Skype as a Educational Resource Eloise Jackson SKYPE can be used for VC Now Skype is part of Microsoft. Together they wish to bring innovative technology to friends, family and colleagues everywhere. And now the future possibilities for our customers are even more exciting. We will enable more people to connect in more ways that transform and enhance their lives.

What is Skype? Skype is used to connect people where ever they are. Skype allows people to have authentic conversations. Users of Skype can enjoy unlimited number of chats and videoconferencing when they contact people who are also on Skype. Calls from one Skype user to another are free, wherever they are in the world. There are screen sharing options available through Skype. This means that teachers and students can share their work. It allows for a group call without the need for group features. This allows the user to call a number of skype users and interactive/collaborate their work.

Skype in the classroom https://vimeo.com/44867804 Little introduction to skype in the classroom

Skype In Education Collaborate with other classrooms. Tutoring students. Support group projects and extracurricular activities. Working with other schools. Contacting other countries. Asking prominent people questions. Skype in the Classroom is completely free to educators and experts around the world to connect and share learning experiences using the standard free version of Skype. To participate all you need to do is download Skype and set up a Skype ID, you can use that same ID to register on this site. Browse content to find the perfect learning activity for your students, then request a session.

Choose a subject and think about how you would use VC in lessons. Cross curricular Choose a subject and think about how you would use VC in lessons. Video conferencing shouldn’t just use during ICT as this enables teachers to other develop skills using VC as an aid. Skype Lessons are an amazing opportunity for your students to either get connected with hundreds of global professionals and experts on a variety of topics or collaborate in Skype projects with classrooms from around the globe. Using video conferencing can engage student and Jonassen said that English story writing this could link to drama Science investigations asking relevant people questions Maths working with other schools to solve problems or give them activities History they could re-enacted events or look into historical places via VC

Downfalls to Skype It does not offer language translation. The quality is determined by the bandwidth. Children may continue to use this unsupervised at home. If schools are Over the years, online chatting has become a danger-zone for children. For example, Skype can be used to facilitate cyber bullying, especially if parents fail to monitor their children's activities. Additionally, like other online chatrooms, Skype creates opportunities for adults to prey on children. Even though the program can be used for wonderful experiences such as connecting with family and friends over video chats, these experiences can turn ugly in the blink of an eye if the wrong people are on a child's friend list. Therefore, parents should take advantage of their ability to adjust their child's privacy settings and monitor who children communicate with. The connect completely depends on the bandwidth of the school wifi therefore this can be a risk if appointments are made with people out of school or in other locations. This can also mean that a back up is required. Some people are completely against using social idea such a skype in the school environment but I feel that as this isn’t a traditional school based system that this will engage and motive the children learning. As this isn’t regulated it is important that in the classroom teachers are in control of the account and who is spoken to during conferencing. Children may use this in their own time thus parents should be informed that this is being used in school and how to keep their children safe at home. What would you do to ensure its save at home.

Other VC software Google Hangout Black Board ooVoo Camfrog If you want to find out more look at this website https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in- the-classroom/skype-lessons