The Hype on Skype

This week's project was to participate in a web conference. As a distance student, I sometimes miss the personal contact that takes place in a traditional classroom, so I decided to try Skype which offers both audio and visual contact.

The Skype experience was easy, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. There are a few confusing parts that take a little patience. First the Skype website doesn't clearly tell you what to click to download the free service. I suppose if you already knew about Skype you could just go to the tab to download the program, but anyone new would probably think that there was a monthly fee. The fee, of course, is if you want upgrades. After that, it was just follow the instructions. There is even a test sight to test your audio and visual equipment. The other part that took patience was to find the person you want to connect in the Skype directory. I hooked up with Keith; and, from the start we had decided to make phone contact with our the first try. This was a good idea because neither he nor I were sure if we had found the right person in the directory. This way we were able to confirm that. When connecting for the first time, Skype asks the person called if they want to be contacted by the caller. You can also choose to have the video turned off or on when you are first answering a call.

Now for the fun stuff. I actually have a face to place with a name. Keith and I were in a class together last term and we will probably be in a class together next term. We had loads to talk about. It was actually Keith's idea, and we both agreed, that it would kind of nice if we had this sort of option when talking with our advisers. Although our advisers do their best to make the meetings personable, they are dealing with many students. This way we know that they know who we are, and it would help to make the experience more personal.

On the education front, I saw so many opportunities. Remember that I work in a elementary school. We have a program for home schoolers, and they are supposed to make contact every week with the instructor. This has proven a challenge for the instructors. What a difference Skype would make. Just put the kid in front of the webcam at home. The instructor could review work, tutor, see answers with the use of a white board, and even proctor tests to ensure the child was actually doing the work.

Note to family: Grandsons in Alaska and Arizona, you will be getting webcams soon. How could I have let time slip away without the use of this wonderful technology?