Skype

Santa brought me a webcam and before I could say "21st Century Skills", my daughter had the webcam ready to go and began her Skype account and away she went! I set my account up several days later with her help (there are a *few* advantages of having a teen in the house!) She also took my photo and we attached the photo to this blog and my Skype account. I have already contacted a number of people in this course to request that they be added to my Skype account "contact list" (my daughter *denied* my request). :( Hopefully, I will have better luck with the rest of them!

My daughter likes Skype because she doesn't have to text or call (costs $$) her friends to chat or collaborate with them on school projects (although Skype-ing does require setting up the session in advance using a text or phone call). In the event a mic or camera doesn't work on either end, there's also the text option. We have out-of town relatives who have Skype accounts, so my daughter is eager to keep in touch with her cousins using her account. Also, a niece here in town has been battling leukemia and has been quarantined in the hospital for weeks at a time during her therapy. Since we cannot visit her (her immune system is compromised), Skype would be a great way to say hello and actually *see* her when sending our well-wishes. I am definitely going to have to talk with my sister-in-law about this option.

During winter break, the Biology students had to work on their DNA model project. While my daughter was working on hers, she was communicating with a friend about the project. I was able to use Skype with the webcam to answer her friend's questions about the model and *show* her exactly what I was talking about. This is a definite improvement over students simply e-mailing questions and me replying, hoping that they will get the meaning of my answer(s).

I know Julie B. is using Skype to communicate with a former student teacher, now teaching in England. What fun!

I am eager to use Skype to communicate with the Cincinnati Observatory Center. We have not quite worked out the details yet, but I am thinking we could use Skype to ask COC staff members to answer questions students have, for the Observatory staff to personally invite students to COC events, for follow-up sessons to our field trips to COC, and for astronomy mini-lessons.

I am also trying to develop ways in which to use Skype for my Anatomy ccourse as well. Perhaps Skype-ing physicians regarding a particular organ system we are studying, or to clarify information from the textbook, or contextualize information from the textbook? I will definitely have to develop a list of contacts.

I think Skype has already became a fixture in our home and I hope I can use it to full advantage in the classroom as well. I will have to ask my daughter and students for their ideas!