Mike Kaechele

Category: Skype

  • Thing 2

    I am out of order but after looking at other blogs, I realized I misses this part of the assignment. I think what makes a good blog is that it is about a topic that I am personally interested in. I am not going to waste my time reading about something that is irrelevant to me. For education blogs I enjoy ones that give practical advice and examples of things that they are using in the classroom.

    I have already mentioned Skype in a previous blog, but I was very excited to find that others are using it. Two new sites that I found today that I could spend all day on are David Warlick’s Landmark Project and Cool Cat Teacher. These are examples of great sites for collaboration with other excellent teachers and cutting edge applications of Web 2.0. My only problem right now is feeling overwhelmed with new thoughts and ideas!

    I think that the two main ways that blogs enhance existing websites are by the links in them and by letting people share their personal ideas, experiences, and opinions. They are kind of like call-in talk radio. I think it is obvious that blogs are very simple for anyone to self-publish anything with incredible access for the world.

  • Thing6–WebPals

    WebPals are like the traditional pen pals, except the communication is in a real-time dialogue using webcams. I wrote my Master’s project on this idea with the thesis that discrimination would decrease and tolerance would increase if students could develop friendships with others who are different from themselves culturally, ethnically, racially, and/or socio-economically.

    I am trying to avoid expensive videoconferencing software and equipment by using simple webcams, microphones, and Skype. Skype is a free software that allows free video phone calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world. The biggest problem I have had is locating another classroom in another part of the world to communicate with. I have tried to make contacts through Epals but never receive responses. I am also guessing that many of my target countries are not yet technologically ready.

    I did find a useful blog from a teacher using Skype Quick start tips for new Skype users and shared my ideas and she is going to set up a blog looking to connect classrooms. That was probably the most exciting and practical thing I have learned from this class so far.

    As mentioned in Thing 2, I tend to try to do many things at once and this project is one that I really want to use in my class but gets lost in the shuffle of my busy life.