Skype Play

Spreading college admissions news via Skype

As the school year quickly approaches summer vacation, many high school students are looking forward to the next step in their education path: college. In fact, early May is when many regular application students begin to hear back from colleges across the country regarding their admission decision.

While it's often an anxious yet exciting time, getting admitted to college can also be one of the most memorable and important moments in a teenager's life. Not surprisingly, family and friends from afar love to celebrate the great news too upon hearing about the college decisions of relatives and friends. But, for those whose friends and family aren't there in person to hear the news, there are several ways Skype can help spread the excitement.

• Family spread across the globe? Connect with up to nine other family members on one Group Video Call and break the news that you got accepted to the school of your choice!
• Grandparents want to be there when you open the admissions letter? Use Skype on your Skype-enabled TV or Blu-ray player and bring your grandparents into the occasion - virtually - from your living room to theirs.
• Want to see the online admissions decision with your best friend from afar? Use Skype screen sharing to allow your best friend to watch you read your admission decisions online.
• On the go, but want to tell your friend the news face-to-face? Download Skype for Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad or Android for free Skype-to-Skype video calling and see their face light up with excitement when you break the news.

Removing Barriers to Communication for the Monarch School

We're so excited about today's Ellen DeGeneres Show, where a school for children impacted by homelessness, the Monarch School in San Diego, received a $50,000 donation from Skype. This is just one part of Skype's ongoing commitment to education. We recently announced a $250,000 campaign through DonorsChoose.org.

These contributions are in addition to our flagship social good initiatives Skype in the classroom. Skype in the classroom has grown to a community of more than 26,000 members in 191 countries who use Skype video calling to connect to other classrooms and experts. We're really proud that the Monarch School's teachers can now join this community to bring wonderful learning experiences to their students--experiences that enhance the important work that they are already doing.

Check out the Ellen DeGeneres Show segment on the Monarch School.

Learn more about how you too can support the school.

Video Call an Author on World Read Aloud Day

We spotted something really neat and wanted to share it. LitWorld's annual World Read Aloud Day is coming up on March 7th.

"World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child's right to a safe education and access to books and technology." ~ from the LitWorld website

Last year, a bunch of children's book authors volunteered to read aloud via Skype to classrooms and libraries around the globe for free.

This year, numerous authors are once again volunteering their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world over Skype. We support this 100% and we want to spread the word to our Skype in the classroom community and other Skype fans.

For example, we heard about this school in Minnesota that Skype called Barbara Gail Techel, the author of two books about her dog, who moves around using a doggie wheel chair. We love how Skype enables classrooms to reach out to authors and experience something they normally wouldn't be able to.

If you'd like to have an author visit your classroom or library for World Read Aloud Day, here's further instructions on this helpful blog featuring authors and how to reach them.

Also, if you can't organize a classroom reading, you can still make an impact by picking up a children's book and reading aloud to your son or daughter, niece or nephew or grandchild. If you aren't nearby, you can still read to them over a free video call wherever they might be.

lllustration by Tom Nick Cocotos

Poetry as a device for learning pronunciation

Written by Karl H. Purnell, a writer, playwright and journalist who began his career as a reporter for the Harrisburg Patriot, and then became a newspaper editor in Lewisburg, PA. Karl has been teaching students in various part of the world via Skype technology for the past three years.

I was brought up in a generation when the importance of memorizing poetry was on a par with learning to pitch a fast ball. That seems to have changed and unfortunately not many students today recognize the importance of poets like Wordsworth, Tennyson, Whittier or Whitman to say nothing of writers from non-English speaking countries.

Fortunately, there are individual teachers throughout the world who do bring poetry to the classroom, but the pressure to produce test results and complete assigned academic material all too often leaves little time for literary works.

When it comes to teaching English as a second language via Skype, however, poetry must once again move to front and center if a real education in the English language is to be attained. Why? It's the best method imaginable for teaching students proper pronunciation and the subtle meaning of words.

Recently at Teach the World Online, we decided to have our students around the world learn Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. At first there was hesitation. Then, after a reading and discussion of the poem's meaning about the beauty of nature, the students jumped into the project.

My own students in Russia and Nepal said they would be ready to recite the entire poem in four days. I assigned a verse per day and at the end of four days many students said they were ready. I was surprised and quite frankly, suspicious. When Dolma, one of the Tibetan girls in Nepal, rattled the poem off perfectly, I was sure she had a printed copy behind the webcam. Consequently, I asked the girl behind her to hold her hands over her eyes while she said it again. Here she is proving me wrong:

In Russia, the students also performed magnificently and I was astounded at the dramatic flair they brought to the Robert Frost poem. Here is Alana's rendition:

Still, the pronunciation by both the Russians and Tibetan students made the recitations almost incomprehensible.

But wait! Now is the time when our students can really learn proper pronunciation and adjust their speaking to the subtle meanings of each word. So, for the next few weeks, we'll work to achieve perfect pronunciation. It will be a great learning experience because our students have a personal investment in this project since they know it by heart. It will also be a lifelong gift they will never forget.

The students have also asked if they could have a competition between the Russians and the Tibetans to see who can offer the best rendition of Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. If there are any teachers reading this blog who would like to enter their class in the competition, let me know. Maybe, we can have a worldwide poetry reading tournament on Skype. ...our own Skype's Got Talent! E-mail karl@teachtheworldonline.org for more information.

To learn more visit Skype in the classroom, 'Like' us on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

Recapping DoSomething.org's "Grandparents Gone Wired" Campaign

In December, we told you about Skype and DoSomething.org's exciting holiday campaign to help adults age 65 and older get wired. By inspiring tech savvy teens to share their knowledge with seniors, Skype's goal was to help more people stay connected through technology - both during the holiday season and year-round. We're now thrilled to share the success of the first "Grandparents Gone Wired" campaign!

After reaching out to DoSomething.org's network of teen volunteers across the country, through social media channels and to educators via Skype in the classroom, over 12,000 participants signed up to help seniors in their communities learn how to keep in touch with others online using programs such as Skype, Gmail and Facebook. We're excited to think of all the adults age 65 and older that now understand how to use these tools to stay in touch with loved ones from afar.

Even more, we can only imagine how helping others impacted these teens in a positive way! Kayla Kawalec, one of the participating teens (pictured below), commented: "At first, my grandparents were perfectly fine being 'disconnected.' They thought learning how to use Skype and Facebook would be too hard, and before this December they never even owned a computer. Once I explained how easy it really was, they were very interested and excited to learn how to communicate with their friends and family online."

While the first "Grandparents Gone Wired" campaign has concluded, we hope teens around the world will continue to educate seniors in their lives on how to stay connected using technology tools like Skype. If you plan to teach your grandparents, family friends, or others how to use Skype, leave a comment and share your story with us.

How to get Skype working in your classroom

Skype in the classroom is an online community that encourages teachers to connect and support one another through content sharing, collaborative projects and classroom connections to bring topics to life for their students. We officially launched Skype in the classroom back in March 2011 and the site has grown steadily since. There are over 20,000 teachers using the site and our goal is to connect one million classrooms.

We recently presented at the BETT Show in London and received several questions related to the technical setup that is needed to make Skype work in the classroom.

All you need to do is:
• Create a Skype account - Choose your Skype Name and enter your details so friends can find you on Skype.
• Get Skype - Download Skype to your computer.
• Sign in to Skype - Sign in and add your friends as contacts, then call, video call and instant message with them, wherever you are.
• Register for Skype in the classroom - Meet new people, discover new cultures and connect with classes from around the world, all without leaving the classroom.

A few other tips:
• We recommend you use a fixed line internet connection for the best quality calls.
• Sometimes firewalls can block Skype, however the majority can be easily configured with Skype. Find out more here.
• Remember to close any applications that use the internet (especially those that might be playing music or video) and cancel any file downloads. Find out more here.

