with the students communicating over Skype. It would offer easily collaboration by calling or IM in groups. The only limitation is Skype can only have one on one video chats, but at least you can make group conference voice calls. Another benefit would be asking teachers questions. If a student is lost, they could video chat their professor for help, hold up the problem they're working on, or just add a little more personal aspect than e-mailing offers. Skype also allows easy file transferring that's much faster than e-mail. Students can exchange powerpoints and notes this way in case they missed a class. All in all Skype could really benefit a classroom.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Skype in the Classroom
First there were smoke signals. Then there was the invention of letters and a postal service. Then man made a revolutionary device called a telephone, shortly followed by e-mail. All of these connected people together and offered a way to exchange information over a distance. But the world now has something that trumps these and takes communication to a whole new level. It's called Skype and is a simple computer programs that allows people to call, video chat, IM, and exchange files with one-another over the internet for free. The service can easily be brought into use in the classroom to benefit the students and offer them more ways to learn the material and exchange ideas.
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I can easily relate myself to your suggestions. I have already used voice calls many times, not with Skype, but with MSN, to work with my partner to prepare weekly oral skits. In this way, we could save a lot of time travelling to and from a meeting place, and there was no problem at all communicating clearly and discussing what we want to do.
ReplyDeleteEverything in your post made Skype sound wonderful, not that I think it isn't, but I still think there would be at least some issues with it. For instances, I've had calls lost on Skype before and been unable to reconnect. What would you do if this happened when you were supposed to have a group meeting? And as far as contacting teachers, that also sounds like a good idea, but for some reason the thought of video chatting with my professors creeps me out a little. I definitely think Skype offers many benefits for education, I just think some of the potential risks and the reality of its use should be evaluated as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katelyn that the quality of Skype video and voice calls often suffers. However, if this issue were to be solved in the near future then Skype could definitely offer an efficient method for group collaboration. As far as communicating with teachers, although I think it is a little weird to video chat with a teacher, it could very well make it easier for teachers to understand students' questions and to better answer them, since it is often hard to explain complex questions via email. Furthermore, since Skype shows whenever a person is online and available, one is able to get instant feedback when contacting another person who is shown as online.
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