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History Teaching: Tips and Tricks for using Skype in the Classroom

Getting Started

1. Be sure to test the equipment before the lesson begins as technical difficulties and delays can cause students to be come restless 2. Ensure students speak clearly and concisely into the microphone to avoid confusion 3. Ensure students are seated and positioned so that they can be seen by the web cam. 4. Assign students specific roles such as operating the chat feature, operating the web cam, managing the microphone, moving and placing objects, and directing student movement. 5. Use a tripod or fixed point to keep the camera as still. It is better to bring students and objects to a position in front of the camera to avoid blurring.  Practical Uses of Skype in Lessons

1. Guest speakers/interviews: You can use guest speakers from around the world to give the students a first hand account of their experiences/area of study or interview people about their experiences. 2. It’s a cheap and relatively simple way to have guest speakers in the classroom that normally would not be able to come due to distances and time constraints

3. Students can prepare questions that interest them beforehand, which can help to focus the conversation and to ensure that the questions are appropriate

4. Skype can be used to include absent/sick or distance education students into the classroom

5. Students could collect oral histories and recordings that can be then turned into podcasts or other digital web based media projects