As far as hardware requirements, if you want to connect your classroom with another classroom via video call, you will need a webcam and a headset.

For more information on how Skype can extend learning beyond the classroom, visit Skype in the classroom or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Homework Help via Video Call

Whether you're still in school or out in the working world, we all remember the days of homework. After a full day of classes ranging from math, science, reading, history, language and more, the usual weekday concludes with challenging homework assignments to help practice newly learned skills and topics.

This week, we learned that with help from Skype, students in the Anchorage School District (Anchorage, Alaska) can now tackle homework through remote tutoring. After surveying the parents of students who participated in ASD's Title VII Evening Program, the Title VII Indian Education department realized that the most prohibiting factor for students not attending after school help sessions was lack of transportation. In response, two weeks ago Title VII began a homework help service via Skype in order to increase students' access to after school tutoring. Every Tuesday and Thursday, American Indian and Alaska Native students can use their home laptops or phones to Skype call Title VII staff members during regular Homework Help hours. Not only do the tutors use Skype video call to see their students face-to-face, but they also use Skype screen sharing to help students who are learning to solve math equations.

After two weeks of the Homework Help program, Title VII's Cultural Enrichment Specialist, Lauren Shutt, commented, "We've received very positive feedback from parents and community members so far and hope to see increased participation as the program continues. I think Skype will prove to be an invaluable asset, especially with the harsh winters here in Alaska that often make mobility and physical access to our on-site tutoring difficult."

Does your school use Skype for homework help? Leave a comment below and share with us.

For more information on how your school can use Skype, check out Skype in the classroom.

English Author Connects with Students in Washington State

Last week, we heard this fun story about how students from a high school in Washington used Skype video call to bring literature to life and we wanted to share it with you. After reading author Alexander Gordon's young adult novel called Escape from Furnace, Camas High School teacher and librarian Rosemary Knapp decided to conduct a Skype video call between her students who had read the book and the author Alexander Gordon. Thirty students from Camas High School and the author participated in a memorable discussion via video call across the Atlantic between from Washington state and Norwich, England. The opportunity allowed the students to not only ask Gordon about his books and his writing, but even more, Gordon was able to show the students a mock-up of the cover of his upcoming fifth book in the action series in the United States, Execution. The students were more than delighted to learn that they were the first ones to see the proposed cover!

Rosemary Knapp, the librarian who set up the video call, said "students at Camas High School (Camas, WA) were thrilled to meet Alexander Gordon Smith, author of the Escape from Furnace series. Because he lives in England and we live in the Pacific Northwest, this opportunity would never have been possible without the technical magic of Skype!"

How has your school used Skype in the classroom to connect with an author? Leave a comment and share with us.

For more information on how your classroom can use Skype, visit Skype in the classroom here or on Facebook and Twitter.

Mark Wood - Nearing the South Pole

Whilst many of us have been taking some time with our families over the festive season, the intrepid explorer Mark Wood has been walking through the snow and ice across the South Pole alone.

Mark called me late last night to update me on his progress - rather excitingly he was just 17 miles from the South Pole and the halfway point of his expedition. You can listen to Mark's latest update and see exactly where he is on the ice right now on his blog.

Once he reaches the South Pole, Mark will be flown to Chile where he'll take a long shower before heading up to Ottawa and then Resolute Bay to tackle the North Pole. Mark will be available to speak to schools as part of Skype in the Classroom during this period - more details on this to come.

Update on Mark's progress (1/11/12): I'm pleased to say that an exhausted, but elated Mark has made it to the South Pole on day 50 of his expedition. Congratulations from everyone at Skype .

A Memorable Skype Call between Aung San Suu Kyi and Virginia Tech Students

Last week, we heard the amazing news that a World Regional Geography class at Virginia Tech in the United States would have the opportunity to have a Skype video call with Burmese democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi. How did this all come about? While studying Southeast Asia, which included watching a film depicting the struggles of the Burmese peoples, Professor John Boyer's Virginia Tech students came up with the idea to ask Aung San Suu Kyi to speak with them. A bit of a long-shot, Boyer and his enthusiastic students put together a YouTube video for her, proposing a Skype video call to discuss the power of globalization, her experience in Burma and more. Sure enough, all the way from Burma, Suu Kyi agreed to speak with the students via Skype!

Last Monday, from Blacksburg, Virginia all the way to Burma, the memorable Skype video call took place. John Boyer, the Virginia Tech professor who arranged this call with his 3,000 students, commented on the experience: "Our surreal Skype interview with Aung San Suu Kyi was the perfect fusion of globalization, education, technology and democracy in action. The future of great educational courses will definitely contain Skype as a foundational component. We should come to expect that classrooms will have access to the top scientists, artists, politicians, and experts from every field directly interacting and impacting students all over the globe. Skype is making the impossible possible. Who would have ever dreamed that a group of American college kids would have access to a modern day heroine, Nobel laureate, and living legend located on the other side of the planet? I guess Skype did."

We encourage you to watch the inspiring and educating video below of their conversation. We hope it inspires more classrooms across the globe to dream big and use the power of Skype video calling to help make these dreams come to life. For more information on how your school can use Skype in the classroom, please visit Skype in the classroom at education.skype.com.

Skype and DoSomething.org Encourage American Teens to Help Grandparents Get "Wired"

It's no wonder that social networking use among adults age 65 and older is increasing - with just a few clicks of a button on communications platforms, such as Skype and Facebook, or email, seniors can stay in touch easily with their loved ones, no matter where they are.

For this reason, DoSomething.org, Skype and Grandparents.com have teamed up on the "Grandparents Gone Wired" campaign that's running the entire month of December. In order to make it easier for seniors to learn how to keep in touch with technology, the "Grandparents Gone Wired" campaign asks tech-savvy teens in the U.S. to share their technology know-how and help seniors get started on Facebook, Skype and Gmail. Timed with the holiday season, this nationwide campaign not only helps seniors get connected, but also provides teenagers with an opportunity to make an impact on people they care about. The campaign bridges generation gaps and enables conversations with loved ones through technology.

Teens can participate by signing up at www.dosomething.org/grandparents. In return for helping a senior get wired, volunteers are encouraged to report back on their experience on DoSomething's micro-site and are then entered to win tech prizes, $500 college scholarships, as well a free membership to Grandparents.com Benefits Club.

This holiday season, we hope our Skype users will encourage and help others to sign up at www.skype.com, so they too can have meaningful conversations via voice and video calls this holiday season.

Skype in the Classroom wins Summer 2011 Tomorrow Award

A few weeks ago, we learned the exciting news that Skype in the classroom won 1 of 5 Summer 2011 Tomorrow Awards. The Tomorrow Awards, an international award honoring advertising creativity that pushes new boundaries in technology, awarded Skype in the classroom for its "potential to change the world," as one judge noted.

Yesterday, the Tomorrow Awards team released a wonderful video including teacher stories and revealing the judge's discussions as to why they awarded Skype in the classroom. We encourage you to watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

We are extremely proud to be a part of the Tomorrow Award community, representing new technologies and the creative possibilities they provide. With all the teachers and students who use Skype in their schools and in educational settings every day, we are able to illustrate the innovative possibilities Skype video calling provides and the meaningful connections it facilitates between classrooms across the globe.

To learn more about our Skype in the classroom community, visit education.skype.com or view our Tomorrow Award entry here.

You can also add Skype in the classroom to your network on Facebook or Twitter.

Mentoring through Skype

Recently, several news stories about mentors using Skype caught my attention. These examples demonstrate how educators are increasingly using Skype in new and exciting ways to help engage and educate their students.

Ever thought of mentoring though Skype? Gibson Southern High School in Fort Branch, Indiana has been using Skype video calling in their classrooms to mentor a local elementary school's second graders. The project, called "Skype is the Limit and Beyond," entails the high school and elementary students connecting once a week via Skype video call, allowing the elder students to educate the second graders about various tools that will help them in the future. The students also bring in guests. Some recent guests include: a high school athlete and a manager from McDonald's. The second graders love having the chance to have conversations with individuals of whom they don't usually have access.

