Skype or Hype

Skype has entered the world of digital communication as it acts as a software which allows calls over the Internet. Its effectiveness comes in its ability to display the person you are communicating with on screen through the use of a camera. As people become tired of constant conversation on their telephones, Skype is new and original and a breathe of fresh air. Skype is a very easy to install software that is free of charge. It also works behind many firewalls that often block such programs. It also allows country to country communication to happen much more easily and cheaper than over a phone. Discussions or lessons involving many people in a classroom setting can be conducted through the use of Skype as the instructor acts as the center of attention.

Although Skype provides a plethora of positive aspects there are many problems that can arise. Quality is an important issue; the sound and picture quality can be thrown off by differences in Internet connection by the users. Also it can only be used with computer and Internet access as well as access to a mic and camera. These are parts that many people do not own, limiting the software's effectiveness. Another disadvantage is if a teacher is running a classroom through Skype there are limitations to how much of the classroom she can see. If a student has a question or is fooling around during class the teacher often times cannot respond to these situations very quickly.

Learning through Skype?

Skype is a very useful tool for communicating with other people, and it can be used in many ways including as a learning tool. Skype could be very useful in the classroom if it were used when a professor is sick or injured and cannot make it to class. He or she could them hold class over Skype so that the students would not have to miss that day's lecture. This could also work the other way around, if the professor was willing. If a student could not make it to class, the professor could have the lecture for all the other students while also having Skype open so that the missing student could be present through it. This would probably only work in small, close-knit classes because otherwise there are too many students missing class every day to be able to Skype them all. It could also be used to facilitate small group discussions. Skype also has a conference call feature, so it would be possible for students to work together from home. Professors could also assign small group projects and then use Skype to check in with the students. In these ways Skype is a very useful and effective tool in the classroom.

However, Skype is not necessarily made for classroom type settings and this is quite apparent in its drawbacks. Skype works better for 1 to 1 or small group connections because it is hard to see and hear otherwise on the small computer camera and microphone. Skype would be hard to use in a lecture style class, unless none of the students asked questions. It would be very hard to ask a question to a professor over Skype because the microphone would not be able to pick up the noise form far away. The professor also would not be able to see the whole class, as the computer's camera cannot span an entire lecture hall let alone provide clear pictures. There are also times when Skype freezes up which would cause problems in a lecture, especially if the students are not able to inform the professor that they did not hear that last part. Skype has many limitations that do not allow it to be used very effectively for large group communication.

To Skype or Not To Skype

Skype is a great tool to use for communicating with others online via a video conference. Because it is so easy to use and well-known, it has become extremely popular and has even been considered for use in the classroom. But just like everything else, there are pros and cons to using Skype in the classroom. It is safe to say that enough people know how to use Skype, so there would not have to be much of a support team to keep Skype running during class, should something go wrong with it. In addition to usability, it is pretty easy to setup, and Skype accounts are free. So, schools would not have any costs associated with using Skype, outside of equipment costs.

However, Skype is not all that practical in a classroom setting, if the school does not have the right equipment. One cannot just flip a computer screen around, which has a camera attached to it, and expect a classroom of students to easily communicate with the teacher. Most screens are too small, and even with a projector, there is only one microphone attached to the computer, which is only good for a few feet from the computer. Additionally, it is not necessary to use Skype unless the teacher is a reasonable distance from the classroom. Otherwise, using Skype would just create unnecessary communication difficulties.

Skype: The Up’s and Down’s

The use of Skype’s video communication carries several positives. For one, it allows people to better communicate over long distances; in business, Skype can be used to connect a distributor in America with a factory owner in China. Video conversation allows people to see the speaker with his/her movements and gestures. This allows for the receiver to better understand a speaker, where sometimes confusion occurs over normal phone conversation. Many examples can be found showing the greatness in Skype video communication.

Unfortunately Skype has a few issues. While Skype is currently free to operate, there are several start-up costs. For instance, one must a microphone, a web camera, a computer with a fast processor, and a high-speed Internet connection. These costs make Skype too expensive for some people to use. Also, Skype does not work well in large groups. It is difficult to see and hear everybody in a large group with one web cam and one microphone. In addition, because of the large bandwidth Skype requires it has a tendency to freeze the computer and cause confusion and frustration. Regardless of these negatives Skype is a pretty useful tool, and is nice to have.

Skype In The Classroom

There are many benefits of using Skype in the classroom. For example, a teacher could teach a class from anywhere in the world. No matter where they are at any given time, they would still be able to contact their class over Skype. Also, if you were sick and had to miss class for one day or an extended period of time you could still see your lectures. That way, you wouldn't have to get behind and feel bad about missing classes. Viewing class via Skype would also make going abroad much cheaper. If someone didn't have enough money to pay for studying abroad programs, they could take classes on Skype from teachers in different countries.

