Video Conferencing and Breaking Down our Classroom Walls

Applications like Skype, and instant messengers have made the world a smaller place. Global collaboration seems to be a goal, or an initiative, in almost every new report that I have read in the past five years. The district I currently work for in fact has taken on the task of writing their new three year tech. goals plan. Taking into consideration ISTE standards and the National Tech. Plan that was released in November of this year, global collaboration is a 21st century skill that every child should be engaged in. Therefore, it will probably make our list of goals as well, however, I am not seeing a lot of this in the classroom yet.

So what are the hurdles? What keeps teachers from expanding their walls, and reaching out to a larger audience? Is it a safety issue? Is it fear of the unknown?

In many conversations that I have had with teachers, it seems to be a combination of all of these things. Time is always a good argument too! There is never enough time, and after watching the Harry Potter weekend on the Family Channel network this past weekend, I only wish I had one of those time turners that Hermione uses to attend her double class sessions.

Learning new trends in technology does take time, but doesn't everything else we value in life? If learning our math facts takes time, but is still worth it, then isn't learning how to video conference and hold a real conversation face-to-face (albeit it is a virtual face-to-face meeting) equally as important?

In the real world, the students of today will need to know certain skills, have a foundation of background knowledge, and be able to problem solve. These aren't really different then what a good teacher faces every day today, but taking the time to share these with our students seems to be a big time consumer.

Setting up an account on Skype, or any other social network for that matter, can take a little bit of time, however, the time it takes will reap the benefits exponentially if it is done carefully. A Professional Learning Network is really only as good as it's contributors, and therefore a conference also relies heavily on it's counterparts. I mean, you can add friends, follow anyone you want, and certainly video chat with anyone you want. Heck, chatroulette.com gave us that perspective, but that wasn't exactly what we had in mind. Where then can you find a network of other classrooms, great teachers, students willing to learn about other cultures, and collaborative minds waiting to work on a project together?

I came across a tweet and a wonderful blog post about Skype Education by Richard Byrne that pointed me down the path that was exactly what I had been looking for all these years. My light at the end of the tunnel, my pack mule headed into the canyon of global collaboration, and a wonderful resource to connect with professionals and enthusiastic learners all over the world. The hard part is done. The time has just been cut immensely. There are no more hurdles, in fact we are in the home stretch now. It's just a manner of holding that carrot out in front of my colleagues and getting them to bite at the opportunity. Okay, so there still may be some hesitation, but I see great things in our future. Although, I always do, it's getting my peers to jump on board.