Before this week I wasn't sure what online communication tools were available for classrooms, and so had never knowingly used them. In some of my Undergrad classes I participated in blackboard discussions and email, much like I do for this class. Outside of class I used instant messaging and email, but I have never used these tools while in the position of a teacher.
I remember in one of my observations in a Kindergarten classroom a teacher mentioning that her students spoke on a camera to children in Japan. I wasn't sure then what tools she was using to do this, but now I know it was probably Skype, or a system similar to it.
Now that I've done more research on this I am convinced I want to use Skype in my classroom. Even very young children can learn about differences in time zone, opposite seasons, foreign languages, and tolerance. The following site I found really interesting to list different ways skype can be used in the classroom.
http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/
I would love to use Skype as a collaboration tool between students in different countries. To prepare my students I would show my students where their country/state was located on a map. I would shine a lamp on a globe to give a visual representation of the change in day and night, and how countries could be in different time zones. I would help them learn simple words in that language, such as hello, goodbye, and friend. With older children I would help to show them how to operate Skype on their own, so that they could contact me for questions about homework, or maybe even a friend from a different country met through our online Skype! I am fascinated by this technology and am eager to sign myself up to talk with my cousins.
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