Although using Skype in the classroom is beneficial it also has many negative aspects. It would cause students to have a more distant relationship with their teachers. It is already hard enough to make good relationships with college teachers because they have so many students. Having classes on Skype would make that even harder. Another important negative aspect of using Skype in the classroom is the level of distraction. Yes, using Skype sounds like a good idea in theory, but with recent technology students already have such a high level of distraction in any class. If they were watching their lectures online, nothing at all would be stopping them from multitasking and therefore not paying close attention to what they should be learning.

Teaching With Skype

Teaching with Skype represents yet another way in which education is incorporating technology into the classroom and comes with numerous advantages. One such advantage is convenience as teachers can be in virtually any place, assuming they have a connection to the internet, while they teach their students, who eventually may not even need to leave their home but could rather sign onto their computer at home. Students would thus not be limited to the schools located near their house as they could be taught by instructors thousands of miles away. The program also allows teachers to multitask while they teach as they have spare time while the students are working on their assignments. As the program develops, many of these advantages will be enhanced while many more will become apparent.

Despite some of the advantages created by Skype, the idea of using the program in classrooms is laced with a myriad of problems. One obvious disadvantage during our use of the program in class was the sound quality as the teacher had trouble hearing most of the students speak. Communication is in general more difficult when trying to speak to a video screen rather than an actually person as one cannot also enjoy many of its basic aspects, which includes eye contact. Another problem it creates is the elimination of privacy as a student could not ask a question without having the entire class hear it or the answer. Taking the teacher out of the classroom takes the personality out of the aspect of learning, which could easily take away from the quality of one's education.

Skype: For your viewing pleasure

Skype has become one of the largest forms of video communication in the world bringing people from different nations, states, even dorm rooms together online to converse. This software has many pros allowing people to communicate effectively over long distances. The software allows people from different countries to talk to friends or relatives while also seeing a video of them. Skype is a type of extension from a typical telephone call. In normal calling, one has no access to viewing the body language or facial expressions being used; however, with Skype it allows for almost a full encounter. The software can also be used in education. Many people from other countries would like to experience a full education but are unable to travel to a major university to access this education, but many universities offer Skype or Youtube videos of the lectures allowing almost anyone access to the knowledge.

Although Skype has many pros, the program had many negative aspects as well. The program is especially problematic in large groups. As demonstrated in our class, there were many technical problems with Skype. Skype froze many times and in order for our class to communicate we had to almost yell for the teacher to hear or understand us. Skype is a very good software for person to person conversation, but with use in large groups it is very difficult to coordinate. The start up costs of Skype are also troublesome. In order to use Skype, one needs to have a computer, preferably with a fast processor, and Internet, preferably high speed. In order to use the video and audio functions of Skype, one needs a webcam and a microphone. These start up costs and technical issues make Skype limited in its uses and functions; however, for the right purposes and groups, Skype can be very useful.

Pros and Cons of Skype

There are many benefits to using the program Skype in educational settings. It can help promote collaborated learning through the use of the internet. Skype allows professors to interact with students without being in the same space. This means professors can teach students from anywhere, which is beneficial because it eliminates the need for professors to travel to where the students are located. They simply need to both connect to the internet at the same time and have a webcam and microphone. Skype could be used to lecture students in a more convenient way for the professor, and therefore would be helpful in classroom settings.

While Skype could be useful in education, it has drawbacks as well. It may be useful for professors to lecture through Skype, but it also gives them less control over their students. Since it is difficult for the professor to hear students unless they speak into the microphone, the professor would not know if side conversations were going on in the back, limiting knowledge from being gained. It is also difficult for professors to lead discussions through Skype. Therefore, Skype is best used for one on one communication.

Skype.. Not a lecture

Skype is a powerful tool. It could be used by educators on US campuses to answer individual questions and to talk to students from abroad. Skype is key to helping the internal workings of various colleges and universities in video conferencing. The University of Michigan's College of Engineering currently runs a joint engineering program with a university in Shanghai. The various faculty in Ann Arbor and Shanghai communicate extensively using Skype. They do not use it for teaching.

However, Skype while useful in the inner workings of the business side of teaching, it simply cannot teach our lectures. Our own experience yesterday showed us that when the teacher tried the novelty of teaching through Skype, the result was a failure. What was the general response to being taught from a distance? We laughed at it. It was a joke and because the teacher was unable to actually be present and had only a limited view of what was going on, she lost the focus of her class. Then while being unable to fully see what was happening in her class, we could not effectively understand what tasks she was assigning.. How many times did we have to ask her to re-pronounce the words she wanted searched. Communicating over Skype was simply too accident prone to effectively use in teaching a class.

