Thursday, April 22, 2010

Journal 9 : Playing with Skype (NETS II & V)

Weller, T.J. (2010). Playing with skype. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(6), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/L.

This article discusses how a teacher can use skype to connect music composers with students who are playing the musical pieces in a concert for their classmates and with their families. Travis J. Weller and his colleagues came up with the idea of using Skype at a live concert. The equipment is minimal; you need a computer with a broadband Internet connection, a data projector, a couple of microphones, a webcam, and some adapters to pump the audio feed through the sound system and a projector screen. It is important to see what hardware is available to you at your school. This process also takes some involvement form the technology coordinator and it is good to have some staff help to ensure that you get a good connection. Skype makes it possible for educators to seek out experts in their subject areas and invite them to share in the classroom. The teacher is no longer the absolute authority of knowledge in the classroom.

Would you use Skype in your future classroom?
I definitely would like to use Skype in my future classroom. It is great ideas to allow students the ability to have other information form experts as well as people they admire participate in the students learning. I think that that it is wonderful experience that students get when the music they perform is seen by the composer. I love when technology can enhance the students learning and life experiences.

Is this a digital that you would recommend for others?
I think that any teacher/school would benefit from the use of the Skype. I believe that it can enhance the ability of students learning. That is something that one should share with any and every teacher one can. What they do with the information is on them.

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