SkypER

Skype, the video conferencing and telephone service software, opens many educational opportunities that weren't previously there. A particularly useful benefit of Skype is inter-classroom collaboration. Teachers in remote areas that aren't necessarily the best trained have the ability to learn from other teachers while they are teaching. Another benefit is the cultural mixing that Skype would provide to classrooms. Different ethnicities would be able to experience diametrically opposed cultures.

One of the largest pitfalls of Skype is that Internet access is required. Additionally, in all of the above situations, a camera and microphone would be almost compulsory. An additional setback is timing...it is not always convenient to set up a Skype time for 1pm in Detroit, when it is 2am the next morning in Tokyo. Despite these considerations, Skype opens an extremely wide world of communication, and needs to be seriously considered as a tool in the classroom.