Giving My Students the World

      It is possible to give people the world these days. I don't know anyone who, given the opportunity, wouldn't want to open any door possible for their students, or their own children. It's a natural desire to want the younger generation to do better than we did, or see them succeed in a way that brings them happiness, as well as a fruitful and enjoyable way to make a living.

     Technology has opened the door to the world to everyone, not just the kids and teachers should be taking advantage of this.
   
      Fifteen-plus years ago, the only ways to introduce children to other cultures was to read, travel or encourage penpals. The latter was great if you liked to write, but not so wonderful, if letter writing wasn't your thing; ditto with reading. Travel wasn't always feasible either.  It's expensive for a family to take a jaunt overseas.
   
      Then along came Skype in 2003, and other products like it, such as FaceTime in 2010.  This was a huge deal for my children and their grandparents. All of a sudden it was a valuable way to keep in touch. I think the first Skype conversation my daughter had with her grandfather in California was maybe in 2006.

      But, here's the weird thing, I never saw this type of activity picked up regularly in schools until recently. It should be a 2 + 2 equation that if this technology helps families stay in touch, then it can help introduce children to the world. I've been fascinated by bringing this technology to my classroom, even though I will be teaching the younger grades. Fostering a love of cultures, and an interest in stepping out of the bubble that is the United States, can mean so much to a child when it comes to their future endeavors.

      Using Skype to introduce one school class of children to another school class in another country is fascinating to me. Obviously, being realistic and paying attention to time zones is an important factor but Canada uses the same time zones we do, more or less, so wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to foster a friendship between classrooms in our two countries? We are not that far from the border here in the Spokane area and I would love to introduce my students to a "sister" class, like a sister city, over the border in British Columbia or Alberta and keep in touch all year long. I have no idea how to implement something like this, but I still have those journalist instincts, and a nose for digging up sources, so this will be on my radar to do for my classes.

      Skype, or like products, is a way of redefining (Think Redefinition) the way students are able to interact and get to know others from different places. It should be integrated into every day learning. It's an exciting prospect to introduce this as a regular activity in my class. It's something I would have loved as a student since I was fascinated with different cultures, and is readily available to this generation.

      I found this wonderful research article on using Skype in the classroom, and what is fascinating, is it's a POV from another country. There are some great ideas as to how else Skype could be used for educators as well.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281591535_Integrating_Skype_into_Education