The idea of remote teaching has been bounced around for a long time now. The premise is a good one for the lazy. Why should I have to go to the classroom when I could stay home and teach from there? This was what inspired a Japanese company to try and create remote controlled "teacher" bots. But so far it is nothing more than a glorified version of the Skype lesson we experienced yesterday. How many teachers does it take to use Skype? It may take two teachers to control the classroom than just one: a teacher on the scene to make sure everything does not explode into anarchy and another to teach the lesson. Our teacher, meanwhile, was not even 50 feet away.

Skype is a wonderful tool and I use it everyday to talk to friends and collaborate on matters. But I cannot see the benefit from using Skype to teach from a distant position to a group of students who could use a actual authority in the classroom.

My Gripe with Skype

With each new evolutionary step of the internet, there is another new revolutionary tool that is developed that is changing the way we communicate. Enter Skype, the new tool that is capable of revolutionizing classrooms due to its free video conferencing abilities. By allowing people to communicate without actually being in the same room, Skype is able to increase efficiency and eliminate unnecessary travel costs. This could particularly be effective in a large lecture classroom setting because a teacher could teach multiple lectures at one time. Although lecture halls are limited by the number of students they can seat, Skype could allow a professor to broadcast his or her lecture across multiple rooms at the same time. By removing the physical walls that bind the teacher to the classroom, a teacher is no longer restricted to just one lecture at a time; he or she can teach all three of his or her sections at once, rather than having to teach one lecture every two hours.

Although Skype is effective in a large classroom setting, it has its drawbacks in smaller classroom settings. Whereas in large lecture halls, there is minimal student-teacher interaction, smaller classrooms thrive on the ability for students to be able to interact with the teacher. If a teacher is present in the classroom, then the student will be able to pick up on key auditory and visual cues provided by the teacher, however many of these cues may not be picked up on Skype. This is primarily due to Skype’s unreliability and dependence on a working internet connection. As we witnessed in class on Thursday, there were several times where the screen froze up, which led to wasted time trying to fix it. In addition, communication over Skype depends on a microphone, so the only way that each student would be able to interact with the teacher would be if each student had his or own microphone. Although this could be solved by distributing a microphone and a webcam to each student in the class, it is not very cost effective, and it would be much easier for the teacher to just be present in the classroom. Another limitation presented by Skype is the lack of eye contact. Eye contact is a crucial skill for face to face communication, and if the student cannot tell if the teacher is specifically looking at him or her, or vise versa, then it is difficult to tell if the other person is actually paying attention. The teacher could easily be looking at something else on his or her computer screen rather than paying attention to the class, and the students would not even know. Due to the limitations presented by Skype within a small classroom setting, students receive much less personal attention, thus hindering the overall learning experience rather than improving it.

Teaching With Skype

While Skype is a fun and free application for video chat, it can also be used effectively in the workplace or, as we discovered on Thursday, in the classroom. Skype allowed us to communicate easily (if it weren't for technical difficulties with sound) with the teacher, despite the fact that she was in another room. If Isabel was unable to make it to class for some reason, she would be able to conduct class with her laptop and an internet connection. While it obviously wouldn't be as efficient as if she were truly present, I still think it would be the best way to direct class without actually being there. The ability to pose and answer questions, as well as read the facial expressions and body language of the students, are unique to Skype compared with other modes (e.g. via telephone).
The biggest drawback of teaching a class with Skype would be the risk of technical difficulties. While the sound issue in our class was rather minor, if the screen froze or the video cut out, then much of the benefit of Skype is lost. If the sound were to cut out completely, then it would be difficult to teach the class at all. And if the internet connection was down, then it would be impossible. The negatives of Skype are more the risk of failure rather than lack of functionality.

The Merits of SKYPE in the Classroom

Our class yesterday showed us that Skype is less than ideal when considering modes of education--the sound quality was iffy and the video feed had a tendency to skip and lag. But in a larger context, Skype can aid in the education of so many people around the world, especially those from disadvantaged areas of the globe. Skype opens up doors to many people that may not have the opportunity to commute to school, and provides a relatively cheap alternative for disadvantaged students. Yes, a student in a poorer country would need a computer, high speed internet access, and the like to sit in on an online class--but if classes were conducted via the internet, wouldn't foreign governments be more likely to spend on such necessary infrastructure as establishing said internet access? If classes were conducted online via Skype, a student from a third world country could potentially tune in at a very cost-effective rate.

As for those of us attending elite US universities like Michigan, Skype really doesn't hold much value. The ability to communicate with teachers is poor due to a lack of sound quality, and the lack of personal proximity and eye contact makes for a very detached lecture; one that won't resonate well with students who expect much more. Additionally, the cost of a University education is so high right now that I don't think students would accept being taught by Skype. It is way too impersonal and, at least to me, signals a lack of effort on the part of the teacher to make him or herself present to the class. Skype essentially takes away all accountability away from teachers and places the onus entirely on students to learn the material themselves, which I think is unfair, especially at such a high cost.

