Skype | ELT inspired

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!

4 different teachers ,in 4 different schools and countries with a total of more than 350 students , took part in our Skype meeting!

Skype gives students and teachers the ability to connect with the outside world without leaving the classroom, allowing them to meet face-to-face with the subjects of their learning or with students from other cultures. Simply connecting with another classroom provides an educational experience !

Our Olympic sports project, on the…other side!

“This has to be one of the most powerful experiences for students as Skype enables students to connect, collaborate, and communicate with other students across the globe,” writes education expert Angela Maiers. “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.”

So happy to be able to see our pen pals abroad for the first time!

My most favourite moments during our Skype meetings with 4 partner schools in Europe: 1.When we greeted our french pen pals in french, and they replied in…greek!! 2. When we sang to all our pen friends beautiful greek songs by the famous greek music composer Mikis Theodorakis – lyrics by George Seferis, one of the most important greek poets and a Nobel laureate! 3. Every time, we all danced or sang together to the same music!

Pen friends , interviewed each other asking all different kinds of questions!!

4. When we saw our letters and projects, on the…other side, in our pen pals’ hands!! And we showed them theirs… 5. The fact that, we had the chance, in each new meeting ,to share a lesson with another class – about 100 students each time TOGETHER !! PRECIOUS! By the way, it is now that I realise, how important our new laptop has been for my school! A school , with practically no prior access to the internet for its students(!!) , until this school year, thanks to our school bazaar money!

We sang traditional greek songs to our friends!

Another favourite moment during the two days Skype meeting with 4 different teachers ,in 4 different schools and countries with a total of more than 350 students involved (!!!) : when one of our pen pals in Poland, asked to talk to her friend in Greece but, she soon realised that…her pen pal had gone to Germany with her family to settle and find jobs due to the terrible greek financial crisis!! It was a sad moment for me because , I hate it when my students HAVE to live abroad, leaving friends and family behind, bacause of unemployment!….This country, deserves better!

Marta, our partner teacher in Burgos , Spain.

So, what would be advantages of using skype in class with students:
– use English in real time
– culture sharing
– engagament in the learning process
– self confidence – enthusiasm
– introduction of webtools-not really in my school, where there is not a computers lab.
– understand timezones (correlation with other subjects)