Skype - not only a free time activity!!
Everyone knows Skype, many use it to call their friends and to talk to them while looking into the face of them. You can call people of other countries for free and talk to and see them at the same time. All you need is a web-enabled laptop or computer, a webcam (mostly integrated in the laptops) and a headset (even integrated in most of the laptops). You do not need the telephone any longer and it is absolutely for free. The only thing you have to pay is your use of the internet - but most people have an internet flatrate, so this does not matter.
After you have signed in with your email address or nickname and your self-chosen password you can add your friends to your contact list and start talking to them. Besides the possibility to call your friends you can also write messages with them.
After you have signed in with your email address or nickname and your self-chosen password you can add your friends to your contact list and start talking to them. Besides the possibility to call your friends you can also write messages with them.
How can you use Skype in an effective way in your lessons?
There is a website called http://education.skype.com/ with which you can connect your classroom to other classrooms all over the world. You can talk to pupils from another country with your second language as their mother tongue or to pupils from somewhere else of the world to get to know something about their culture, their hobbies, their school system and so on. Using this method of teaching a language in your lessons makes it much more interesting and varying for your pupils to learn interesting things about the language itself or to get to know information concerning a specific topic by pupils that have to deal with this every day.
There is a website called http://education.skype.com/ with which you can connect your classroom to other classrooms all over the world. You can talk to pupils from another country with your second language as their mother tongue or to pupils from somewhere else of the world to get to know something about their culture, their hobbies, their school system and so on. Using this method of teaching a language in your lessons makes it much more interesting and varying for your pupils to learn interesting things about the language itself or to get to know information concerning a specific topic by pupils that have to deal with this every day.
What competences do your children achieve?
You pupils are able to improve their language knowledge. They can practice grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation by talking to native speakers. Besides they improve their listening skills, because they have a conversation to another student, pupil or teacher.
Furthermore, they improve their writing and reading skills by chatting with another person.
As you can see, Skype in the classroom promotes the four important skills reading, writing, listening and speaking - and this happens by a real life situation.
For the pupils it is more interesting talking or chatting with a real life person than writing a text about a specific topic in the classroom on a sheet of paper or listen to a cassette or CD and answering questions concerning the content.
You pupils are able to improve their language knowledge. They can practice grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation by talking to native speakers. Besides they improve their listening skills, because they have a conversation to another student, pupil or teacher.
Furthermore, they improve their writing and reading skills by chatting with another person.
As you can see, Skype in the classroom promotes the four important skills reading, writing, listening and speaking - and this happens by a real life situation.
For the pupils it is more interesting talking or chatting with a real life person than writing a text about a specific topic in the classroom on a sheet of paper or listen to a cassette or CD and answering questions concerning the content.
