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.
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ReplyDeleteThe fact that Skype is not accessible to everyone poses a big problem. It is impractical to make students and teachers use Skype in the classroom if everyone can not use it. In theory it is a good idea, but what if only half of your students had access to it? This would cause an unfair divide.
ReplyDeleteIt would be unfair to have Skype courses, as not everyone has the correct equipment to use Skype. It would also be unfair because people learning via Skype would not have the same learning experience as someone who was learning in a classroom in front of a teacher. Furthermore, people would be relying on Skype for a quality learning experience. Skype is well-known for freezing occasionally, which could potentially take away and distract from the learning experience of the students.
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