Skypecasts as a mediator of authentic communication - ALAK 2007

Just got back from a wonderful conference. The Applied Linguistics Association of Korea (ALAK) put on a great show at Sookmyoung Women's University today.

Jungtae Kim and I participated in the CALL Fair. We put together a little presentation on the use of Skypecasting in language learning. If you have used Skype, you know that it is a great program, but have you used the Skypecast function? Most people haven't, but it has great potential for autonomous learners and even more formal classrooms. Take a look at the presentation and abstract below. Then follow the link to a quick video on setting up a Skypecast.

Of course, I have to be completely honest. Skypecasts were down today and even last night when I recorded the video. They have been down a lot lately. However, I'm sure that they will be back up and running, but even if they are not there are a few similar sites out there that can be used in a similar manner.

Here is our presentation.

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Here is our outline.


Here is a link to a video that we created on creating Skypecasts: Video

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or suggestions

Dan

Using Skype with your students

This is a neat video on using Skype with your students. It's mostly advice for setting up and managing Skype in class, but it's great information. The size of the video is too small to see details unfortunately, but it should be useful anyway.



Dan

Let's learn English

This is seems like a really interesting site. It is a Moodle site for free English "classes". I haven't been able to find much in the way of classes but it looks like it's just getting started.

The most interesting thing about this site is a "partner" blog (http://english-practice-over-the-internet.blogspot.com/) for a free, live Skypecast that learners and native speakers can participate in. I haven't been able to do this yet, but it would make for an excellent Website/software evaluation.

I really respect this approach and I'd love to know more about the folks carrying this out.

Dan

TalkAndWrite.com

TalkAndWrite is a plugin (an extra feature) for Skype. Two people have to have the application installed on their computer. If so, then you can collaborate on a document.

This isn't like working on a Word document. It is more like working on an electronic whiteboard. You can type using a textbox if you'd like and you can draw freehand using a view different 'tools'. The result can be saved as an image (.jpg or .png) or as a TalkAndWrite document.

It seems like this would be best for brainstorming or discussing concepts that would best be drawn out for the other user. I also think that you could probably bring up pictures to interact with.

I haven't been able to use this yet, but I just installed it on my computer. I just haven't found a willing partner. If you are feeling adventureous and would like to test this out with me, let me know.

ULRTMT - Skype Version Now Supports Real-Time Translation

This is a very interesting utility that could be a great communication tool (not solution) for all of us.

Supposedly, this translator will translate, in real-time, one language to another in a Skype chat. Yet another reason for me to switch to Skype. I could even chat with my mother-in-law!

Most of the modules are BETA versions, but they might be worth a try.

Skype

This is one of the "nice to know" pieces that I will post in this blog. It is not an assignment and you don't even have to read it if you're not interested :) but it's nice to know.

Skype started out as simply an Internet telephony service. They have always had pretty good quality service, which set them apart in the early years of this movement. They started adding a great deal of functionality over time. They have surpassed most of the messenger (chat) clients in this regard. The inclusion of Video conferencing (in Beta as of this posting) puts them over the top.

I have both SkypeOut (buy credits, like a calling card, to call international--domestic calls are free for the near future) and SkypeIn (a "receiver" phone number that routes calls to your computer). I have also utilized the call forwarding function which allows me to route phone calls to just about any phone.

This is how I envision all of these working together to provide my U.S. family, friends, and students easy (and free...for them) phone access to me while I'm living in Korea.

I bought a phone number (SkypeIn) with a Chicago area code that people can call. This will only cost them domestic long distance charges (if applicable). Calling this number will ring on my computer or go to voicemail if I don't answer. Lastly, I will combine this with call forwarding, which will ring any phone that I have in Korea.

All of this doesn't cost the caller anything. I have to pay a small fee, but it is definately worth it. If I forward it to a cell phone it costs about 8 cents a minute, If I forward it to my office phone it only costs about 3 cents/min. On top of that, SkypeIn costs about $4/month (depending on the plan you use).

You may be asking, "what does this have to do with language learning"? Not much. Skype is a great application for your students to contact native language speakers no matter where they are for free or cheap (users can "call" from computer to computer, peer-to-peer, for free anywhere in the world). This brings a new dimension to class or personal exchanges between country (language) A and B. No longer are your students limited to interactions with a single model speaker (you) as the beginning and end of their L2 conversational exposure.

I also see this nearly seemless integration between telephony and computer as a given in much of our future technologies. Just look at your newer cell phone. You can send and receive text, audio, images, and video and whether you know how to do this or not, your younger students do.

I look forward to exploring the possibilities of using Skype in the near future.

* I haven't been able to find much written about how people are using Skype, though I'm sure it's out there. If you run across anything add a comment.

Thanks to Annie for this link to the Wikipedia entry on Skype (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype). It's overwhelming technical and a little boring even for a geek like me, but there is some useful information and links.