Skype+and+other+video+in+our+classrooms



Facilitated by Susan Keeble and Eimer Page Skype Skype is known to have been used at Exeter for the following purposes (anecdotal knowledge, so there may well be other applications):

// Academic // : To allow a class to meet when the instructor was at a conference To connect students in off-campus language programs with students studying the same language at Exeter To permit conversation with authorities in the subject matter To conduct preliminary interviews for an overseas intern applicant

// Dormitory // : To allow input from a proctor in the Washington Intern program into proctor decisions for 2011-2012 To connect homesick students with family at home (obviously common sense needs to come into play here, but it can be a useful tool) To permit group study and collaborative work without students leaving the dorm during study hours

// Personal // : To allow faculty and their families to maintain connections with family and friends outside the Exeter area

Skype started in 2003 in Luxembourg, and had grown to over 663 million users in 2010. It is a global communications platform that permits users to make voice and video calls over the internet. Audio, video and instant messaging with other people who use Skype is free, and it is also possible to pay to call regular phone numbers or send texts at rates that are usually cheaper than landline alternatives. Skype has applications for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, for PSP, Android, Windows and also for some new LG, Panasonic and Samsung televisions. Sample rates: Pay as You Go rate to UK landlines is 1.9c/min for Pay As You Go. The Skype website allows you to see the rates for any country of your choice. Subscription plans vary: Unlimited U.S. is $2.99 per month, while Unlimited World is $13.99 per month. If you want to use the paid services, you can choose between pre-pay, PAYG or pay monthly, and can use PayPal or a credit card to manage your payments.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Some businesses and schools have banned Skype, claiming that it has security issues (which it does) and consumes bandwidth (also true but not generally an excessive amount unless the Skpe user acts as a ‘Superhub’). It is true that there is little to prevent Skype from monitoring conversations, and also true that Skype cannot support 911 calls and is thus not designed to replace a landline. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Useful links: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|http://www.skype.com] The main website for Skype. Once you have set up an account, you can access your account from this page. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[] Useful information on how to use Skype and FAQ.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Skype for iPad: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Although the app was originally written for the iPhone, it also works on the iPad. The app can be downloaded from the App Store.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Facetime: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Apple has created a similar app called Facetime which allows for conversation between users of Apple products. It works in a similar fashion to Skype.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**Video** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Videos are available for use in the classroom in a variety of ways. Lectures from universities and foundations via iTunes U or Ted Talks cover many subject areas and are free and easily accessible. Television Channels from public broadcasting, news organizations or other independent channels offer documentaries and in-depth news stories.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The iPad provides access to many of the video sources through the App Store. Most are available through websites as well and thus can be accessed using any laptop or desktop.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**ITunes U** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Courses and lectures from hundreds of universities can be downloaded for use in the classroom or for one’s own professional development. In addition to universities, many professional organizations and foundations are also offering a variety of lectures and videos.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For example:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">MIT Open CourseWare: entire courses available (Universities) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Carnegie Council Ethics Matter: Lectures available in audio, PDF or Video format. (Beyond Campus) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Library of Congress (Beyond Campus) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">NAIS (K-12) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Khan Academy (K-12): Individual video clips on a variety of math topics

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**TED Talks**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">TED is a non-profit organization dedicated to ‘Ideas worth spreading’. The organization sponsors conferences twice a year in California as well as an international conference in Edinburgh each summer. All talks are video-taped and then a selection of those are made available to the world via the website [|http://www.ted.com]. The speakers are encouraged to speak for only 18 minutes making the talks particularly attractive for use in the classroom.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The organization has also created an app for the iPad. From the app, you can search for a person or topic, see the most recent talks, or look for talks on a specific topic via tags. You can also save any talk which downloads the talk to your iPad so that you do not have to stream the talk during a class.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For example: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Hans Rosling: New Insights on Poverty. Founder of Gapminder, a software program to display data in an inspiring and dynamic way. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book. A dynamic electronic version of Al Gore’s book __Our Choice__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**You Tube** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While You Tube was originally used for very short personal tapes (some depicting people in inappropriate or embarrassing ways so beware of the need to censure), people have also embraced the simplicity of the technology for educational purposes. Simply search a topic of interest and see how much is available. When you post a video you can choose whether to make the video public or reserve viewing for only a selected audience. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Samuel Beckett <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">Eider on Technology

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">**Video Capture in Math and Science**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using the iPad, you can take a video of motion and using an app called ‘Video Physics’ (a version of LoggerPro) to capture data, graph it and export to the full version of LoggerPro for analysis.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Useful Applications and/or websites** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Discovery Channel <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PBS <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">60 Minutes

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**You Tube in Spanish (from Elena Gosalvez-Blanco)** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Elena provided the following You Tube links that she uses in her Spanish classes.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A funny video kids like... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and this other one is an example of the many music videos I use for listening comp, grammar and story telling

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and i also use Spain's public TV website. They have great current news and all types of shows. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We watched the recent Royal Wedding on it and commented on it using the celebrations vocabulary <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">they had just learned in my SPA 130 class.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|www.tve.es]