Skypecasts Academic Potential

Skypecasts have the potential to revolutionize the academic community. They not only open up many options to teacher and student interactions, but level the playing field in a way that equalizes every participant’s voice. They also create thousands of new and exciting possibilities for real-time learning that were never possible before. This article gives a broad overview of what Skypecasts are, some possible applications in academia, as well as some of the pros and cons of using them now.

In writing this article I realized that it would be appropriate to create a Skypecast to discuss this article and other issues facing those who implement technology in education. Join me at 10:30 (Eastern Standard Time) on November the 20th, 2006 to discuss Using Technology in Education.

Introduction

Like many of you, I have been hearing a lot about the launch of Skype’s new ‘Skypecast’ option. I have always been a fan of Skype’s ability to call anyone in the world for free. The academic potential of that alone deserves a whole separate article, but I’m sure that has been explored a dozen times over already. (Add a comment if you know of some scholarship about this already.) Like any good instructional technologist, I jumped right in and downloaded the newest version of Skype 3.0 to see what the hype was all about.

Definition:
Skype has a great Skypecasts FAQ page. They define Skypecasts as “large, hosted calls on Skype.” Sound pretty simple. Basically you can create or join a large online conference call with UP TO 100 people. Skypecasts are scheduled to begin and end at a certain time and usually have a certain topic of discussion. The users must download and use Skype in order to join the Skypecast. Here is a sample Skypecast with some of the options available:

As you can see, there are three areas within the Skypecast: talking, waiting, and listening. When you log on you can “Just listen,” and when you want to talk you can request to talk and you will go to the “Waiting” area where you will be promoted to talking by the moderator of the group. Users can also click on any user and view their profile and send them files or start a personal chat with them.

Test Run

After I first downloaded the program I logged onto the first chat going with the most users. There were 28 people online at the time from ALL over the world! Some of the countries I could see included: Poland, Belgium, England, Israel, Lithuania, China, Turkey, Germany, Denmark, Korea, Romania, Canada, and the USA. As I listened to the Skypecast the quality of the sounds was actually pretty good, but it depended on who was speaking. Some were louder than others and some mentioned some technical problems she was having.

The discussion itself was actually really good. The question was posed: ‘How can technology affect us?” Instantly I heard opinions from people all over the world! People responded with their views about how technology will affect world issues like terror and politics. It was actually quite enlightening to hear some views about the USA in other countries. I listened for quite some time and tried to contribute, but for some reason my microphone was not working at the time.

As part of my testing I created a Skypecast called instructional technology. It only lasted 15 minutes but I talked with people from Bulgaria, Korea, and China. It took about 30 seconds to set up and I made some friends in the process. I didn’t get anyone that actually had anything to say about instructional technology, but I imagine if I actually set the Skypecast to begin in the future and publicized it a bit I would have some takers. Another experiment to try out.

Pros and Uses:

Meeting People – The first and most amazing thing to me about this program is the ability to meet people from all over the world. You can do that now in chat rooms, but this adds a whole new dimension to the interaction. It takes it to a whole new level. The program doesn’t currently support video, but if it did in the future that would increase the potential even more. This ability to meet new people and learn about their views about any number of subjects is absolutely vital to any educational experience. It could also be used to network in the business world.

Foreign Languages – In my brief experiment I talked with, or heard from people from a dozen countries and as many languages. There are Skypecasts going right now with the title “Chat in HINDI or URDU” or “You speak English with me I teach you Chinese.” Online discussion groups could be created for foreign languages acquisition classes where students could speak with a native speaker of a language and in turn help others learn English.

Equalizing Platform – Perhaps one of the nicest things about Skypecasts is it’s ability to equalize all the people in the room. Everyone has the same voice and a 25 year old British student has just as much input as a 53 year old tenured professor at a prestigious university. Skypecasts can also potentially bring that same prestigious professor to dozens of people across the Globe in real time.

Online Lectures/COST – There are many programs out there that already allow users to create online classes, but those cost thousands, and even tens of thousands of dollars to implement. This option is FREE. That price tag is always a big plus for education and their limited resources.

Assignments – Need a creative way for students to get motivated about presenting an idea about a certain topic. Have them create a Skypecast where not only your class is present, but others throughout the world who might have something else to say about it. That would definetely make me think twice about what I was about to say.

Collaboration – Remember Chickering and Gamson’s article Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education ? Any way to increase collaboration between students and teachers, and among the students themselves will increase their ability and desire to learn. Skypecasts provides another opportunity.

Potential Pitfalls:

Technology Barriers – Right now there are over 8 million Skype users online, but there are several billion that don’t have access to this technology. It works best with a high speed connection and, as we all know, technology doesn’t always work perfectly. There is also the issue of allowing Skype in Educational institutions. Although it hasn’t happened yet, there is talk about banning Skype on our University campus because it turns the fastest connections into super-nodes to the rest of the users.

Privacy – Anyone can listen. In the larger conversation I joined there were 22 people who were just ‘listening.’ People have a tendency to forget the unseen eyes, or in this case ears, that are listening to what is going on. User education is, of course, the answer to this age-old question.

Language barriers – I did have a hard time understanding some of the people speaking.

TimeWaster – Just like most of the technology today, you could spend hours and hours just finding new skypecasts to join and participate in. We all know how hard it is to get homework done when there is something/anything more exciting going on.

COST – I chose to include this as a pitfall as well because it is really impossible to use Skype without a headset, or at least earphones so the voices don’t reverberate back into the conversation. The cost is minimal, but any cost will defer even the slightest critics.

Conclusion:

Overall, I was very impressed with Skypecasts and the potential it possesses in education. Above all else mentioned above, I think it is absolutely necessary to help students understand cultures beyond their own. This technology opens up the way for them to do that, not only through other people’s Skypecasts, but by having students create their own.

What other uses can you think of for this program? How will/could you use it in your curriculum?