In addition to students mentoring each other, I've seen some great examples of experts in various fields mentoring students on different education topics to help them gain deeper knowledge. For example, Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, California has used Skype to have students present their projects to experts for constructive criticism. After weeks of working on architecture projects, these students were able to share their great work through video call with professional architects for mentoring and feedback. Further demonstrating how Skype has enhanced school projects, Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, California also used Skype video calling to connect with the author of a book the students just finished reading. Through technology, students in several schools have been able to advance their education by getting first-hand information from mentors, experts and more. Interested in connecting your classroom with experts or other classrooms around the globe? Skype now offers a free online community called Skype in the classroom that helps teachers and classrooms find and connect with each other to engage classroom lessons. For more information, go to education.skype.com.

Have you seen an interesting use of Skype in the classroom that might help inspire other educators and students? Leave a comment and share with us.

Peace One Day use Skype to help mobilise the youth of the world

The world has just celebrated Peace Day 2011; you'll be pleased to know that it was a huge success. And this year we heard some wonderful stories of how Skype has been used amongst students as part of their Peace Day celebrations.

Face-to-face across continents - a Skype in the classroom project:
The Uruguayan American School of Montevideo held a Skype video call with Mr. Dave Lefkowitz and his World Studies class in Oregon. The discussions focused on the meanings and definitions of what peace meant to them individually, how to promote peace in their lives, and shared their favourite peace quotes and agents of change in this area.

It was a great way to build a bridge of peaceful intent between two countries and the beginning of what will surely be a lasting and peaceful friendship! They even saw and heard from Pakistani students as they joined the conversation too. The excitement of parties from all over the world engaging in this day of peace was inspiring. See some of the project feedback here.

Peace One Day's Global Truce countdown:
For Peace Day 2012, Peace One Day is calling for and working towards a Global Truce - a day of ceasefire and non-violence observed by all sectors of society globally. POD hopes this will be the largest reduction in global violence in recorded history, both domestically and internationally.

Global Truce 2012 Introduction Film

Over the next 12 months, Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day is going to be speaking with young people around the world and asking them to join Peace One Day in calling for a Global Truce on Peace Day 2012. Will your students be next to speak with him?

Jeremy has already planned Skype video calls with students in Ghana, Mongolia, Monaco, Denmark, Norway and Egypt. That's in November alone; imagine how many students he will be reaching out to in the next 11 months!

Jeremy is hoping to reach schools in the 193 UN member states before Sept ember 21st 2012. To get your classroom involved contact Peace One Day Education through their Skype in the classroom profile or email skypetalks@peaceoneday.org to register your interest in a video call over Skype, and start planning your very own Global Truce 2012 campaign. Don't forget that you can check out the Peace One Day Global Education Resources to help get your students started; we hope the brand new Global Truce 2012 and Sport for Truce lesson plans will provide you with some inspiring ideas.

Will you be part of the biggest call for peace the world has ever seen? You can sign up to the Global Truce 2012 at www.peaceoneday.org, follow @PeaceOneDay on twitter, and 'like' the Peace One Day Facebook page, to show your support.

Students get back to Skype when back to school

Striking out on your own for a university experience can be trying at first, but with Skype, you can keep your parents on the line while chatting up new friends from lecture.

Setting off for university - especially when you'll be far from your home town, your parents and childhood friends - is one of life's great adventures. You'll meet new friends, learn new things and share ideas - but you'll still want to keep in touch with those back home.

For video calling mom and dad, sharing your experiences with friends back home or at universities of their own - or maybe even collaborating online with the cutie next to you in lecture - you can choose Skype for quick and easy communication.

Your parents will probably be worried sending off their baby for the first time into the great wide world. And while you might think it's a bit silly, all it takes is a quick - and free - video call to let them know you're doing well... and maybe to ask to borrow a little money if you've run out.

This could especially come in handy if you're out of your home country, as Skype offers some of the cheapest international calls around.

Both internet calls and instant messaging are a great way to keep in touch with friends still in your home town or those who've chosen a different university. You can even use Skype to track down your daring friend as he treks through India on a gap year adventure.

But of course, university is all about stretching your legs, striking out on your own - and maybe you might even learn a thing or two. You can use Skype to collaborate with your new classmates or just chat with interesting people you've met at there.

If you've used Skype to make some new friends or keep in touch with old ones, share your story in our comments section!

The growth of Skype use in the classroom

As a follow up to Skype CEO Tony Bates' blog on "The Transformational Power of Skype in the Classroom" last month, we thought it would be enlightening to share a round-up of some recent news stories regarding schools across the globe and how they use video calling in their classrooms. When we see stories in the news about real use cases representing the power of video calling in educational environments, it really drives home how much Skype can help impact youths' lives by enriching classroom content.

To demonstrate how Skype in the Classroom can enhance classroom learning, take for example how one Illinois school, Willowbrook School, recently used Skype video calling to help third graders practice their Spanish-speaking skills with native Spanish-speaking students in Texas. In fact, not only did Willowbrook's third graders get to sharpen their language skills with fluent speakers, thanks to video they also got to see a snapshot of the Texan kindergarteners lives. We can only imagine how regular video call conversations between students from different walks of life help youth gain new perspectives!

Not only do we see students using Skype to connect with other students within the US, such as those at Willowbrook School, but we also see a growing trend of schools connecting with students in other countries. Just last week, a group of sixth graders in North Carolina connected via video call with students in Guatemala, enabling a virtual pen-pal experience. Being able to learn about each other's daily lives, typical meals, hobbies and interests first-hand allowed for a culturally and educationally enriching experience. In addition to helping students in both the US and Guatemala understand the differences and similarities in their lives, I'm sure video call kept the students engaged and excited!

As the school year continues on, we love seeing the various ways teachers are taking advantage of video calling in the classroom. How is your school using Skype to enrich the classroom? Leave a comment and tell us.

Amy's Travels Project Connects Classrooms Globally through Literature Content

Written by Kathryn Starke, an elementary school literacy specialist, author, and educational publisher. She wrote Amy's Travels to provide a children's book that teaches global awareness for teachers and students across the globe.

Every year, we as teachers, rack our brains to try something new in the classroom that will stimulate great learning and engagement from our students. The "Amy's Travels Project" could be your solution this year. Amy's Travels is a multicultural children's book, based on a true story that teaches the culture, diversity, and geography of our world through the eyes of a young Latina girl. It is the first children's picture book to teach all seven continents, an elementary school social studies objective in schools all around the world. The "Amy's Travels Project" encourages classes to read the book and complete the provided unit in your classroom. (Available at http://www.creativemindspublications.com)

Skype in the classroom allows the project to go further than your own class or school. You can search under projects for the "Amy's Travels Project: Connecting Classrooms through Global Literature" and add your name to the project if you are a member of SITC. Classes from anywhere in the world can connect with your class to converse about Amy's Travels and share what life is like in your own country. We are teaching our children to meet and talk with peers outside of their area; the goal is to have classrooms connect across continents. Global awareness is such an important subject for our young children, and we have to be the ones to teach it.

To date, teachers have signed up and shown interest from the states, Europe, and India, and I want the list to continue to grow. Classes everywhere are invited and encouraged to get involved with the "Amy's Travels Project" by signing up on Skype in the classroom, getting a copy of Amy's Travels at http://www.creativemindspublications.com or http://www.amazon.com, and choosing a class to collaborate with for the year. Let's connect our children through global literature. I look forward to hearing all about your travels with Amy through Skype in the classroom!

The Benefits Of Visual Teaching

Here are four "facts" cited in recent scholarly research papers about the brain and education: 

1. Ninety per cent of learning is visual.
2. The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text. 
3. Forty per cent of all nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked to the retina. 
4. Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400 per cent. 

