Making Connections with Skype

I did something pretty cool today. It was cool for me, at least, and I hope it was interesting for those on the other end of the webcam. Before you get any crazy ideas, let me back up a bit and tell the whole story.

In my recent attempt to get connected with other educators using Skype, I came across the Edu-Skyper's Phonebook, a blog-turned-information-repository in which educators can leave their own contact info and/or find other educators' contact info all in the name of educational Skyping. This is the brainchild of Ken Kellner, in the Academic Technology department at The Steward School. Of course I signed in and left my contact info hoping I could make some connections for my school.

Earlier this week I got an email from Ken asking if I would be interested in Skyping with him while he presented Skype in the Classroom: It’s a Small World After All at EdTech2009 in Virginia. Delighted to be asked, I quickly accepted the invitation. We set the date and time of the teleconference for today, Thursday, February 5.

I'm actually attending a conference today at a hotel in Galveston, Texas. For me, this made the teleconference via Skype even better because I just ran up to my hotel room at the appointed time, plugged my webcam into my laptop and called Ken, who happened to be in the process of presenting. Talk about flexibility! Anywhere I have internet access and my laptop, I can Skype.

Truth be told, I didn't say anything profound. Ken asked me a few questions relating to the practicality of Skype and I answered. Basically, we carried on a conversation. For me, though, this is the beauty of teleconferencing via Skype. One of the conference-goers (in Virginia) even got involved and I carried on a brief conversation with her. I hope that today's demo during Ken's presentation opened some eyes about how easy, fun, intriguing and practical using Skype can be. Thanks, Ken, for the invitation and for your leadership. Your school is lucky to have you. I look forward to further collaboration.