Communication Tools
From Horizon.K12
2009 Short List
Time-to-Adoption: One year or Less
Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three YearsTime-to-Adoption: Four to Five Years
Critical ChallengesKey Trends |
Because the nature of work has changed and people are working more remotely, the use of online communication tools is growing. These same shifts are mirrored in the lives of K-12 students. Programs like Skype allow free online video conferencing, which many young people already use to communicate with their extended families. Brief, synchronous online communication through instant messaging and Twitter, a microblog application, allow real time conversations not bound by physical space or time limits. Meebo, a web- based instant messaging aggregator, eliminates the need for schools to support software from a variety of instant messaging vendors by enabling access to different accounts in one interface.
Though many schools are cautious of introducing instant messaging into the classroom where it could be a distraction to students, the value of these technologies goes well beyond social interaction. Online communication tools provide students with invaluable experience in remote collaboration that prepares them for future careers. Desktop video conferencing knocks down classroom walls and brings subject experts and co- learners from all over the world into the classroom. And when a teacher inserts a chat feature into her classroom blog or website, suddenly school learning hours extend beyond those of the traditional school day.
Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression
- Teachers manage classroom activities even outside of classroom hours through synchronous, two-way online communication that can provide time-sensitive information about projects and assignments and reach multiple students at once.
- Content experts in a field of study are invited into the classroom to spend time with students via desktop video-conferencing, without needing to leave their work.
- Without having to download any software onto the school’s computer, a teacher can place a real time chat box into a blog entry so that students may comment and ask questions about content outside of classroom hours.
Examples
- Edmodo is a private microblogging platform that teachers and students can use to manage classroom assignments and activities as well as for synchronous communication: http://www.edmodo.com/
- The free online telephone and video-conferencing program, Skype, allows students to broadcast current events to their classroom events and interact with their fellow students about the content in real time: http://skype.com
- Meebo allows synchronous, online chat from a variety of sources to be dropped into a website or blog to facilitate class discussion about a topic: http://meebo.com
For Further Reading
Collaboration Tools
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/CollaborationTools/47200
(Cyprien Lomas, Michael Burke, and Carrie Lee Page, EDUCAUSE Connect (White Paper), August 2008.) This white paper discusses everyday communication tools used by students, ways that students already use them, and ways that faculty can leverage students’ familiarity with and use of these tools to collaborate and extend discourse beyond the classroom.
Online Videoconferencing: Web Tools Such as uStream Make Video Broadcasting Accessible
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34670276_ITM
(Gary Stager, District Administration, June 2008.) This article provides an overview of major online video technologies used in K-12 classrooms and examples of how they are used.
Skype Interview: Around the World with 80 School Projects
http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/01/10/skype-interview-around-the-world-with-80-schools-project/
This blog post features video of a Skype interview with technology integration facilitator, Silvia Tolisano who uses Skype to facilitate interactions with 80 schools for her school’s Global Studies program.
