Skype Me!

Week 5: Thing 6

I have actually used Skype before. My family lives in Hawaii, and it has been fun to hook up with the cousins! :) We also used skype this last summer when my son's best friend traveled to Paris for a month, and they were missing each other! What a fun experience that has been!

I enjoyed reading about the many ways to use Skype in the classroom. I even noticed that Skype has a page where teachers may post their Skype projects and request help from other Skype users. The other page that I thought was really helpful and insightful was the 50 ways to use Skype in the classroom.

During this whole assignment, one thought has been recurring for me. I am so surprised and impressed by the many ways that people utilize technology. I feel like a complete DIGITAL immigrant! :) I consider myself fairly tech literate. But I realize that I have no idea how to think creatively and out of the box with technology. As an example, I recently downloaded a book on our Ipad for my little 2 year old. I was so surprised to see that not only did it read to my son, but every other page was an interactive educational game. Really?? I had no idea Red Riding Hood could be educational.

On the Skype idea page, I saw the suggestion to use Skype to include a sick student who was unable to come to school. Wow! What a great idea! In my mind, Skype  was for author visits or talking to other classes. They also suggested that parents could skype with classes to see what their students were doing. Another great idea! I look forward to being in a library and having the flexibility to really incorporate and create unique learning opportunities!