"Skype in the Classroom" Launches to Connect Teachers & Students Worldwide

As its major outage in December demonstrated, Skype bridges the personal and the professional, and many of us have come to rely on its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls to family, co-workers and colleagues.

World beyond the classroom walls

Teachers use Skype to open their students to a world beyond the classroom walls. They use it to bring experts, authors, and guest instructors into the classroom, those who would never if not be able to visit the school. Students can take virtual field trips, if you will, via Skype as they're connected to places through video chat. A Skype communication session can involve foreign language learning or a cultural exchange. It can connect classrooms across the city, state, country or around the world.

The first step, Skype says, is building a directory of educators who use the VOIP service and want to connect their classrooms with others. Currently, many teachers turn to Facebook, Twitter, and their own personal and professional social networks in order to find other teachers to connect with, and it looks like Skype wants to make sure it's providing its own matching services and helping provide the resources and skill-building so that teachers feel comfortable with video conferencing.

The initiative to best support their classroom needs

Botterill says Skype is eager to hear teachers' feedback in order to build out the initiative to best support their classroom needs. "We'll work on what teachers need to better use the innovation in the classroom," says Botterill.