Collaborate with Classes and Experts Around the Globe with Skype in the Classroom
The Internet is a living, organic, and open source of information, and its evolution has led to collaborative learning possibilities that are revolutionizing how students learn. Educators now have access to technology that allows students to connect with experts and classrooms around the world. The most notable platform of this kind is Skype in the Classroom. In this video clip (from a webinar recently facilitated by the Faculty eCommons), Brian Mull, Director of Innovation at November Learning, discusses the features of using Skype in the Classroom as a means to foster collaborative opportunities for students with their peers across the globe. Watch the video, or read the synopsis below: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHLI0tPOwvs] How to Search for Projects on Skype in the Classroom Imagine providing a live classroom lecture on business ethics – given by Carly Fiorina. Envision having your students collect data along with scientists at Amgen in a collaborative biotechnology experiment. It’s all possible with an application that combines a massive database of people who want to learn and people who want to share their expertise, with a video conference platform.
Try it out:
- Go to Skype in the Classroom.
- At the top of the page, fill in the field for “I am a teacher looking for an expert in___________” or “I am a teacher willing to share my knowledge of ____________.”
- Look for individuals you could potentially connect with to learn from and collaborate with on projects. Also find projects that allow you and your students to participate.
To show you what you might expect to find, here’s a description of an opportunity posted by a UCSD Engineering Student who is actively involved in the tech start-up industry:
The purpose of this project is to generate ideas for a local start-up incubator. The advantage of being in a top tier university environment is the abundance of near free human capital that is readily available to be allocated towards an idea. If anyone has any ideas that they want to contribute to our incubator, feel free to do so. This project is aimed at compelling a list of ideas that can be presented to a population of highly intelligent students who are passionate about executing and developing an idea into a physical and tangible product or service. People think of great ideas all the time but many are wasted away, it is time to recycle these ideas! If your idea is picked and developed you will be given equity!
Imagine the excitement of business students undertaking this project knowing that their ideas could be incubated into a real business, with equity as their reward! Skype in the Classroom offers a limitless array of these engaging learning opportunities. The basic search is just one of many ways to use this great app. This article has 50 more:
And this video will show you how to start your own project:
An Additional Resource: The Center for Global Education The Center for Global Education is an international research and resource center that supports international learning at colleges and universities. On this site, you’ll find information and resources about a variety of issues including integrated international learning, health, safety, diversity, and the impact of study abroad on student retention and success. Click on the “Educators” tab to find several online, e-learning, and collaborative learning resources that you can explore, or search by key words through a vast resource database including flyers, brochures, and PowerPoints to use when talking to different student groups
|Share your experience: Are there any websites or online applications that you use to connect with experts, educators, and students around the world? Please feel free to share them with us and your colleagues in the discussion thread.|