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Class to class skype calls
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it is great that teachers experiment with all this gadgetry and all, but my question was - what benefit to learning does all this bell whistle stuff provide which would not already be present without it?

I still can't see it, sorry...
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LongShiKong



Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China

PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 11:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am completely baffled by comments such as Sasha's above. I anticipated objections from a pragmatic perspective, but not from a pedagogical one.

For those of you still interested in this topic, you may want to read this from the The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XVI, No. 11, November 2010 if you haven't already:
Quote:

How to Use Skype in the Classroom

This paper discusses how Skype can be used to: 1) empower ESL/EFL teachers and tutors to incorporate a simple and popular technology into their teaching.... .


Clearly, the shortcomings of this attempt have more to do with the teacher's training and experience than with the tech itself.

Although this site is for any classroom that wants to connect via Skype, there are 2 EFL/ESL listings and you can add your own, access related links, or post comments:
http://theedublogger.com/want-to-connect-with-other-classrooms/
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smedini



Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 178

PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I could potentially be interested depending on the age of your students and location, partially because of the time differences and logistics. I could set up one computer with a webcam and skype so you could see my class and project my computer onto the wall so my class could get a good look at your class.

I broached this idea with coworkers within my own school - class to class with the same levels - and the teachers seemed to be into it but the enthusiasm of the already slightly uninspired group fizzled out.

I'd have to run it by my classes first, but if you PM me with the info (students age, location, level etc), I'd be able to move forward.

~smedini
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LongShiKong wrote:
I am completely baffled by comments such as Sasha's above. I anticipated objections from a pragmatic perspective, but not from a pedagogical one.



You are baffled? Really? I simply want to know what exactly the pedagogical value of any of this online stuff is. I cannot see it, and no one has been able to explain it to me so far. The link you provide seems mainly devoted to explaining how Skype works technically, but shys away from outlining why any language teacher would bother with it. In terms of educational value, there seems to be virtually nothing. Apart from vague references to cross-cultural communication, that is.

Please, I'm all ears. Enlighten me.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am standing in line behind Sasha waitinmg for an explanation.

Note how I am sensitive enough to use the US idiom "standing in line"
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LongShiKong



Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China

PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sashadroogie wrote:
You are baffled? Really? I simply want to know what exactly the pedagogical value of any of this online stuff is. I cannot see it, .


Well, forgive my, you probably didn't read what I initially wrote. (I sometimes don't read the beginning of a thread either.) I specifically stated when, and why, I personally intended to use Skype but as I said, the value lies not in the tech but in how it's used. If you teach reading comprehension, then, sure, a Skype video chat won't help you achieve your aims.

I thought it was Spiral, but it must've been someone else who agreed with me that ELT academics do not advocate what I'd call a 'methodist' approach (a single best method) but regard variety as important. Would you not agree with this? I don't see Skype from a 'methodist' standpoint, it's just another tool I plan to use to facilitate meaningful interactions between students, (once or twice a term) if I can find the right class to team up with. But obviously people don't read--I don't plan to instruct anyone over Skype.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Still baffled. Sorry.
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LongShiKong



Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China

PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm sorry to see my poll disappear when 6 of the 8 who responded, actually did recognize the potential, which leaves the remaining 600+... undecided? If I ever do this with my own class or find a video of a more experienced EFL teacher trying this, I'll certainly post it.

As you may be aware, educational institutions are only beginning to see the internet as less of a threat than an opportunity once risk management strategies are in place. Unlike my poll, this technology isn't going to disappear so why should ELT trail behind in taking advantage of it?
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll be looking forward to seeing such clips showing the benefits to learning of using Skype in the classroom, cheers.
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teacheratlarge



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 192
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One conference presentation I saw last year was a teacher using SKYPE between two classes; one in Japan and the other in America. I of course wondered if the Americans got as much benefit out of the exchange as this was not a mutual language exchange but rather more of a cultural one with the added burden on the Japanese students to communicate in English. Benefit to the Japanese students - preparing for real communication with their American counterparts. Benefit to the American students- having to learn how to best communicate with ESL otr EFL students (who are not at a high level), especially if the American students planned to study abroad.

Because of privacy issues, I am not sure how accessible such videos will be sasha, but believe me these kinds of activities do help the students involved in them. Another example I heard of before SKYPE was being used was VOIP calls between ESL classes in Hawaii and Japanese students in Japan. I think in this case (hard to remember as this was a few presentations ago) they were explaining about customs or other issues that students were asked to present on.

I do agree with you though, one must always be prepared to do something low tech if there are technical difficulties. But luckily at least in my experience, these kinds of problems have been far and few between.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers for that. A little more concrete at least. However, apart from exposing Americans to the cross-cultural issues surrounding non-native speakers of English, and exposing language learners to foreign culture, there still seems to be very little in the way of a solid learning aim or outcome involved. Still sounds like a lot of technology being used for the sake of using it, forcing it into a lesson, somehow.

The fact that there is such difficulty in articulating any possible lesson aims that this technology can assist in achieving surely lends credence to my original point - the use of this gadgetry simply reflects the desire of the teacher to use it for its own sake and does not in any way benefit the learners' learning process.

It still strikes me as nothing more than an updated version of playing the guitar in a lesson and having the kids sing along, because it is so cool...
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