I am very familiar with Skype as I use it at least once or twice a month to communicate with my brother in Hawaii. I also use it quite often with my parents as they live in Arkansas. It was really interesting to read through some of the different ideas and ways to use Skype in the classroom. We had a student move out of state two years ago and we used Skype to communicate with him. The kids not only enjoyed seeing and talking with him, but they moved to Michigan so when early fall/winter came around the kids were truly amazed at the difference between our weather here in Texas vs. Michigan which we had talked about, but I don't think they really understood until they saw all of the snow.
I think the article that I found most interesting was the article on 50 different ways to use Skype in the classroom. I liked that they not only had ways for children to use and be involved with the technology, but it also listed several wonderful ideas for professional use as well parent/school communication. I also spent some time exploring Skype in the classroom. What a wonderful resource! The search feature was super easy and I could pinpoint specific age and subject matter very quickly. We have just finished a unit on community, and there was a 1st grade class looking to Skype with other elementary classes to compare and contrast their communities. That would have been a wonderful real life connection that the kids could have made to really help them to understand the differences between urban and rural areas. It seems really easy to post as well as connect with others around the globe who want to collaborate. I know there was another website that I would reference in years past, but now that I have found Skype for educators, I think this will be my first place to look for collaborations (and possibly create some of my own : ) ). My goal before the end of the year is to try and at least Skype with another educator somewhere in the world at least once.
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