Skype- Hype

Week 5 Thing 6   Learning 2.0 



Skype is fun, free and user friendly. I do like the Skype group feature and this could be very useful in a school library. Listed below are a few ideas I came up with on why Skype is a great tool and how Skype could be used in a school library:

• Location, Location, Location- Skyping with an author would not be limited by location.

• Interactive Technology - This allows students to see a different use of technology that they're familiar with. Sure, texting or video chatting with friends and family is pretty normal nowadays, but how cool would it be to have the actual author of the book you read be able to talk and interface with your class.

•  Storytelling- A great idea would be to have storyteller tell a story through a Skype session.  There are many kinds of storytellers and it wold be fun to have a storyteller halfway across the country or the globe visit your classroom and share their talent.

• Special Occasions - Black History Month, Banned Book week, National Bird Day, Chinese New Year, Dr. Seuss' birthday.  All of these fun occasions can be celebrated by a guest speaker or storyteller via Skype.

• Skype Pals- Interacting with students from another school in the United States or another country. Classes could pre-pick topics of interest and Skype about them and compare similarities an differences in those topics and be facilitated by the librarians.

• Student Book Groups - Sharing ideas with other classes around the nation about books they've read would be fun!  Librarians and students could pre-select a reading list and reading schedule then classes Skype together and talk about the books they've read.

So those are just a few ideas about how to use Skype in a school library!