Skype brings 'endless potential ' into the classroom
At Skype, we know how important education is for the future of communication. We also understand that education fundamentally depends on two way communication. It is with these two premises in mind that we built the Skype in the Classroom program for educators and students around the world.
As stated in a recent issue of Education Week, Skype has ‘endless potential’ in the classroom. McGraw-Hill looks at Skype as a ‘game changer in education,’ opening up worldwide dialogue between students of all ages.
Skype is a hot trend among educators who are looking for cost-effective communication tools and view Skype as a natural fit in the classroom. By removing geographical barriers of communication, Skype gives students the opportunity to conduct enriching face-to-face conversations with peers and influencers across the globe. For instance, just last week, college students studying anthropology in New York used Skype to connect with Nepalese children. Some Green Bay and Pittsburgh elementary school students even made a video call to convey their Super Bowl spirit!
That’s why we’re thrilled to pilot our “Skype in the Classroom” (beta) site. In an effort to help bring together a global community of teachers around the world, this free online directory makes it easier to find other teachers to connect with as well as share resources to help enrich the experience of Skype in the classroom.
Making further headway within the education sector, we’re excited to attend McGraw-Hill’s “Social Media for Higher Education Day” this week in New York. At this Social Media Week event, we’ll showcase Skype Group Video Calling to hundreds of educators in the hope to inspire even more teachers to bring Skype experiences into their classroom.
Other grassroots initiatives like “Chatting across the USA” are proving to be really effective, and we encourage more teachers sign up for the Skype in the Classroom directory so that their students can take advantage of these technologies in a similar way.
I will definitely be passing the Skype in the Classroom site on to my son’s teacher. My 7 year old, first grader is a homebound student due to his lowered immunity. He skypes with his classmates every day as part of his daily school time. It has absolutely revolutionized the way his school, and schools within his district and state have viewed special needs children, and those who have to be homebound. The kids in the classroom are so excited to skype with him everyday, and have gone home and asked their parents to download skype on their home computers so they can “play” with him on the weekends. Skype has given our son friends where he never would have been able to before.
Hi Jennifer – our company, IgnitionTutoring was mentioned in the EdWeek article. We help K-12 students from all over the country connect with tutors from Stanford, and obviously we couldn’t do what we do without Skype. Looking forward to seeing what amazing things educators can do with Skype as bandwidth and adoption improve!
Skype is definitely a step forward in the unconventional classroom. Teachers can reach students in ways that they couldn’t before. Like ‘Deanawatson’ commented it is great for students that may be homebound for whatever reason. Also, it’s amazing how we can reach out so far to others and interact with them on this front. Skype is paving the way for the future online classroom!