| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Gizmo or Skype

This version was saved 16 years, 6 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by PBworks
on October 4, 2007 at 8:45:29 pm
 

Gizmo or Skype

 

 

 

 

Objective: Global connections

 

Web tool: Gizmo or Skype

 

Use of tool: An elementary class of students from Georgia in the United States and high school students from Winnipeg, Canada participated in a Gizmo call. The elementary class had created questions about blogging that they wished to ask the high school students. Both services offer the ability to connect but Gizmo was chosen because it has a built in recording feature that enabled podcasts to be created after the session.

 

How it facilitates learning: This activity is tough to describe in words but I have to tell you that the learning can be so very powerful during these types of connections.

 

This  type of dialogue that takes place outside of our classroom and connects two groups with different and shared  experiences on  blogging (or other subjects) gives students opportunities to embrace and understand each other and their own learning in  profound ways. Students get to practice a form of public speaking that they have previously not encountered. There is a feeling of nervousness that is palatable in the classroom. This is coupled with a feeling of  excitement and joy that this type of activity is possible through technology.  Students and teachers are learning together how to navigate in this new environment and it is important that reflection on the activity is a prioriity. This was done through blog posts and comments. Learning became less abstract and more connected to their own lives and experience. The ownership of the shaping of a new type of literacy that needsto be developing in all our schools was sensed by all.

I think the reading of the various blog posts below will help you see the potential of this tool and how it indeed does facilitate learning.

 

Blog posts: 

 

 

 

Additional strategies to use with students to facilitate learning and thinking:

 

  • Use as a homework helper
  • Older students could mentor younger students
  • Discussing books
  • Interviews
  • Discussing different cultures
  • Talking to experts in a field

 

"How To": 

 

Skype User Guides

 

If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, What is a video worth? by Brian Crosby of Learning is Messy - Blog

 

Skype in the Classroom by Wesley Fryer of Moving at the Speed of Creativity

 

Using Skype in the Classroom by Vicki Davis of Cool Cat Teacher Blog

 

 

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.