We might disagree with some of the figures. For instance, one can question what visual aids were used to improve learning by 400%. What we can't question however is that the most effective education takes place through the retina i.e. eyes. That means that effective education is best delivered by visual means.

That also means that listening to language recordings sound out words engages mostly the auditory senses. Consequently, a CD recording or even a teacher speaking before a class lights up only a limited part of the student's brain. 

At Teach The World Online, we're finding that a properly developed lesson using Skype video can come close to engaging the full visual capacity of the brain. When, for example, a puppet can wake up and excite the students' interest, they will long remember the day's lesson.

Watch the different reaction of these students listening to my lecture on health and the reaction to my puppet:

Back to School Cool with Skype

As much as I loved the summer growing up, there was something really fun about going back to school. As enjoyable as it was going to summer camp and the neighborhood pool, running into the local home office store after a long and hot summer to buy all my school supplies was always exhilarating! While people around the country are tossing their sunscreen into the backs of their closets and gathering up their textbooks and school supplies, it makes me think: how will today's students take Skype with them to school this year?

For college students who are heading off to a school that may be far apart from their childhood best friends, the recent integration of Skype on Facebook is the perfect way to video chat with their friends, while surfing on the popular social networking site. With over 750 million Facebook users each month, we know it won't be a challenge for college students to take a break from the library to connect with their friends via video call this semester! Only logged onto Skype? With Skype 5.5 for Windows, Skype users can now directly IM with their Facebook friends from the convenience of Skype, making it even easier to interact with Facebook and Skype contacts at the same time.

With up to ten people able to group screen share and group video call, Skype Premium is also a perfect back-to-school tool for students of all ages. With exams galore, group video calling and screen sharing are a perfect way to prepare with your study group and make sure everyone aces the test. And who can forget Skype video calling for the iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets? With students always running from class to class, the easiest way to connect with friends and family while on-the-go is Skype on mobile devices.

How are you taking Skype to school? Leave a comment below and let us know.

What should a Teacher teach on Skype?

A class on Skype is about to begin. The students are in the Zone, revved up and ready to learn. The webcam is producing a fine video and the audio couldn't be better. It's time to start delivering an education via the Internet.

Education? Uh...what's it going to be? What will the teacher teach?

Many high ranking educators throughout the world believe that students should prove themselves through standardized testing, which means they must learn how to test well on multiple choice questionnaires. This view, derived from a business model, suggests that education can be measured and evaluated just as profit and loss can be determined in any well-run company.

Then there are those who oppose this "teaching to the test" and would prefer to stick with traditional methods in which grades are dependent on the teachers' own evaluation of student progress made by studying detailed lesson plans issued by large educational publishing houses.

The problem the teaching-via-video teacher faces, however, is that neither teaching to the test nor traditional teaching methods work via video conferencing. The achievement of meaningful results with the Internet is more reliant on interactivity and image-laden lesson plans than can be found in the traditional printed workbooks or even face-to-face lectures.

TWOL students in Haiti watching a YouTube video

Fortunately, Skype allows a teacher to deliver this kind of education in which the object is to teach students how to think creatively, solve original problems and communicate effectively.

Last May (2010), prior to a holiday celebrating Turkish national independence, I was having a hard time engaging an English class near Ankara on the use of the auxiliary verbs "should" and "could". No one was interested. Students were fiddling with their pencils and staring out the window. In desperation, I flashed an English translation of former President Kemal Ataturk's great 1933 speech on the need for Turkish equality and freedom via the camera. Then we watched a rendition of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address delivered on a video by Henry Fonda.

Suddenly, the class was awake. "How are the two speeches similar?" I asked.

The students began a heated discussion in English on the similar message of freedom and equality, which both leaders advocated. Time ran out before we could finish the discussion, but the students had been inspired to analyze and think critically about this topical issue after seeing Ataturk's speech and the Lincoln video.

As the Harvard educator, Tony Wagner, writes in his book, The Global Achievement Gap, "Work, learning, and citizenship in the twenty-first century demand that we all know how to think - to reason, analyze, weigh evidence, problem-solve - and to communicate effectively."

Our instructors at Teach The World Online are finding that the creative use of available Skype teaching tools, such as screen sharing, add people to create a group IM chat, group voice or video calling, instant messaging, send files of any size (for videos etc) and other features are an excellent way to achieve this all-important goal.

Spanish Lessons: Skype was made for this

Skype has turned classrooms into a global learning environment as cultures are colliding like never before and distance is simply no longer an obstacle. As a result, schools are expanding their classrooms to a worldwide audience, with both students and teachers saving time and money on travel costs.

Individuals are using Skype to learn foreign languages one on one, or "1-2-1" as Craig Jull, founder of 121Spanish, likes to say. 121Spanish, is an online Spanish school that uses Skype to provide Spanish lessons to students around the globe. The company was born when Craig was learning the language at a school in Guatemala, 4 years ago. At the time he asked himself "Why can't I do this on-line?". 121Spanish now has over a 1,000 students in 35 countries and 15 teachers located in seven different countries.

Rob Plankenhorn, a retired entrepreneur from Indianapolis, USA, has taken a class with nearly almost all of the teacher's. Before discovering 121Spanish, Rob had tried private lessons and other computer software options to learn Spanish, but in the end he just didn't get the results he was hoping for. He began taking classes with 121Spanish via Skype video just over a year and a half ago and is very happy with the virtual approach.

"This [language lessons] seems to be the kind of thing that Skype was made for," said Rob. "It's so perfect. You can see and talk to your teacher; you can use the chat [IM] function, and if you need to look for books or documents you've created, it's right there. It's just so easy," he said.

Another student, Peter McManus, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is also a big fan. "You get one to one attention and by using Skype, you might as well be in the same room as your teacher," he said.

Both Rob and Peter agree that the combination of Skype video and Spanish teachers from a variety of countries and backgrounds has made learning a foreign language easier and much more fun. Skype also provides opportunities for cultural awareness and interaction, which are critical for language learning and hard to imitate in a traditional classroom. One gets to know and makes new friends in foreign countries, which can (and already has for some 121Spanish students) provided first-hand knowledge of a travel destination.

Skype-based teaching has proven to be a success for Craig and his students, and even a preferred choice for many learning and teaching a foreign language. "It simply works well for everyone involved, not to mention the environment," says Craig. "When you save on fuel and transportation costs by taking classes at home, it truly is an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and convenient way to learn."

Special thanks to Craig Jull for contributing to this blog post.

Inspiring a Class into the 'Zone'

Athletes do it. Musicians do it. Good Skype teachers do it.

I'm referring to getting students ready and eager to absorb the day's lesson. It's what the late author/sportsman George Plimpton called the 'Zone'; that moment of supreme concentration when the mind is clear, focused and prepared to function at a maximum level of excellence.

Watch Kobe Bryant shoot a three point "whistle blower" or Maria Sharapova hit a tennis serve and you'll see athletes playing in the Zone.

Good teachers constantly make an effort to get their classes into the Zone. They may begin class with a few funny remarks. Some teachers will produce a pleasant surprise like a new visitor. Others might perform a dramatic antic like Robin Williams jumping up on his desk in the film, Dead Poet's Society. These teachers understand the importance of having students who are not bored or resistant but anxious to learn.

Teachers using Skype are fortunate because they have several unique options for getting a class into the Zone. At TeachThe World Online for example, we like to get a discussion going about our students' dreams for the future by playing Aladdin's Magic Carpet on YouTube. There's not a classroom in the world that won't love watching this short musical which can then be followed by a discussion on the students' own hopes and plans for the future. You can play this on your own screen and click on Share Screen so your students can watch it with you, or you can share the link via Skype's instant messaging.

