Has anyone had success hooking your ESL/EFL students up with native speakers on Skype? Skype represents a great opportunity, but so far I have had trouble finding willing and able native speakers back home, not to mention the time issue.
Any thoughts or hints or info will be extremely welcome.
Thanks!
Got SKYPE?
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kathyfelts
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Skype - Student Security Concerns
Hi Greg,
What age are the students? Are they children or adults?
There are a couple of important issues you have to address when you think about making this sort of language exchange. Security is very important. How old are the students? Will they be doing this at school? Do you plan to get them keypals with students at another school?
Where I live, schools require volunteers to pass a rigorous background check in order to have contact with students. Regardless of the age of the students, you cannot introduce them to people you do not know. It is not possible to monitor a group of students using the Interent. You cannot know in advance if they will be given a link to an inappropriate site. Filters are unreliable - there are many ways to to get around them. With the click of a mouse, a student can end up who-knows-where. Moreover, most schools have firewalls that prevent users from downloading Skype.
If your students are teens, you can get in to trouble even quicker, since teens know their way around computers - and their elders. Myspace.com is common all over the world. You certainly do not want an activity you do with your students to result in an introducation to that kind of social networking environment. While many posts are innocuous, others are not. You have to consider the possiblity of cyberstalking. If they find trouble on their own, you are not responsible, but if a student goes home and gets in trouble...
If your students are adults - especially if you have females - you have to consider the social agendas of all involved.
We have to be so vigilant about appropriate use of the Internet. While it holds a lot of promise, it also opens the door to a myriad of problems we cannot imagine.
That said, if you can sort out the other issues and are working in a situation you can control, you might want to check out the Webheads, a community of educators dedicated to teachnology use with students. Take a look at the posts on their forums and see what types and configurations of projects they have had success with.
Good luck! I hope this post helps you sort out your question.
Best always,
Kathy
What age are the students? Are they children or adults?
There are a couple of important issues you have to address when you think about making this sort of language exchange. Security is very important. How old are the students? Will they be doing this at school? Do you plan to get them keypals with students at another school?
Where I live, schools require volunteers to pass a rigorous background check in order to have contact with students. Regardless of the age of the students, you cannot introduce them to people you do not know. It is not possible to monitor a group of students using the Interent. You cannot know in advance if they will be given a link to an inappropriate site. Filters are unreliable - there are many ways to to get around them. With the click of a mouse, a student can end up who-knows-where. Moreover, most schools have firewalls that prevent users from downloading Skype.
If your students are teens, you can get in to trouble even quicker, since teens know their way around computers - and their elders. Myspace.com is common all over the world. You certainly do not want an activity you do with your students to result in an introducation to that kind of social networking environment. While many posts are innocuous, others are not. You have to consider the possiblity of cyberstalking. If they find trouble on their own, you are not responsible, but if a student goes home and gets in trouble...
If your students are adults - especially if you have females - you have to consider the social agendas of all involved.
We have to be so vigilant about appropriate use of the Internet. While it holds a lot of promise, it also opens the door to a myriad of problems we cannot imagine.
That said, if you can sort out the other issues and are working in a situation you can control, you might want to check out the Webheads, a community of educators dedicated to teachnology use with students. Take a look at the posts on their forums and see what types and configurations of projects they have had success with.
Good luck! I hope this post helps you sort out your question.
Best always,
Kathy
Re: Got SKYPE?
I have had great sucess with my advanced adult students here in Alexandria, Egypt. I have linked them inclass to informants, but I have also had them use "Skype Me" mode to link up with people in class and at home. It takes a lot of misses, but once they've found someone they seem to maintain the relationship. My Ss have found native speakers from around the world, and it has been very rewarding for them.Gregsensei wrote:Has anyone had success hooking your ESL/EFL students up with native speakers on Skype?
Thanks!
There are some issues to consider. Female Ss find people to chat with faster than males. Some people out there only want one thing. If students are prepared well they can handle it. Voice of Internet (VoIP) will continue to be a better and better tool for EFL/ESL.
I agree about using skype with young learners. I am sure it is very tricky.
Fair winds,
Jamison Wiggins
Teaching in Alexandria, Egypt
skype and automated answering services
hiya
a colleague uses skype to call an international airline in the states which has a computer controlled menu which requires voice interaction. so the students have to say their destination and if the computer dosent understand gives them options etc.
Its a 24 hour service and you dont annoy any native speakers, and its a great real world practical use of language.
a colleague uses skype to call an international airline in the states which has a computer controlled menu which requires voice interaction. so the students have to say their destination and if the computer dosent understand gives them options etc.
Its a 24 hour service and you dont annoy any native speakers, and its a great real world practical use of language.