Skype

I Skyped with Sarah this week, my second ever using Skype. I think this is a great collaboration tool for students to use with each other- or for a teacher to use with students. During student teaching my teacher told me she used Skype the year before with her class- the students discussed a text with a class from another school. Everyone loved the experience, the students especially enjoyed the authentic audience it provided.

The most important point, to me, that we discussed was New Literacies no longer places the teacher as the center of learning. Instead, the collective knowledge of the students has higher value in classroom (Leu). New Literacies positions students as the experts, publishing and communicating in an online format. Most importantly, New Literacies provides- almost requires- opportunity for collaboration.