The Good and the Bad of Skype in the Classroom

Skype does not have many advantages over the presence of a physical teacher; if our class was to take a vote on whether or not to conduct the rest of our classes in the same way as this past Thursday, I am almost positive it would be unanimously voted against. However, the advantages that Skype does have come under certain conditions. For example, if the teacher cannot make it to the class because he/she is sick or injured, Skype is a reasonable alternative to cancelling class altogether. The class will most likely be less productive than if the teacher was there, but Skype is a good tool to use to come as close to actually being there as possible. With the ability for the teacher to see and converse with the students in the class, and vice versa, class can be run nearly normally. Another advantage of Skype is the potential for its use in online courses, or any other situation where students are from many different parts of the country or the world. With Skype, students can see and interact with an online teacher in real time, simulating a real classroom without any of the participants of the class having to leave the comfort of their own home. Even though it does not mimic a real classroom situation perfectly, Skype is the best tool for doing so at the present time.

While Skype is a great tool for simulating a traditional class, there are many reasons why it does not quite compete with the physical presence of a teacher. First of all, if a teacher is in the classroom he/she will have a much easier time controlling the class. By this I mean that it seems easier to take the teacher seriously if he/she is actually there than if he/she is just a talking face on the wall. Also, discussion in the classroom when the teacher is using Skype can be greatly limited, as we saw in our class on Thursday. This is due mainly to the fact that the teacher cannot hear what all members of the class are saying simply because they are too far away from the microphone, forcing students to get out of their seats and walk to the microphone. This is ineffective for two reasons, one because students are less willing to physically get up and talk into a microphone in front of the whole class than they would be to simply raise their hand and talk in a traditional class setting, and two because it takes a long time for one student to add one comment to the discussion when conducting class this way. A solution to this problem would be to distribute microphones throughout the classroom so that everyone's voice would be picked up, but this would be expensive and tedious. Another problem associated with using Skype to conduct class is its unreliability. The screen freezes quite frequently when using Skype if the Internet connection becomes too weak. This disrupts class and becomes a technical issue that should not have to be dealt with in the middle of class. Even though Skype is the best tool out there right now for conducting class without the physical presence of a teacher, it needs to be greatly improved before it can be considered equal.

What's all the hype about Skype?

The video conferencing tool known as Skype has become popular almost exponentially. Connecting people across the globe through not just text, but rather picture and video. When people can't physically be together, Skype is the closest possible way of being in the same location. The video capabilities allow users to read body language and facial signs that phone or instant messaging lacks. As far as classroom use, Skype would be beneficial for uses such as guest speakers or when the professor can not attend class for some reason. Also, it could allow for broadcasting of classes to many different locations which could reach a greater amount of people than say, one lecture room could hold.

As many positives that Skype can boast, there are also flaws with the program. Its benefits can only reach as far as Internet access is able. A strong connection is required for clear, continuous conferencing. If the connection is weaker, the picture may freeze or have a time lag and the sound does not transfer. Should this occur, one user may not know it has happened and would not know they must repeat the information that was not transmitted because of the defect. This can cause misinterpretations or just a waste of time when they must repeat themselves. Because of the unreliability, it's hard to compare using Skype in the classroom and a professor physically being present. A professor being in the classroom can never freeze; therefore class can be conducted without the possibility of technical interruption. All in all, Skype can never substitute 100% with the physical presence of a professor.

To Skype or Not to Skype?

I have been using Skype for a number of years to keep in touch with friends in ways that social networking sites and instant messaging clients do not allow: real-time video conferencing. Yet, until now I never considered the potential benefits and consequences of using it as a mode of education. First, let's look at the positives. To start, Skype uses the Internet to broadcast its real-time video conversations. This would make it attractive to students in areas that do not have good education at their disposal. For example, students from less developed countries and rural communities would only need a computer, Internet connection, mic, and speakers to participate in classes over Skype, along with a reduced or even free tuition. In addition, Skype allows for the easy transfer of files, so it would be simple for students to hand in projects to teachers or for teachers to pass out documents to students.

On the other hand, Skype does have its drawbacks. In a video conference on Skype, your experience will only be as good as your Internet connection. If your connection is slow or unreliable, your video conference will be fuzzy and inaudible or it may not work at all. In addition, it may be difficult for teachers to directly interact with students as they would in a classroom setting. For instance, a teacher would not be able to watch a student work on a math problem in real time. Sure, the teacher could review his work after he sends the file to him, but that is much less efficient than a teacher watching you work on it. Also, if students are using Skype, it is impossible for the teacher to monitor their attention. Whether they are watching the professor or playing a computer game, the students eyes will still be fixed to the screen.

There are numerous disadvantages to using Skype, but for those that do not have a traditional classroom experience available, it is far better than not receiving an education at all.