Skype
When I first heard about Skype, our whole family was excited as many live overseas. Until now, I would not have thought about any educational purposes with Skype. After reading the Tuttle article, the possibilities opened up as he had so many suggestions. I thought the artist and the museum experience for students would be a good place for teachers to begin using Skype. Several blog comments discussed parent involvement. Parents are the best motivators and their involvement from seeing student presentations and parental expertise would certainly let the students know the importance of education because the parents are there. How many student plays, games, debates, etc. have any one of us missed due to time constraints?
From a viewpoint of mentoring and librarianship, Skype would be an excellent tool. Class work and lectures do not prepare you for true reference face-to-face interviews. Being able to shadow a mentor, discuss the interview process, and ask questions will lead to better preparation and less “first day” jitters. A student still needs a practicum, but it’s scary and stressful when you really don’t know what’s out there. So, this is a great opportunity in my field to help future librarians see and hear what we do, how we answer questions, and how we sometimes are just stumped.
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Joan,
This is a great idea for using skype in the library. I actually knew knew nothing about Skype before this class, so I never would have thought about using it as a mentoring tool. You could use it not only for reference interviews, but as training tool for bibliographic instruction.
I also feel that this would be a great way for us to hold meetings.(I put this on my blog) We are all so busy right now and as you know, we have a very hard time getting us all together in one place. Conducting a meeting in this type of forum would allow everyone and I would like to reiterate that word everyone, to participate.
I also like your idea about following a mentor around for a day. I learned so much early on in teaching by watching an experienced teacher. Sometimes we don’t really “get it” until we see it first hand. Why not use these awesome tools to help newbies find their way?
Using Skype as a tool for students to talk to experts in their field is an excellent use. It is sometimes difficult to be able to travel to different places to observe. Being able to interview and mentor with Skype would provide more options.
Skype is an amazing tool. We use it for speaking with family over seas as well. Your ideas about mentoring and live interviews are excellent!