Skype !

I think Skype is a great tool to use, whether it is for communicating with people in your own town or for communicating for people across the globe. I typically only chat with my family via skype. I have never used it in the classroom but I can see a number of uses for it.

So here is what we Skyped about... (is Skyped a verb? Well.. it is now.) 

Although the new literacy components of reading comprehension overlap with traditional reading comprehension, students need explicit instruction in reading online. Most of our discussion focused on the importance of modeling internet research skills for students since many lack the skills necessary to read search engine results and locate information on the web. Since the new literacies are defined around five major functions, students should be taught EACH feature. Many of our students will find locating information an easy task, but some may not have the necessary skills yet. Having so much to teach about using technology leads me to my next thought…Kailyn and I discussed what the rapid change in technology means for our teaching and our students and the importance in keeping with these changes. The article suggested teaching students, “how to continuously learn new literacies that will appear during one’s lifetime.” Unfortunately, in our conversation we were unable to come up with an answer on how to successfully do this. Creating a way to successfully teach students how to adapt to changing technologies is something I am interested in further perusing.

Maybe I will do that ... when I have more free time  : )