I had a quick Skype conversation with Rebecca Y. We lost connection once and the audio and video did not match, at least on my end. It was not a fluid video conversation. This could have been due to the program or the internet connection, since I am on a wireless connection. While I see that use of this program, I am wondering if there is another free program that would work better. I have used Tiny Chat before and I like this much better. Anyone can join the group (as long as they have the link), you can use the video conference option, and YouTube videos can be shared along with other options.
I am required to have Skype on my computer at work, not really sure why since we cannot use it while we are teaching and the school is not that big that we cannot walk to another teacher’s room in under 4 minutes! After about the first 5 days, I turned it off since it was beeping every time someone turned on their computer. I do not plan on using this program very often. It is slow, and unreliable. If I want to chat with an expert with my class I can use the mobile teleconference device.
I find it interesting that you are required to have it on your work computer. I would have hoped that your school would have set some guidelines for it's use if they require it on all computers. However, it doesn't sound as if that happened. I have found that the chat feature in Skype is much more reliable and have found it useful in connecting with teachers inside and outside of my building.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if you do start using it again, you may want to turn off those annoying notification anyone comes online. I know that is one of the first things that I did.
I can empathize with you on the issues you were having during your Skype chat. When our group connected for a conference call, we were getting a lot of static. We ended the call and tried again and it was better, but still experienced some static. I think it is great that it is free, but the issues we had would stop a lesson in its tracks so like you I would be less than enthused to use it.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had a better connection the other day when we chatted. I am going to look more in depth into the Tiny Chat that you suggested. Hopefully, next school year I will be able to use either Skype or the software you recommended. I am excited to use different technology to open my classroom up to the world around us. All technology has its perks and down falls. I will have to find one that works best in my classroom. Thanks for the suggestions and the chat!
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