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!

I Think I'm Addicted!

Can it be? Is my attraction to learning via the Web, truly an addiction?

"Like other addicts, users experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online, according to Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Block says people can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping."

According to an article in today's Windsor Star, compulsive emailing and text-messaging may soon be classified as an illness. Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) is not due for revision for a few years, I think my own desire for online interaction has many of the same the hallmarks of obsessive compulsive disorder.

While I suspect many of my colleagues and friends may have already reached this conclusion about my desire to make authentic connections in the virtual world, knowledge of the addictive nature of today's modes of communication, may be something worth discussing with students. Maybe that glaze in the eyes of teens and tweens at 8 a.m. has less to do with lack of sleep, and more to do with withdrawal from their evening 'habits'?

Late addition 1: My addiction led me to discover a really cool innovation... find out more on today's Teacher 2.0 Podcast.

Late addition 2: Will Richardson has found a book that makes my addiction sound more palatable... Maybe I'm just an 'infovore'.

Photo Credit: Tim O'Bryan

Why Network?

Will Richardson laments that many conference speakers don't effectively leverage read/write tools in their presentations. Maybe they don't understand 'WHY' the network is so important?

It might help if the people chosen to ’speak’ at conferences were chosen because of their online presence rather than by virtue of their paper-based publishing exploits. Those most effectively leveraging the read/write tools of the web, are the ones with the ability to model engaging uses of evolving tools; but many/most of us are ‘unpublished’ in the traditional sense.

One of those who is really demonstrating the power of the network for two way communication, is Clay Burell, who this past weekend, invited his network to experience his wedding via ustream!

That would be cool enough, but the network broadcasted back to Clay! People like Chris Betcher in Sydney, Australia, have leveraged tools in order to send greetings back to Seoul, South Korea. Check out Chris' Voicetread.



But what if you aren't getting married?Wesley Fryer, shared: WHY do teens use social networking sites?, a YouTube video by Vanessa Van Petten. Her answer is intended for parents, but I suspect educators and educational keynote speakers, would do well to consider the message:



Why network?

Until you begin to using the evolving tools of the read/write web, you will never know the answer!