Skype in the classroom

Reflecting on the use of ICT in my classes this year, I recalled a situation that involved the use of the video conferencing software ‘Skype’.

I was teaching a year 7 science class in first semester; each student had been supplied with their own notebook by the school which was preinstalled with Skype. One day I noticed that a student was not in class, her friends informed me that she was away ill, nothing unusual. What was unusual was when one of the students turned their notebook around to face me, displaying the ill students face on the screen. The student had connected from her sickbed at home via Skype to take part in the class!

Although somewhat shocked, I admired the students enthusiasm to not let her illness impede her from participating in class.

This experience made me wonder what possibilities there are for using Skype in the classroom. A quick Google search reveals that there are quite a lot.

One that I find most exciting is how it can be used for class incursions. Skype could be used to facilitate an incursion by an ‘expert in the field’ when it may not be possible for the expert to visit the class in person. See the example of the truck driver in the video below.

What other examples of Skype in the classroom have people experienced or considered?