Tool # 9

Skype is great! My sister has been in Thailand for the last two months and was there last year for six months. Without Skype my family and I (parents in particular) would have been worried and disconnected from her. Not to mention everyone would have been broke with expensive overseas phone bills. Just a few weeks ago my dad called my sister from his computer on her Thai phone. The whole family sat around and chatted as if she was running errands around town, not halfway around the world.

I've used skype in my classroom before with a similar situation. My students were having a hard time grasping the concept that different parts of the world were living in different time zones. Luckily, my Dad was in Beijing and feeling nice enough to let us call him at 2 in the morning his time. Truth be told he knew I was calling and only pretended to be asleep for the sake of my kids (which they got a kick out of).

I can definitely see the benefits of using Skype or Jing in the classroom (especially since if you use it carefully its free!).