The first time I used / learned about Skype it reminded me of the EMG program that Spring Branch subscribed to back in the 1990s. It really was early video conferencing - does anyone remember the "Bat Phones" we were supposed to use? Someone it never quite came off as it was supposed to - mostly because we had to coordinate schedules. That's hard to do in an elementary school where students tend to do unpredictable things like upchuck as they are headed out the door.
Lisa Branon, the Librarian at Frostwood experimented with Skype last year. Her students reaped the benefits as they enjoyed some author Skyped visits. I see from reading the blog entry that there's a web site of Skype friendly authors.
Last year a couple of students talked me into doing a book club - we kept it small and meet every 6 days or so. All of us really enjoyed it -and since the students will be in 5th grade next year I suspect we'll keep it up. II'll start by letting them explore this site and select an author who is willing to Skype. None of the names jumped out at me, but it will be fun to discover a "new to us" author.
It will keep my first school Skype experience small and I'll have the pleasure of working with students who are articulate and adore technology.
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