Thing #3 - To Skype or not to Skype

I must admit I have not tried Skype. I've downloaded, set my privacy options (Thank you Edublogger), removed the 5 new conversations from folks I don't know but don't have any contacts yet. We recently used Yahoo Messenger so I could talk to my daughter from 2,000 miles away. This was chosen simply because my father had an account and had already set one up on my laptop. We had webcams which froze frequently but it was better than just the telephone. My parents got to experience it while I used them as a hotel and they have now bought their own webcam. As others have said, class to class discussions, questioning experts, homework help hours much like public libraries do telephone reference are certainly ways to use the conferencing. I have a teacher friend who likes to do crafts and has talked about various afterschool clubs. If the technology is available maybe students could club from home. Elementary may not need to use it for group projects in the same way that high school students might, but they would definitely get a better sense of the world seeing a class in another country. Texan kinders getting to see New England kinders getting all their snow gear on just to go to school! (My daughter took forever getting everything off on her first day at school in MA and had to be taught what to do with the gloves so they didn't get lost - her teacher looked at me and asked if she'd never worn them before?!) Autumn leaves and other seasonal, geographical things may mean more through Skype than the pages of a book or even a streaming video. LMS is having Sun Burn Clinics for f2f interaction but one could be held in a conference call setting as well. Imagine a joint project among 3-5 graders on different continents using glogster or some other app. Clearly it boggles our traditional minds but leaves the other side excited!