A school classroom is often the first contact students have with a foreign language. As language teachers we have an important task to instil a love of language learning that will motivate and engage students through a lifetime of learning in an increasingly global community. Technology is a valuable tool for the language teacher as it can open up the classroom to the world. Today I’m going to be looking at how Skype can allow students to communicate in real time with native speakers and students from other countries. Firstly, I will present some of the current research on the use of skype in the classroom and outline why I think it is important. Secondly, I will explain how I went about establishing the relationship and what you need to know about the technology. Lastly, I will demonstrate some skype activities and give you the opportunity to come up with some of your own. Photo by Kathy Cassidy - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/57634636@N00 Created with Haiku Deck

Photo by heipei - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/97859317@N00 Created with Haiku Deck

First study by Cuestas Verjano (2013) – Spanish class of 23 students learning English– 3 one hour sessions. Group work complete worksheet about tourist activities around their city Ss answered questions asked by teacher based on information from the worksheet. Skype session with native speaker Kate who worked in tourism office in USA – asked questions based on worksheet. Ss displayed an engagement with the Skype task they didn’t display in the teacher-directed lesson. Ss felt “they had a real purpose for giving the information, even if it meant repeating what they had said on a previous occasion”

Second study (Favaro 2013) – 3 months 2 primary schools in Italy and 2 in UK. Found positive impact on participation and attention. Students developed their own attitude towards FLL and discovered knowing another language could lead to friendships. Teachers passion had strong positive influence. Tt were positive but would prefer to build into annual curriculum program maybe once a month, rather than standalone activity “to allow the maintenance of the pupils level of interest and curiousity”

Macrory, Chretien and Ortega-Martin (2012) – 2 year study 6 primary schools triad UK-France and Spain. – shared curriculum and resources on a learning platform and used videoconferencing between classes. Ss were buddied up with Ss in other classes and sent emails. Results: Increase in ICU Affective element –children regarded each other as friends Positive impact on motivation related to friendships and use of technology Emails assisted with reading and writing skills in addition to listening and speaking Children risked making errors and became more accepting of others mistakes Checked pronunciation and widened vocabulary Became more independent learners In summary students were motivated by using technology for real-time, real-task and that confidence and motivation increased over time as friendships developed. There was a movement away from teacher directed learning to autonomous learning. Ss awareness of their own learning increased and there was the development of empathy and ICU.

starting out issues - technical, staffing, crowd control(behaviour management), time zones, engagement of whole class, preparation of students, activities, liaising with other school, managing different expectations results - engagement, excitement, real-time real-life communication, intercultural understanding, teachable moments visit to okurayama

Equipment needed: Download skype onto laptop Open a skype account Check with IT department that skype is not blocked. Connect to IWB and microphone. Test connection - speakers, microphone, camera and connection strength Use microphone stand or mark on floor where students should stand.

Before you skype with the class do a practice skype with the other teacher. Communicate clearly the start and finish time (remember time differences!) Allocate who will go first and how much time they will have. Talk about what you will do if skype keeps dropping out or if something goes wrong. Discuss your plans so that students can be prepared. EG. students will describe an animal and you have to guess. (Therefore you may need to practice animals/adjectives/body parts so that students can participate)

Speak to students about expectations, behaviour, consequences. Prior to skyping have a run through so they are familiar with the equipment and the props and language they will need. Have another staff member or responsible adult in the room - you will be busy!

Explanation of how to set up Skype.

From your list of contacts, choose who you want to skype with

Check your settings before you start and make sure you have chosen the correct microphone and speaker on the drop down tab.

Number of different models you could use: Whole class speaks to a native speaker expert like in the Cuestas Verjano 2013 study Stand alone activity vs collaboration on a project. Class to class activities Individual to individual Include an email component L2 to L2 skype

With a partner or small group design a Skype activity With a partner or small group design a Skype activity. whole class small groups individuals time constraints (approx 20 mins) theme based eg. school life, shopping, sport, leisure time, food Event in your school eg. swimming carnival, sports day, cultural day Song/ games/ show and tell