Taking your students to the bottom of the sea, to the moon, or even to the zoo in Vancouver are not necessarily realistic... but with Skype, we can bring our students closer than ever before! Using Skype in the classroom can be an excellent way to connect kids to real people, real places and real experiences around the world. Here are four ways that my school could use Skype to enrich student learning.
In searching through relevant activities for my students, I must say that I was disappointed by the lack of French options available. I would have thought that many of our Canadian sites would have contributed to the Virtual Field Trips available.
1) Author visit. There are many authors that do free or nearly free classroom visits via Skype. This can be an excellent way to engage students into a particular book study, or to captivate a literature club. One author that stuck out to me is Brianna DuMont, who wrote one of the "Weird But True" books, which is loved by my students. The following website provides a list of many authors who offer (or have offered in the past - make sure you double check) free Skype visits. Unfortunately, the site does not say anything about each author so it can take a bit of digging to find an author that will work for you if one you know isn't already listed:
http://www.katemessner.com/authors-who-skype-with-classes-book-clubs-for-free/
2) A Skype interview with Stephane Cloatre, a FRENCH speaking, middle-school teacher, MINECRAFT EXPERT might just be the best thing you do with your students all year. With Minecraft being at the top of many students interest list, this has the potential to please even the most resistant audience, and bring your lessons to the next level - especially if like me, you know almost nothing about Minecraft.
https://education.microsoft.com/Status/Public?token=fHUosTdP
3) Bring the Fur Trade to life with this Virtual Field Trip to the Canadian Canoe Museum. This Virtual Field Trip can tie directly into grade 3-5 social studies curriculum.
https://education.microsoft.com/furtradetravels
4) Explore animal adaptations and different ecosystems on this Virtual Field Trip to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This Skype in the classroom activity comes with great teacher resources:
https://education.microsoft.com/animaladaptations
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