Tucson
Theological
Seminary
Theological
Seminary
OnLine Learning System
SKYPE Tucson, Arizona
SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Increased flexibility that "instant" communication and connection offers.Reduce waiting time. Some students chronically arrive late. Wouldn’t it be a better use of time if you simply signed onto your Skype account, and then went about doing all the other things you needed to do while waiting for yours student to show up?
Reduced cancellation frustration. Skype would also reduce that terrible sensation of commuting to class only to have the class cancel as you pull into the company parking lot.
Skype Adoption = Steps towards a Greener Work Solution. Reduces driving to classes with auto emissions.
What's the Hype about Skype?
by Chelsea Kelley
What is Skype?
Skype is a free program that uses the latest P2P (peer-to-peer) and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to bring high-quality voice and video communications to people all over the world. www.skype.com
Skype facilitates the placing of free calls over the internet to anyone else who also has Skype loaded on their computer. In addition, all calls from Skype to landlines and mobile phones within the US and Canada are free until the end of the year. Low international rates apply to calls placed outside of the US and Canada.
There are numerous usages for Skype. Furthermore, it has grown in popularity for personal and business use. At any given time there might be up to 4 million people using Skype. There are also some interesting applications for educational purposes.
Skype and Educational Applications
Skype's synchronous environment allows students and faculty to interact as if they were in a free tele-conference environment, with added possibility of chat and even file sharing. Skype works very effectively in a one on one conversation, but has also potential for classroom settings. With Skype, you can say hello and discuss course work with a student anywhere, anytime, without using a telephone or the cost of long distance.
The School of Communication and the Arts is Using Skype.
While visiting his sister in Germany, Markus Pfeiffer of the School of Communication and the Arts was able to attend a regular Regent classroom session live via Skype. A notebook computer with an external microphone and a webcam was set-up in the classroom and Markus used a similar set-up in Germany. His professor, Dr. Bill Brown and fellow classmates were able to see and hear Markus, and vice a versa. Markus says, "It was very close to actually being in the classroom." What did the use of this service cost Markus or Regent? Nothing, only the usage of computer equipment that is readily available. Being able to attend a class and participate in real-time while physically located around the world, priceless! For over a year now, Markus has been a regular Skype user. He is currently experimenting with a special Skype phone to use in his Regent office, possibly replacing a regular desktop phone.
Dr. Robert Schihl also took advantage of this technology and used Skype to work with students on their Ph.D. Dissertation. Schihl incorporated the file transfer option so he and the Ph.D. students were able to exchange and view documents at the same time while communicating with each other. Schihl also attended qualifying exams and dissertation defenses via Skype as a full participant.
In addition, the School of Communication and the Arts has created for their Admissions Department a "Commarts" Skype account, allowing other Skype users across the world to contact the department for free. The Skype contact information is visibly located on the COMM/ARTS "Contact Us" website. This service is particularly attractive to the prospective International students who are calling to receive additional information and/or to ask a question about the degree programs. Take a look at the Skype Tutorial for installation and use.
The Benefits of Skype
Skype is available in 27 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Other companies are utilizing similar free technology services; however, currently Skype has the largest worldwide reach with the highest number of users. In addition, according to Skype, the company maintains a high call completion rate and has superior sound quality (even superior to that of your fixed telephone line).
A Skype story that lends credibility to the sound quality is told by a distance education piano teacher named Mark from Barrington, Illinois. He says, "I have several students in Australia, one in England, I've had one in Hong Kong and New Zealand, one in Colorado and many across the country. I've been giving in person lessons for 26 years, and I have been teaching distance over traditional landline and cell phone for three and a half years. I use my laptop speaker for the student to hear me, and the headset to hear them. I have a good ear, I've been playing jazz piano for 25 years. I can hear what they're playing, and I send them my arrangements so I know how it's supposed to sound. Soon I am going to set a video camera over my shoulder, and I'll be able to do it live with the video on Skype."
I also conducted my own audio test with Skype in a recent call from Virginia to Louisiana. I called from my PC to my mother's home telephone, and the sound quality was excellent.
Educational opportunities with Skype:
* Allow a student or a group of students to attend an on campus class from a remote location
* Teach your on campus course from out-of-town or invite content experts from any location to call in
* Provide an opportunity for students to be educated by sharing ideas with experts located anywhere in the world
* Provide a means for local and International students to call you for free
* Conduct a conference call with student groups
* Hold a personal assignment or subject matter review with a student (allowing for document transfer of any size)
With Skype from your computer, you can:
* Make free calls within the US and Canada to all phones until the end of the year (after the new year there will be a fee)
* Make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world (both of you must be on Skype)
* See who you are talking to with free video calls
* Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
* Conference call with up to four people for free
* Call ordinary phones with SkypeOut
* View and call your Outlook contacts directly
* Transfer files of any size (they are only limited by bandwidth and recipient's free hard disk space)
How Do You Get It?
With Skype, there is no difficult hardware or software configuration. Simply download your copy of Skype at www.skype.com. Install the software and create a username and you are ready to Skype. A headset or speakers and a microphone are necessary and a webcam for the video part.
System Requirements to Use Skype - Minimum System Requirements:
* PC running Windows 2000 or XP
* 400 MHz processor
* 128 MB RAM
* 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive
* Sound Card, speakers or headphones, microphone and webcam (optional, but some school require them.)
* Internet Connection (either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband: cable, DSL, etc.)
Please Note: A better sound quality can be achieved with a more powerful computer and high-speed Internet connection.
Trouble shooting: With the built-in chat feature, you can dialogue about any audio and/or video issues that may arise during your conversation. If you need further assistance with trouble shooting, contact Skype Support at this webpage, http://support.skype.com. Skype is a synchronous method of communicating.
With Skype, students are not limited by distance. You are not restricted to the availability of video conferencing equipment. There are no fees for Skype-to-Skype calls. Most importantly, you will open a new window of sharing knowledge. Some online students are eager to learn in a real-time live classroom environment, excited to save minutes on their mobile phones, and thrilled to eliminate the expense of long-distance International calls. Students will be pleased to hear the professor's voice and the voices of their classmates. Happy "Skyping!"
Reference: www.skype.com
Chelsea Kelley is the Assistant Director of Marketing and Content for the Center for Teaching and Learning. Chelsea has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and is a MBA Candidate in the Graduate School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Regent University.
At Tucson Theological Seminary, we recommend Computer Geeks for mics, webcams, etc. They also have inexpensive laptops for sale. We have been using them for years and have never had a problem! To avoid spammers we will be happy to email our SKYPE name to anyone wishing to attend class or Open House. Just Contact us and we will send it right out to you.
