Skype in the Classroom

My latest article for the TechEdge, the quarterly magazine of the Texas Computer Education Association, is available online. Hopefully this one won’t be subject to pre-publication censorship, as my last submission was. Here are the opening and closing paragraphs, which will give you a taste of the flavor you can find in the full article.

To begin:

Internet connectivity in educational settings provides opportunities for interactive exchange and collaboration between students living on other sides of town or the other side of the planet. These synchronous, real-time discussions using free software like “Skype” can tangibly expand the walls of the traditional classroom and engage students to write, share, and communicate with an authentic audience inaccessible just a few years ago. Educators interested in helping motivate students to develop both traditional as well as twenty-first century literacy skills in the classroom can and should use audio conferencing technologies like Skype to literally plug their students into collaborative exchanges with global partners on a variety of projects.

And to conclude:

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.

Go and tell it on the mountain! Teachers need to use Skype and ePals in their classrooms!

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