Mason School Uses Skype for "Dad's Reading Day"

Recently, the Mason School held its "Dad's Reading Day" and used the web conferencing application, Skype, to bring in a father all the way from Italy to read to his daughter's kindergarten class. According to Keri Purple, the teacher of the class, the father of one of the students is currently working abroad in Italy. They decided to Skype conference with him so he could be part of the event. He read the book, "A House for Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle. He used his webcam to show them some landscape of Italy (he was outdoors). He also read a little to the class from an Italian copy of Harry Potter.

Skype is a great way to be able to connect with other classrooms, as well as bring guest speakers into your classroom. Below are some links to resources on ways to use Skype in your school. If you are already using Skype to collaborate with others outside of your school, please comment on this post and share with us how you use it!

Around the World With Skype: Presentation from the K-12 Online Conference on getting started using Skype int he classroom.

Skype an Author Network: A site that has a list of authors that will Skype with a classroom.

Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom: Site with ideas and links on using Skype in the classroom.

If you have any questions about safely setting up Skype for use with your classroom and making sure you avoid receiving Skype spam, please call the OIIT Service Desk.