My own favorite way of getting students into the Zone is through the use of puppets. I used to entertain my own children with puppet shows so using it for a classroom is a natural extension of this wonderful teaching tool. One day, we also started a class in Cambodia by introducing them to our class in Nepal using Group Video. The students from both countries were thrilled with this surprise and their enthusiasm easily prevailed throughout the rest of that day's class.

One of our teachers can play a guitar, so she opens her classes with a sing-a-long tied into the day's lesson plans. She IM's the lyrics in a chat with the students before starting the class and then encourages students to join her in singing. The students quickly learn the song and she then has them in the palms of her hands throughout the ensuing hour-long lesson.

A TWOL teacher gets his Haitian students into the Zone.

There are many other ways Skype makes it easy to get students ready for a great class. The only limitation is the teacher's creativity and that, we hope, is without boundaries for inspiring a class into the all-important learning Zone.

Peace One Day's founder, Jeremy Gilley, inspires school children on Skype

Canada, England, Kenya, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, USA, Saint Lucia, Scotland and Switzerland: Jeremy Gilley has been busy chatting with school children all over the world these past few weeks. Without having to step foot on a plane, Jeremy is talking to the world's youth about conflict resolution, global citizenship, human rights and the link between sustainability and peace, he just clicks a button on Skype to make a video call.

Using Skype, Jeremy hopes to talk to school children in all 192 member-states of the UN before 21 September 2012, to support the countdown to a Global Truce on Peace Day 21 September 2012.

To find out more about Peace One Day's Global Truce 2012 campaign, please watch the Global Truce 2012 Introduction Film.

Global Truce 2012 Introduction Film.

Meanwhile, here is some feedback from teachers and students who have participated in Jeremy's Skype talks so far:

• "Using Skype to speak with Jeremy supported the work that the school does looking at Peace and Conflict resolution and motivated them [the students] to continue with their good work." Laura Paterson, Gordonstoun School, Scotland.

• Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be seen and heard on our little island of Saint Lucia. Our students are 90% local but the other 10% have come from countries where they have experienced a different sort of lifestyle - some with strife and suffering. The whole school was excited to share a live call - crossing borders in this manner was important." June Harkness, International School of St. Lucia.

• "It was SO WONDERFUL of Jeremy to take the time to inspire the kids of both countries (Kenya and Philadelphia, USA) and to be part of their Skype conversation." Lisa Parker, volunteer for Germantown Friends School.

• "You have inspired us all so much." Student to Jeremy from the International School of Geneva, Switzerland.

To get your classroom involved please access the free POD Education Resources and introduce your students to Jeremy's story so far, contact Peace One Day Education through their Skype in the classroom profile or email skypetalks@peaceoneday.org to register your interest in a video call over Skype, and start planning your Peace Day activities.

Here's a video introduction to Peace One Day education. The Education Resource is now available free online in the 6 official languages of the United Nations.

An introduction to Peace One Day education.

You can sign up to the Global Truce 2012 at www.peaceoneday.org, follow @PeaceOneDay on twitter, and 'like' the Peace One Day Facebook page, to show your support.

Training Teachers with Skype's Group Video Calling

A powerful tool in the Skype educational arsenal is group video calling which can easily be activated by the "Add People" button. Essentially, this allows up to ten individuals or classes from anywhere in the world to be on the screen at the same time.

Karl Purnell monitoring a class in Turkey with volunteer TWOL teacher, Annie Bartkowski.

At Teach The World Online, we've found this feature can solve the tricky but critical problem of teacher training and supervision of our Internet schools. After all, how do you sit in on a class and train a new volunteer teacher who is thousands of miles away?

One morning last year in Port Au Prince, Haiti where I was spending several days organizing new schools, I was astounded to see that one of our male teachers was not only disregarding the Lesson Plan, he was instructing the boys in the class how to pick up girls. It was only by accident that I saw what he was teaching and shuddered to think what else was happening in our classes around the world.

Then, Skype introduced group video calling which enables multi-screen presentations, and we quickly discovered how to solve our problem. By clicking on "Add people", we can now sit in on classes to find out what is going on while also assisting our teachers who are new to the Internet medium of instruction.

One of our new teachers, Annie Bartkowski, recently asked a class of rather shy young students in Gazientep, Turkey, if anyone had any questions about the words "know" and "no". I was on screen via Skype's group video calling feature watching as silence prevailed. No one would volunteer a question and Annie was stuck. "Ask a specific question to one of the students," I suggested to her in a low voice.

Annie then asked a boy in the front of the class if he could explain the usage of the two words which have such similar pronunciations. Immediately, he looked into the webcam and exclaimed, "I think you listen how words are used".

"That's right," Annie replied.

A heated class discussion on other similar sounding words quickly ensued and by the end of the hour the students understood the details of the day's lesson.

Monitoring a class held over Skype video needs to be carried out with tact and consideration so the teacher is not offended or embarrassed. If properly done, however, everyone, from students to teachers can be the beneficiaries of the "Add people" feature.

Top uses of Skype in the Classroom

Over 13,500 teachers are using Skype in the Classroom to find other teachers and classroom to partner with. We are pleased to have helped create a global community of like-minded teachers who are using technology to help their students learn in many wonderful ways.

Skype is being put to good use in a variety of ways in classrooms around the world. We wanted to share some of the most popular with you.

1. Cultural and language studies: through Skype video and group video calling, schools based in different countries are participating in language and cultural exchange classes.

2. No more missed classes: students who are unable to make it to class through illness are joining in with the rest of the class and following the normal education program through Skype video.

3. Bringing expertise into the class: bringing people and resources into the class that otherwise would not be at their reach is also popular: specialists on a subject, speakers, writers, scientists or even take part in virtual visits to exhibitions.

4. Disabled learning: Skype makes it so much easier for children and teachers to be taught/teach with a disability. In particular, children who have impaired hearing have the opportunity to learn via Skype video calling by signing with an interpreter.

5. Online tutorials: With video, voice, and IM for individuals and groups people are teaching and receiving classes on any given subject and even participating in special seminars or workshops.

6. Recruitment/Admission process: students coming from abroad are starting their admission process and interviews with schools, colleges and Universities via Skype video, saving both time and money.

7. Clubs and specialised group projects: peers with the same interests and hobbies -such as film, debating, drama or reading activities are sharing experiences between different classrooms or schools.

8. Music or language lessons: it is easy to have one on one lessons using Skype video with music and language lessons being quite popular, and much more convenient for any teacher or student who can't be there in person.

9. Skype pals: In our digital society, the traditional pen pal is making way for a more sophisticated way of staying in touch. Skype is making it easier for young people to maintain and grow long-distance relationships using free voice and video calls, IM, and file sharing such as photographs. If it's a group of friends, even better to use group IM or group video calling.

10. Parent participation: Parent's involvement in their child's education is key. Through Skype they are reading stories for their youngest ones; giving career talks for the older ones; attending plays or recitals prepared by the class if they are unable to attend; or even taking part in parent's evening from afar.

If you'd like to share your story please email skypeintheclassroom@skype.net

Partnership with Children holds Conflict Resolution 'Summit" between High Schools in Detroit and NYC thanks to Skype

Effective education requires not just teachers who are prepared to teach, but students whose hearts and minds are open and ready to learn. For many children living in poverty, the daily circumstances of their lives can hinder this readiness -whether because of hunger, lack of adequate housing, or other physical and emotional challenges.

Partnership with Children developed its Centre for Capacity Building to address these concerns in the New York public school system, assisting both teachers and students in creating an environment where learning can take place effectively. The Centre multi-faceted approach includes train-the-trainer sessions, parent workshops, peer mediation and other activities that address the academic, emotional and social needs of students.

