Skype as a teaching tool

[Gillnetter]

I have been reading about some teachers using Skype as a tool for teaching English. I am considering this as a method of teaching students in different countries. Are there any teachers here who have experience using Skype? If so, what are some of the main disadvantages of using this technology, aside from not being in the physical presence of the students? I would appreciate any and all comments.

[Lady Hawk]

I have been reading about some teachers using Skype as a tool for teaching English. I am considering this as a method of teaching students in different countries. Are there any teachers here who have experience using Skype? If so, what are some of the main disadvantages of using this technology, aside from not being in the physical presence of the students? I would appreciate any and all comments.

Skype certainly makes the lesson interactive. I didn't really experience any problem other than the lag. It certainly allowed for all of the nuances that come with learning a language beyond the written word. I would suggest using it because Skype to Skype is free. Just set up a paypal account to charge them for your services.

[Gillnetter]

Skype certainly makes the lesson interactive. I didn't really experience any problem other than the lag. It certainly allowed for all of the nuances that come with learning a language beyond the written word. I would suggest using it because Skype to Skype is free. Just set up a paypal account to charge them for your services.

Is there much of a lag time? Also, can Skype only be used between two people at a time? I assume that by your reference to PayPal, lessons have to be scheduled and paid for in advance. Is that correct? Thanks.

[Lady Hawk]

Skype does have capability of group participation. From what I understand, there are some problems if people come in late.

You might try going to the Skype website. Some of your concerns might be addressed more specifically on the forum.

[Tdol]

It may depend a bit on where your students are based- I was living in Cambodia until recently and sometimes had problems with Skype, despite having a good internet connection in our flat. Sometimes, the sound would crack up or the connection would go down . As the site and the webmaster are based in the UK, I use it regularly, often for quite a long time and when this happened we would end up switching between Google Talk and Skype to see which would get the better connection, which would be inconvenient with students.

It tended to happen at certain times, the worst being around 5-6pm, so I presume that as people checked email, etc, before leaving work, there just wasn't enough bandwidth to go round.

[Globler2009]

Another trouble is that how you can manage when you have as many as around 100 students at the same time 'cause they are all eager to talk with the teacher as frequently as they can.