No. 12 of 9 (Anchor Activity) Communicating with Skype

Skype has made free voice and video conferencing easy. We no longer have to play by the rules of the big phone carriers, arguably Skype has re-written them. Not only can we talk to friends around the world for free, we can also see them by hooking up a $20 webcam. Finally, Skype has many calling plans starting at $30/year that allow you to use real phones instead of your computer and call anywhere in the world for free. How's that for re-writing the rules?

These connections can make a tremendous impact in the classroom too. Imagine a student in the hospital being able to participate in class, or a guest speaker from far away able to share their experiences remotely. Finally, think about the possibilities of joining a class halfway around the world in a conversation about current events using nothing more than that same inexpensive web cam. All of these are a reality today, see this link for 50 ways to use Skype in your classroom. Also a quick setup document is available here. Skype provides unlimited toll free communication anywhere in the world. A step by step guide to Skype can be found here.