In 2010, Partnership was offered the opportunity to replicate the program in the Detroit public school system. For Training Director Carolyn Parker and her Supervisor of Training and Outreach Ruthie Kalai, this meant travelling in person to Detroit in order to leverage their years of experience refining and improving the training curriculum. It also meant extensive use of remote learning technology, in order to reduce time on the road and maximise interaction between staff in New York and Detroit. Using Skype, the trainers were able to supplement their visits with face-to-face workshops held over video calls. This saved time and money, and literally enabled staff to be in two places at the same time.

Through this experience with free video calling, Parker and her team realised that the technology would also be an ideal format for student participants from high schools in different cities to become acquainted and share lessons learned. This led to the development of a Peer Mediation summit, featuring a game-show style "Detroit vs. New York" contest between 15 students from each city, and a "Peace Pact" where they could discuss the use of Peer Mediation principles in their everyday lives.

"Our experience has shown that peer mediation works," noted Michelle Sidrane, Executive Director of Partnership with Children, addressing students at the Skype-enabled event. "We know that when you use these skills, you help each other, your schools and your communities."

By giving students the opportunity to meet and learn in an interactive capacity, Partnership sees Skype video calling as an exciting and effective new tool in developing social and emotional learning in public schools. As Skype CEO Tony Bates noted, "The use of Skype in Detroit's inner-city schools is one more humbling example of how our technology can be leveraged to enrich the lives of some of the country's most vulnerable children helping to ensure their academic success."

Content contributed by Jonathan Streeter - Partnership with Children

School2Home teaches parents about digital literacy with Skype

On June 7th, teachers, parents and students were recognized for their hard work and help in developing School2Home, a model technology immersion program designed to close the Achievement Gap and the Digital Divide in California. The program has 10 core components including the provision of a computing device to each student for use at home and at school, teacher professional development and coaching, and meaningful parent education and engagement.

Through a 6 hour training program, parents are taught basic digital literacy skills as well as how to connect with teachers, monitor their child's homework, and guide their child's use of the Internet. Parents at Stevenson Middle School in Los Angeles, California were especially thrilled to learn how to use Skype to connect with families in other countries. Via video call, these families were not only able to talk to catch up with friends and families in other countries, but also discussed their new digital skills and ability to use technology. For many of these families, the School2Home computer is the first computer they have ever had, so using Skype video calling was new and exciting.

To help with the festivities, Skype provided headsets to the parent and student leaders as well as to the teacher "technology champions" who helped their colleagues integrate technology into their lesson plans every day. Because using Skype was such a success in connecting international families, Stevenson Middle School is interested in joining Skype in the Classroom, a free online community for educators, to start connecting with schools around the globe.

School2Home is co-sponsored by the California Emerging Technology Fund and The Children's Partnership. For more information about the program, visit www.school2home.org. To talk with someone about School2Home, contact Elaine Carpenter, Director of School2Home, at elainecarpenter@mac.com.

Creating a Musical Drama in Haiti via Skype

There's a growing realisation among teachers who use Skype that this versatile tool can be used to bring excitement to students in many new ways.

We recently found out how few limitations exist in this new combination of technology and education when we wrote, directed and produced a major musical in Haiti via the internet.

It all began last year. The play was developed for one of our Teach the World Online advanced English classes. We started the project, 'Our Haitian Cousins', so the students could learn to use dialogue and pronounce words correctly.

TWOL students in Haiti reviewing the play script with Karl Purnell.

Each week, we added more dialogue to this bitter-sweet comedy about an American-Haitian family visiting their cousins in Port Au Prince. Soon the students began memorising the lines, and suddenly we realised we had a wonderful play ready to show to earthquake refugees throughout the country. The students wrote extra dialogue and added traditional Haitian music to create a full-length production.

We then arranged for a translation of the play into Creole and began serious rehearsals over the internet via Skype video. Despite the language problems - and the difficulty moving the students into proper "blocking" positions via a webcam - we were finally ready for opening night. We arranged for a performance at a refugee camp at Parc Hen Plassa in Delmas.

On a Sunday afternoon in early May, the actors appeared on a make-shift stage and performed the play, entertaining hundreds of refugee Haitians who had emerged from their tent city to see the presentation.

Refugee Haitians enjoying the recent performance of 'Our Haitian Cousins'.

I flew to Haiti that weekend to see our play in person, after months of work with the actors. The results were astonishing. The audience roared with laughter at the jokes and gave a standing ovation to the cast during the serious scenes, as well as the ending.

The entire event was a huge success, and now the student actors are raising funds in hopes of holding performances throughout Haiti. They also are working to create an acting troupe, to be called The National Theater of Haiti, which would give them paying jobs as part of a permanent theatre.

Anyone interested in or wishing to contribute to this project should go to teachtheworldonline.org.

Brain Based Learning over Skype works for Nepal Students

Time and again, we've discovered at Teach The World Online that students only improve when teaching methods are used which correspond with studies in neuroscience on how the brain learns.

Two years ago, Lhamo Tsering a very smart 14 year-old girl from the Himalayan region of Nepal, was not showing much improvement in her spoken or written English during Teach The World Online Skype classes. Despite our best efforts to teach the rules of grammar from a well known ESL lesson plan, she and several other students often walked out of the class from sheer boredom. We could do nothing about this from the other side of the world.

Lhamo Tsering and fellow students learning English via Skype video.

Then, we discovered a study suggesting that second languages are learned in a different area of the brain than first languages. A Cornell University research team showed that native and second languages are spatially separated in Broca's area, a region in the pre frontal area of the brain which controls the motor part of language-movement of the mouth, the palate and the tongue. However, two languages don't reveal much separation in the activation of Wernicke's area where comprehension takes place.

This means that people learning a second language have a problem pronouncing and forming the words with the mouth and tongue rather than with comprehension. Consequently, students of second languages should concentrate on formulating words through lots of speaking and interactive dialogue rather than the memorization or study of grammar.

With this in mind, we began writing a short novel about a Nepali brother and sister who achieve their dream of acquiring an elephant. The students read and discussed the book each day via Skype video with their U.S .based teacher. As we read the book, Lhamo Tsering and her friends became intrigued. They were soon discussing the day's reading in English. Within weeks they were rapidly increasing their ability to speak and read. They also drew illustrations for each chapter and we had the book printed. It's called 'An Elephant In the Himalays' which they now sell in their village to passing trekkers in order to help pay for their future education.

Next year, Lhamo Tsering, who is now fluent in English, will attend a School of Tibetan Medicine in India where she passed the entrance exams with ease. By using Skype and the principles of imagery and interactivity endemic to brain based learning, we helped this young girl and others in her class succeed.

We encourage teachers using the Internet around the world to embrace similar methodologies geared to the brain's learning capacity, so that they too, can maximize the full potential of Skype technology and consequently achieve maximum educational success for their students.

Cram Time: Studying for exams with Skype

It's May and schools in the United States are wrapping up the school year. This means students have to buckle down with their classroom notes and textbooks, and begin preparing for final exams.

While exam week is never fun, Skype can help make the exam preparation process a bit less stressful with Group Video Calling. Skype Group Video Calling allows up to ten students to participate in one call. This means you can bring together your whole study group, no matter where everyone lives--on or off on campus. With Group Video Calling, you can even have your teaching assistant join in your study session and answer your last-minute questions.

While Group Video Calling is always great for big groups, Skype has many other features that help during study time. Having a hard time explaining how you got that math answer to your friend across town? Skype's screen sharing allows you to show them exactly what you are entering into your spreadsheet that led to that result. Better yet, screen sharing is free. No matter where your professor, friends, and classmates live, Skype video calling helps make it easier to straight A's this exam season.

A lesson from abroad: How two global classrooms used Skype to learn

Two different continents--one learning experience. For the Villa Maria schools in Immaculata, PA and Santiago, Chile, this was the reality when the schools came together for an engineering lesson over Skype video call.

