Howard Wolinsky, Skype’s USA blogger, contacted me a few days ago to ask if we could talk about the Around the World with 80 Schools project.
He recorded the skype conversation and wrote about it on School ‘langwitches’ teacher to reach out with Skype Video to 80 schools around the world.
I am hoping it will help spread the word of the project, especially to schools in Europe and Africa.
This was a great presentation. It has motivated me to see more value in this project.
HI,
I work at a Dual Immersion school in the mountains of Colorado. We would love to connect via skype with your program.
Thanks,
Leslie Davison
Looking forward to connecting with you and your students too.
I am a library media specialist in Guilford, CT and would love to connect via skype to your program….
teresag70
I have carried out an eTandem exchange via Skype with a Scottish high school and we had a lot of connectivity problems. Although we had a bandwidth of about 4Mbps, we didn’t manage to connect more than 8 learners simultaniously. Has anybody skyped in a classroom setting with a partner class?
Switzerland
@Ben
We have skyped with many different classrooms around the world, but at this point had only one connection open at the time. I would also be interested in hearing if anyone else had experience with having multiple skype connections open.
We use Skype on a regular basis with 16 students at a time, and it has worked fine. Skype clients will use extra bandwidth that is available to improve sound quality, so you first few connections may be using far more than are necessary. We use a packet shaper on campus and set all our Skype clients to connect on a specific port.
That being said, 4Mbps sounds like an awful lot. Was the other school on a similar connection. What else is the 4 Mbps supporting at the time on either side?
I would like to Skype, during school hours (8 am through 2 pm PST)with other middle schools across the country. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at Child’s Way Charter School, in Culp Creek, Oregon (Near Eugene). Any Subject and have a Knowledge Bowl. You may contact my school at 541-946-1045 or contact me via email at alberto.martinez@cwcs0809.com
Alberto Martinez,
Middle School Teacher
I too would like to Skype during school hours (CST or GMT-6) with other classrooms around the globe. I teach 7th grade social studies in rural Illinois. jhitchcock@mail.coalcity.k12.il.us
@Jim,
The best place to get started is to join the Around the World with 80 Schools. That will put you in contact with 350+ educators from around the world.
This is what technology is all about.