It’s no secret that technology is invading every corner of our day-to-day lives, including classrooms. Rather than attempting to resist it, however, teachers especially should find methods of utilizing it. One useful tool is a program called Skype, which is a free and easy way to involve students in their own education.
Skype allows for a more diversified learning experience, breaking up typical lectures and overdone classroom activities with a portal to a world outside the classroom.
Students can chat with peers, whether from another country or their own, helping them to develop language skills; they can communicate with experts on a myriad of subjects; teachers who cannot physically make it to the classroom can still teach; and various other uses can come from this video chat program.
(For a fuller list of Skype’s uses in the classroom, click here.)
As a student and as a future teacher, I would recommend this program to any educator. I had only one teacher that held a video conference for her students in high school, allowing us to see a live autopsy for an AP Biology course. We were taught by a true expert, and could see everything as it was being done. It was a valuable and memorable experience that every student enjoyed.
Keeping up with the Information Age may feel overwhelming, but tools like Skype provide an easy, safe, and entertaining way to present both new and old information to students.
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