Villanova University professor Dr. David Dinehart taught the U.S. and Chile-based students about engineering and earthquake-proof structures. Even more, both classrooms also took part in a hands-on project using what they learned from Dr. Dinehart and used Skype to discuss about each other's cultures. Take a look:

How is your school using Skype in the classroom to enrich the learning process? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Dreaming of the 21st Century Skype Classroom

Sometimes, as I strain my eyes to see or hear young students from around the world on my laptop, I dream of the ideal Skype classroom of the future.

Haiti students learn English over Skype video with volunteer students thanks to Teach the World Online

In this classroom, a teacher would no longer stand before rows of students as they did in the one room schoolhouses of the 19th century. Nor would masses of students swarm back and forth throughout the day in crowded, factory style buildings where little is learned and even less is remembered.

My dream-world classroom would be more like a TV production studio, with perfect lighting, no external sounds and circular or at least U shaped seating. The teacher would wander among the students always ready to start a power-point program, a video or a slide show synced to the day's lesson plan from one of several monitors throughout the room. A visiting teacher, a puppeteer, a magician or interesting person would appear for a short message via Skype video to involve the students in verbal answers or perhaps even a texted response over group IM.

There would be no need to discipline bored students because there would be too much going on, with all five senses being bombarded with sights, touches, sounds, and even smells, all coordinated with the theme of the day's lesson. Learning would be....yes, entertainment. Synaptic responses in the pre-frontal lobe of each student's brain would be firing at top speed because the neural path ways would be open and receptive to the new information being presented in this ideal classroom. Their participation in all of these experiences would be constant. Interactivity would be the classroom mantra, whether it be encouraged face to face, online or both. Blended learning would be seamless, constant and effective.

The success of my ideal classroom would not be judged by computerized testing and terrified teachers struggling to prep their students for upcoming exams. The students in this classroom would be judged by their ability to think and reason within the confines of
a well-crafted essay, verbal response or even debate among fellow students. They would know the art of reading a book and assessing its' contents. They would know how to communicate through film, music and theater as well as words. A myriad of skills and knowledge would be imbued in their minds because they had learned to love the experience of learning in a classroom devoted to providing them with the skills needed for survival and success in a modern world.

Challenges of Teaching via Skype in Haiti

"Jean Pierre, can you please read your homework on the days of the week?" Cara Sampson calls into a laptop webcam from her home in Fishers, Indiana. The young Haitian boy in Port Au Prince looks down at the floor as his teacher's face glows from the laptop screen in a hot semi-dark schoolroom, located in the middle of a tent city where 55,000 refugees have now been living for more than a year.

Cara asks again, "Jean Pierre, can you please read your homework?" The boy stares at the pretty white face on the monitor, hesitates and then looks down again in silence. "All right, perhaps later," Cara says kindly. 'How about Kimberly, are you there?" Kimberly can you come up and read your dictation?" Slowly, the 15-year-old girl with black hair woven into neat braids, steps forward, looks in silence for a moment, and then begins a halting sentence. "On Monday, I go to the market. On Tuesday I cook rice."

Children in Haiti being taught English over Skype video

This is the scene that recently repeated itself time and again during the first week of a new class conducted by Teach The World Online in the former Petoinville Golf Club in Haiti's Capital. We were trying to teach young boys and girls via Skype video who have been so destabilized by events of the past year that they could scarcely talk. Our job was to gain their trust and offer them an education in a world which has brought them nothing but misery and pain for the past year. I was spending the month in Haiti specifically to make sure Teach The World Online succeeded while my co-founder, Jurate Kazickas "skyped" me each morning to discuss the project.

After several delays, we finally began teaching at the Petoinville refugee camp where thousands of children sit idly day after day with nothing to do. During the first few classes I tried to balance a terrible fear that this wasn't going to work with a desperate hope that we could help these traumatised children. Occasionally, I jumped up to give advice through our webcam microphone to Cara and our classroom assistant Haitian teacher, Dimitri Napoleon, on how to work the multi-media and interactive devices we had created for teaching on the internet.

"Ask them to come forward two at a time and introduce themselves," I called to Cara in Indiana and Dimitri, who sat at the front of the room working the laptop and translating instructions into Creole when necessary. Speaking slowly and with clarity, Cara soon had the children introducing themselves to each other. Quickly, they began to forget their fears, their self-consciousness. A few began to laugh.

Then Cara called for Dimitri to play a YouTube video associated with the day's lesson about food and going to the market. It was a silly video called "Yummy In The Tummy," but the students began laughing and singing, even memorizing the words, "I like apples" or "I like carrots". Neural pathways were opening up. Learning was underway. These Haitian refugee children had finally began the long journey to receive a quality education via a new and most exciting educational delivery system.

To find our more visit Teach the World Online.

HARLANconnect revolutionizes the way attorneys and students interact

• Classes sign up to learn from a virtual mentor about the U.S Constitution and the Supreme Court
• Attorneys volunteer to mentor classes
• HARLANconnect facilitates Skype video calls and other virtual exchanges between classrooms and attorney mentors

What is HARLANconnect?

HARLANconnect is the Harlan Institute's innovative platform to help connect attorneys, law professors, and law students with high school classes. Through the use of Skype video calls, classrooms can connect with attorneys anywhere in the world, and learn more about the Constitution and the Supreme Court.

How does HARLANconnect work?

HARLANconnect provides a simple and easy way for classes to be mentored and learn from attorneys, law professors, and law students. First, interested classes request a mentor. Second, the Harlan Institute contacts one of the attorneys in their vast network, and attempts to locate a suitable mentor for the classroom. This mentor will be an attorney, law professor, or law student with a passion for the Constitution, and an interest in sharing his or her knowledge with tomorrow's leaders and decision-makers. Third, after a mentor is paired with a class, the Harlan Institute will schedule an initial Skype video call. During this 45-minute call, the mentor will introduce the students to one of the cases pending before the Supreme Court this term, and highlight the constitutional issues in the case. Following the initial Skype call, if both the class and the mentor concur, the Harlan Institute will schedule additional Skype calls and other forms of electronic exchange.

Josh Blackman, President and Co-Founder of Harlan Institute teaching over Skype video.

How do I get involved?

The goal of HARLANconnect is to make the mentoring process as easy and effective as possible. While the time commitment for all parties is rather small, they find that the virtual visits to classrooms are the next-best-thing to in-person visits. If you are an attorney, law student, or law professor, and are interested in mentoring a class, please fill out this form.

Win an iPod Touch

Sign up your class for two virtual mentoring sessions through HARLANconnect, and enter your class into a drawing for an iPod Touch. The winner will be announced following the end of the October 2010 Supreme Court Term (usually the last week in June). If you are interested in signing your class up for a mentor, please select a lesson, and sign up for a time slot on their calendar.

Skype at McGraw-Hill Innovation Showcase: Social Media for Higher Education

Skype continues to break barriers in the classroom. Last week, we had the opportunity to attend McGraw-Hill's Social Media for Higher Education conference. As part of Social Media Week New York, this event was a trade floor of information and introductions between educators, higher education influencers, media, and today's "game changers" in education technology.

At the conference, we had the opportunity to demo the newest apps, tools, and social media features available for students and teachers, so Skype was a natural fit. This was a great chance for our team to showcase the various ways Skype can be brought into the classroom to enrich students' education. We were also able to demonstrate how group video calling can bring together groups of up to ten students or educators, so that teams can collaborate and learn. What's more, Skype video calling on both the iPhone and coming soon to Verizon 4G LTE smartphones, allows students and teachers to share educational experiences, even while on-the-go.

Attendees were excited to learn about the Skype in the Classroom (beta) site, a free online directory that connects teachers interested in using Skype in their classrooms. Educators and media at the McGraw-Hill event were excited to hear about the teaching resources and community of educators all available at this one resource, to help them make the most of Skype.

Skype and McGraw-Hill will continue to make strides in the classroom and we'll be sure to keep you posted. Skype is such a seamless fit into any students' dialogue, and we hope to spread the word to more educators and students in the near future.

