To start with, that Skype meeting, is an example of how languages promote Peace and Friendship !
Teachers do not need to find notable people to benefit from using Skype. Simply connecting with another classroom provides an educational experience that cannot be found in a traditional classroom setting!
Skype meetings have been the most powerful experiences for my students , as Skype enables students to connect, collaborate, and communicate with other students across the globe.It creates an opportunity for students to learn from each other, to have authentic audiences for their work, and to meet others who can further their learning.
Classroom-to-classroom Skype conferences have also proven useful in teaching english. Students are afforded the chance to practice speaking the language with other ELT speakers.
We didn’t have a laptop and wifi access at school, until two years ago!…We have taken part in several Skype meeting with partners abroad, since then.
Generally, the one-on-one Skype video chats provided my students with not only valuable grammar and pronunciation practice, but also improved the conversational skills, such as negotiating meaning, that are essential to excelling in a foreign language.
A few months ago, me and my facebook friend and PLN member Nese Alkan, decided to have our students work on a language exchange project. We actually thought that, if we proved to our students ,how many words our languages share , they would realise how much we share as people, too. Politicians, never seemed to promote peace and friendship among our people, in both countries ! We are educators, and have a different role, of course!
My most favourite moments during our recent Skype meeting, with a private primary school in Instabul:
1. When we exchanged words in the Greek language of Turkish origin and Greek words in Turkish!It was touching when my students shouted the Greek equivalent – translation , each time the Turkish students read one of their Turkish words to us! Our students realised then that we have so much in common! That, language brings us closer! That actually, our languages prove how much we have in common and there is so much we share!
2.The moment when we sang them a Greek song about friendship and Peace and they danced to our music!
3. The moment when they started singing an English song to us and we suddenly joined in singing all together and dancing at the same time!
4. When we decided to add the words ” We are friends” on the map of both our countries . The sign was placed in the Aegean Sea, the sea which unites us and at the same time, seperates us!
5. When students in both schools, used their hands and fingers to send LOVE to their friends across the screen!
6. When the meeting ended and my students said ” Miss, they look just like us! They seem to be ….ordinary people!” Stereotypes were there at the beginning of our Skype meeting but seemed to vanish by the time it was over!
ELT inspired 