VIDEO-CONFERENCE: LETTING THE WORLD INTO THE CLASSROOM

One of the main technologies available these days is used by everyone through Skype and sites like TinyChat. There are no barriers for talking with someone and actually seeing them. There are no barriers to gathering in a group, not even if each member is n a different continent of the world. Video-conference has broken the rule of the need to be physically there to actually do things (like work or studying). Why? Because you are there, rain or shine, and everyone acknowledges that is true and real... because you respond to questions and answers, and express emotions, all in real time live video.

What is video-conference? Basically, it is a two way communication using audio and video. This means that you have an image and you can hear the voice of a person who is using this technology. Oh, and the person can also see and hear you. Cool? Of course. This is even better than making just a phone call (voice only) or texting (writing only) or filming a video and placing it in You Tube (where you cannot see a response, just read about it many hours latter). Through video-conference you see and hear, and you can be seen and heard. And the coolest part is that it can be a group thing, just as when you make a conference call... without the guessing part (or imagining part0 of how someone looks.

Video-conference in education can be a strong resource. It can allow a teacher who is in another country to reach several students from anywhere in the globe. It can allow students to have “video pals” from other schools also around the world. It can allow sick kids to keep in touch with classmates and attend class virtually. It can allow busy parents to have meetings with PTA and with teachers, from wherever they are. So, the big question is, why so many districts refuse to Skype?

I see video-conference as the tool to allow terminal and medically fragile kids to attend school without having the physical dangers that prevent them from going there. It is the school experience without the “cooties”.

Through “Skiping” these kids can:

1- Get the socialization exposure needed for their right age group

2- Interaction with the actual classroom leading to normal classroom activities let them feel that they are not missing anything from school

3- They will get the actual information that teachers provide at school, and the input from their peers

4- They will get to know their peers and be part of their lives (the same for their peers)

5- Their confidence will improve as they face and respond to daily tasks

6- Gives them something to look forward to, something that takes them away from their immediate reality of hospitals and doctor appointments

7- Feeds their minds much better than having home instruction two hours a day five days a week (that's for the lucky ones)

Some districts feel that "Skiping" is a hazard to the school's servers and site. They also claim that the efforts and technology needed to deliver it is far beyond their reach. These two reasons are excuses. If security is such a concern, not even teachers would be allowed to login from their homes into the school system. Every kid that is home-bound gets an instructor, and that instructor has access to the school through Internet. That instructor, or an assistant, can be in charge of keeping he password to go into classroom Skyping. At  schools kids have access through user ID and passwords, and the same can be used for users at home just changing privileges to keep security concerns at bay. The technology is not far beyond the reach of all districts... Skype can be used on PCs and Macs and iPads. It is a free service. If there is no state funding, a sponsor could be found for kids that have these special conditions. 

Right now the main barrier to Skype, or any technology, is the people in power that just won't accept change. The use of technology in education has a sound plan, and has admirable goals on that plan... It is just a very steep and rocky mountain to climb because for every project that Assistive Technology Professionals, Speech Therapists, and Media Specialists try to propose they get a sound no just because of the fear of empowering the students... And I will go further, saying that until there is real equality and fairness in the application of each student's rights, we will keep sailing in a boat destined to sink.