Inviting the world into our classroom

Some of the most fascinating academics, artists and writers in the country have taken the time to talk with my middle school students. Skype made these conversations possible.

Students talk to Chef, Ann Cooper.

We have had Skype video calls with Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law professor and co-founder of Creative Commons, about copyright laws and remix culture. We've had multiple video conversations with Marilyn Horowitz, an NYU film professor who has worked with Hollywood scriptwriters. To get tips for a recent animation project, we interviewed Mike Rauch, from the acclaimed Rauch Bros., the duo behind the amazing StoryCorps animation series.

So when my students and I recently started a documentary project, I knew Skype would play a crucial role. I have 18 groups, in three classes, each creating documentaries on different topics. We had to find experts for each group to interview. We had face-to-face conversations over Skype video with some 15 experts for the project.

For our exposé on school lunches, students interviewed Chef Ann Cooper, known as the "Renegade Lunch Lady." Another group, working on a documentary about how the lack of sleep negatively affects school performance, spoke with Cornell psychology professor and international sleep expert Dr. James Maas. Dr. Maas also speaks with professional sports teams about the importance of getting enough sleep. His college classes are so popular that he holds the world's record for the number of students he has taught.

A third group of students, who are working on a documentary about the dangers of concussion from youth football, spoke with three doctors from the Defense Centers of Excellence, a leading traumatic brain injury treatment and research center. One of the doctors, James Bender, was the psychologist for a brigade of 4,000 soldiers in Iraq. He had just returned.

I could go on and on because we had so many wonderful conversations. Skype is a great resource that gives students opportunities to talk with people from all walks of life about real issues that matter. The best part: it's free.

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.

Opening up the Conversation at the 2010 Nobel Laureates Conference

Powerful change often starts with conversations. At Skype, we are proud that our software is used to enable conversations that lead to the betterment of humankind. We saw that last week when Skype video calling was used to connect individuals from Africa, Europe, even other U.S. states, into the very important conversations taking place at 92nd Street Y about achieving the Millennium Development Goals at the Social Good Summit presented by Mashable, 92Y and the U.N. Foundation.

Thus, we are honored that through our partnership with 92Y we can continue bringing individuals into important conversations that lead to powerful changes, as will happen next week, October 5 - 6, during the 2010 Conference of Nobel Laureates. Presented by 92Y and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, in partnership with Skype, the conference in New York City brings together Nobel Prize winners and business leaders for an intergenerational, multi-disciplinary discussion of pressing world issues and changes in corporate leadership.

Participating in the conference will be Professor Wiesel (Peace, 1986), Mario Molina (Chemistry, 1995), Roy Glauber (Physics, 2005) and Edmund Phelps (Economics, 2006) and leading entrepreneurs and advocates for change, including Arianna Huffington, Irshad Manji and The Economist's Matthew Bishop among others. Skype video calling software will be used to bring selected guests who could not be at the conference into the private conversations that the laureates and business leaders will conduct throughout the day, as well as the public conversation that Professor Wiesel will have with David Axelrod, Senior Adviser to President Obama and the chief architect of Obama's 2008 campaign.

We are excited about the potentially world-changing conversations that will take place during the Conference of Nobel Laureates. We are also thrilled that Skype has the opportunity to play a central role in broadening these conversations beyond just those individuals physically present.

For more information or to join the public event that will conclude the conference, please visit the 92Y website.

Live via Skype from the 92nd Street Y Social Good Summit

Today, Skype video calling will be used to connect leaders from the online, business, policy and media worlds to the Mashable and 92Y Social Good Summit. At the summit, top minds in digital media will come together to discuss how technology and social networks can play a leading role in addressing the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Participating speakers include Pete Cashmore, CEO/Founder of Mashable, Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and founder of Jumo, Susan Smith Ellis, CEO of (RED), and Ted Turner, the Chairman of Turner Enterprises, among others.

Watch the livestream above, and join in the discussion

Skype Brings a Hero to UN Week Activities

Skype is all about enabling conversations, so we couldn't be more excited that our video calling will help a hero join the conversation at UN Week.

On Monday, 2009 CNN Hero Doc Hendley, founder of Wine To Water, will take the stage at the Social Good Summit via Skype video call. Doc, whose non-profit organization focuses on providing clean water to needy people around the world, will discuss the work Wine To Water does and the clean water crisis.

You can watch this conversation, as well as talks with luminaries like Ted Turner, Howard W. Buffett, and Susan Smith Ellis, by tuning into the live stream on Skype's Facebook page starting Monday at 1:00 PM ET. We'll also be providing you with updates throughout UN Week right here and on our Facebook page.

For those of you who want to join the conversation in person next week, you can visit the 92Y Web site.

A chat with Martha Lane Fox about digital inclusion

I caught up with Martha Lane Fox, the UK’s digital champion, to talk about Race Online 2012 and the Pass IT on campaign. She reveals that there are 10 million people in the UK who have never used the Internet – and appeals for your help in bridging that gap.

Worryingly, four million of these people are also amongst the country’s most socially excluded. So the people who have the most to gain from the internet – whether to overcome isolation or to save money – are the ones who are missing out. And this pattern plays out all over the world.

So, wherever you are, if you know someone who is unsure about whether or not to get online, now’s the time to tell them about the benefits.

And in the UK, the Pass IT on website has plenty of useful resources. Additionally, tomorrow is Silver Surfers’ Day in the UK, so stay tuned for another update from us in the next day or two.

What did you learn on Skype today?

Tim Wu teaches his class at Columbia Law via Skype from Berlin.

It’s become clear to us over the last week or so that Skype is an essential tool for educators in a crisis. Reports have been streaming in from around the world of teachers connecting with their students despite being stuck continents away.

It was business as usual for Tim Wu, a lecturer at Columbia Law School, who carried on giving his classes via Skype video from Berlin:

[Columbia] decided to use Skype since it didn’t require Wu or the university to buy any new equipment or download any new software. Rather, Wu could simply fire up the Web camera on his laptop and use Skype to hold a videoconference call with Columbia.

And it was a similar situation for this secondary school teacher from Banbury in Oxfordshire, who'll be teaching via Skype until he returns to the UK from Spain.

But Skype isn’t just for troublesome times like these. Skype is used in education across the globe every day, from virtual foreign exchanges to the boy who goes to school every day via Skype; from teachers bringing expert speakers into their classes from across the world, to learning languages a different way. And if you’re concerned about Skype being something just for the tech-savvy students, check out our this list of ‘Skype jobs’. There’s something for everyone.

And think of the possibilities for doing more, as well as doing things better – taking your class on a virtual field trip every week, or giving deaf students more opportunities to interact, or one of my favourites, the phenomenal Around the World with 80 Schools project.

The independent Skype in Schools wiki is an excellent place to start if you’re a teacher or lecturer looking to use Skype in your classes, and there some great tips in this getting started video.

We’ll be collecting stories about using Skype in education from around the world over the coming months, and blogging about them here. Use the links on the right hand side to subscribe to the Play blog – make sure you don’t miss out

Skype at Orphans International

At Mobile World Congress this year, I bumped into Jim Luce of Orphans International. He set up the charity in 1999 to help orphaned or abandoned children, with a very simple guiding principle: that all children in the care of Orphans International must be given the same love and security that each of our team members would give to their own children.

We caught up a couple of weeks ago in New York, where I captured this short video. He talks about the work of Orphans International, and how they use Skype to run the company, as well as connect orphans with their sponsors using Skype video calls. It’s a great example of the way that Skype makes personal conversations possible – for the greater good.

Have you ever made a Skype video call with a dolphin?

I love this article from Tampa Bay Online. Students at a school in Florida took a different kind of field trip to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium – one which didn’t involve leaving the school at all.

Instead, they met Winter the dolphin over a Skype video call, learning about her prosthetic tail and asking questions of the aquarium staff.