Unit 5 - Video conferencing, Skype, & Meaningful Learning

For Unit 5 we read about video conferencing in Chapter 4 of Hendron and explored Skype. Thinking about video conferencing took me back to my childhood. I can remember my grandparents ordering two telephones from the Home Shopping Network that allowed the users to see each other during their conversation. Now, the other person had to have a phone that transferred the image as well, but I can remember calling my grandparents and flipping the mini-television screen of the telephone and seeing their faces while talking to them. As a small child, this was simply fascinating to me. Now, 20+ years later, video conferencing and tools like Skype seem second nature.

In Chapter 4 of Hendron the benefits of video conferencing in the classroom are explored. Hendron explains that programs such as Skype can be used in order to have two classrooms “meet” from anywhere in the world using video conferencing. He explains “To connect two classrooms, both need Skype installed on one computer, high-speed Internet connections, a Web video camera, and video projectors with speakers attached to each computer” (Hendron, 2008, p. 82). While this may sound like a lot of required components, the majority of schools already have all of these items, but they are not utilizing them to their best potential.

Hendron goes on to talk about the success video conferencing is having in the classroom with students. He writes “Having an audience and the interaction of peers is, by itself, a great motivational factor in the learning environment that is provided by this new class of easy-to-use video conferencing tools” (Hendron, 2008, p. 84). Imagine being able to have students give speeches not only to their peers, but to students in another classroom from a different country. A collaborative lesson could occur where students critique one another’s presentations via video conferencing.

I simply love the idea that such programs exist for this type of learning to occur. Upon returning to the classroom in the future, I believe that I would like to find another willing teacher from a different state or country in order to create an assignment where video conferencing can take place. Not only will I be able to use Skype to collaborate with that teacher, the students will be able to use Skype to work with students from another classroom. In fact, they could work together on a project and be paired with a student from the other classroom and have to complete the entire assignment by video conferencing!

Which brings me to the idea of meaningful learning that is discussed in Chapter 1 of Ashburn & Floden. According to Ashburn & Floden (2006) meaningful learning has six attributes: intentionality, content centrality, authentic work, active inquiry, construction of mental models, and collaborative work (p. 9). While I believe that all of these aspects are important to learning, it is my belief that “digital natives” need to learn how to work collaboratively and produce pieces of authentic work in today’s learning environments. To me, video conferencing is a grand step in fulfilling these two aspects. Not only are the students learning how to communicate and collaborate in a new way via video conferencing, they are producing something that has purpose to them.

What most lessons lack nowadays are connections to students. Many students are not interested in content because they can’t see the big picture and how the content applies to them. When teachers are able to make those connections and present content in ways that appeal to students, perhaps through new forms of technology, meaningful learning takes place. When meaningful learning occurs, I believe all six attributes described in Ashburn & Floden are present.

All in all, it is hard to walk away from an opportunity that a program like Skype can bring. Not only is the software FREE, it can be accessed from any computer. I find it hard to believe that districts would be willing to turn down FREE tools that enhance the learning environment. As an educator, I look forward to the future of video conferencing in the classroom and the types of lessons and projects that can be shared.

Ashburn, E. A. & Floden, R. E. (2006). Meaningful learning using technology: What educators need to know and do. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hendron, J. (2008). RSS for educators: Blogs, newsfeeds, podcasts, and wikis in the classroom. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.