Skype

Need a way to communicate with others around the world and for free? [|Skype] is the answer! All you need is a webcam and you are ready to go.

Read [|Vicki Davis' blog] about how to use Skype in the classroom.

Read what Wesley Fryer has to say about using Skype in the classroom.

"Skype is an example of a potentially “disruptive” educational technology tool because it can fundamentally change the teaching and learning environment. As Wayne Morren, principal of Floydada High School noted recently, teaching and learning in the 21st Century can no longer be a traditional experience of “sit and get.”[[|**5**]] Teachers as well as students must strive to creatively employ technology tools to access, evaluate, synthesize and communicate information. Only by engaging in this active process can “information” from the Internet be translated into “knowledge” in the minds of learners. Classroom teachers can leverage the potential of disruptive technologies like Skype, weblogs, podcasts, or one to one technology immersion initiatives to increase student motivation to communicate with authentic audiences, spend more time on assigned tasks, and develop essential literacy skills needed for vocational and lifetime success in the twenty-first century. Translated, this means increasing student achievement, while simultaneously encouraging students as well as teachers to engage in worthwhile and creative tasks. Twenty-first century educators should aspire for nothing less." [|Moving at the Speed of Creativity]

Niki Lincon from [|Hewitt Trussville Middle School]uses skype in her geography classes to allow students to communicate with people from around the world. She recentley held a skype session with teachers from the United Kingdom.