Skype in the Classroom: A Sneak Peak

It's been a few years since I first made the pitch for a long distance guest speaker directory. At the time, I had the thought that such a directory would make it easy for classrooms to connect with experts and co-learners in an increasingly flat world. Now comes the news that Skype and the development team at Made by Many, are about to make that dream come true, with the launch Skype in the Classroom!

Last week I had an opportunity to meet with Jacqueline Botterill of Skype, and Paul Sims of Made by Many. The two representatives provided me with a sneak peak at a service that is sure to inspire networked learners in classrooms that span our wired world.

The first half of the interview provides interesting insights into the design process, and may be of particular interest to computer science and business specialists. The latter segment (beginning at 12:00) provides a tour of the widely anticipated social learning network.



Global collaboration among learners young and old, will soon be scaled up significantly. Pre-registration for Skype in the Classroom is taking place now, with an anticipated launch in January 2011. See you there!

Vintage Ads & Social Media Inspiration

This morning, I came across some "super-neat-o" vintage ads for modern social media tools. It took some time to discover the provenance of these ads, but with the assistance of Lisa Lane, I discovered posters advertising Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype are free to download from Maximedia.

In learning more about these 'historic' print ads, I also stumbled upon a vintage video in the style of narrated black & white educational films. Though campy, the production quality is very good and the tips are apt for members of the Facebook Generation.



In case you just want to engage your students in critical thinking about authentic vintage footage, your learners might be interested in investigating a modern viral video. The story of a time-traveler who may have inadvertently used a mobile communication device in Charlie Chaplin's 1928 film: The Circus, is certainly being used for promotional purposes. (The conspiracy has even found inclusion in the Wikipedia entry.)



By coincidence, as these vintage ads were being bookmarked, I responded to a minor commotion as our chaplain hung up a modern poster in the hallway outside of my office. Whether you're looking for a creative way to introduce social media, or are interested in leading learners to think in critical or creative ways, the works of advertisers have the potential to inspire a wide range of media works.

Image credit: Print ads downloaded and 'hung' courtesy of download from Maximedia

Mac Mini-camp

This week, I hosted four colleagues for a full day of hands-on learning intended to help novice geeks to get the most of their Mac computers. Contrary to traditional large group PD, this audience had the luxury of going in any of a number of directions, and could do so at a comfortable pace.

I fielded a number of queries about this informal PD through via Twitter, so here are my top 10 discoveries from a day of learning with friends:

1] You can use a large screen television as a projection device.

2] Although the operating system is simple to navigate, there are simple tricks that you may take for granted that may be greatly valued by your colleagues.

3] Small changes to System Preferences can allow any user to be more productive.

4] Individual needs are much easier to address in a small group meeting than they are in traditional PD. (I.e., A teacher with a new external hard drive invited us to explore how to use Time Machine to backup files.)

5] If you use Skitch, ctrl+shift+5 is the new ctrl+shift+4

6] Teachers can have fun with Skype by contacting folks in the same room; and you can demonstrate the power of this collaborative tool by inviting guest experts to dial in to share their expertise. Thanks @BrendaSherry, @KellyPower & @IainRobertson!

7] Delicious is a great tool to introduce teachers to the power of the hive mind.

8] Engaging in conversation within a PD session is a good thing. How else can folks teach one another and share their giddy love of learning?

9] This type of learning should be taking place on a regular basis. The consensus from participants was that we should schedule follow-up meetings. First on our next agenda: "So, What happened?"

10] Teacher-learners are happy to share food in exchange for tech tips!

Long Distance Guest Speaker Directory

Over the weekend, I was privy to an engaging discussion among a few key members of my personal learning network. To make sense of the conversation, read the screen capture from bottom to top:


Knowing that a number of free tools now make it possible for teachers to engage the services of guest speakers from just about anywhere in the world, I began to wonder:

"What might result if we were to collaborate in the creation of a database of long distance guest speakers?"

Do you know any people with unique areas of expertise who might be interested in sharing their knowledge with students? Adults with unique careers? Educators with specific areas of expertise? Young people with motivational ideas? Retirees with engaging stories to share? Who do you think would be ideally suited as long distance guest speakers in global classrooms?

Speakers might identify themselves as willing participants; or educators might recommend known speakers from past experience. The resulting database might then accessed by teachers from anywhere in the world.

Recording Skype Calls with Audacity

In followup to Clay Burell's question on my previous post: Audacity can be leveraged to record Skype calls. To do so, you'll need to download and run a third piece of free software: Soundflower.


"Let me 'splain..." Inigo Montoya

Audio from Skype has to be channelled to Audacity in order to be recorded. Soundflower acts as the conduit.

On my Mac, the settings that work for me can be enlarged by clicking the images below:

1] Audacity: The settings for Audio I/O need to channel sound from the Skype call, through Soundflower. Though I'm not sure that I need to, I set the computer to 'playthrough' the audio to my speakers so that I can hear the caller.



2] Skype: I send the audio out of Skype to Soundflower. The Snowball is my microphone (input); and I like to hear my speakers ring if a call is coming through.



3] Soundflower: Setting Soundflower to listen to the Built-in Output, ensures my Microphone and the incoming audio from the Skype call are both received.



If there is an easier way to record Skype calls (with free software), feel free to add directions to the comments below.

Transparent Technology

If you have a few minutes to see a supply teacher coached via Skype; followed by a tech-savvy teacher giving directions from 'home' to his students, check out Clay Burell's latest blog post.

Clay currently teaches at a 1:1 laptop school in Seoul, and the short video he's embedded in his post is compelling on a few levels. While the technology is captivating initially, allowing teacher to interact with supply teacher and students, in short order the technology becomes transparent and Clay's relationship with his students takes centre stage (even as he prepares for a wedding!).