For this thing I explored the world of Skype. I have to be honest I was a little apprehensive about this one. After watching some of the tutorials and looking into people that you could Skype with I do see some advantages for my classroom. I do not think I will use this tool for personal use because Most of my family lives right here in the Grand Rapids/Holland area. For my classroom I would like to explore using it to talk with composers. I think it would be great for my students to have a discussion with the composer of a piece we a working on so they could get a deeper understanding and connection with the piece. Knowing why the composer wrote the piece and what my have influenced them would be so interesting. I can also see using this to connect with performing groups and solo artists. It would be great to bring a master class right to the classroom.
There will be some technology issues that I will need to deal with before I can actually bring this to my classroom. I will need to get a projector for my room. I am hoping this will be taken care of soon!
Here is a picture I captured of me exploring Skype for the first time. My daughter thought it was great to see daddy on the computer!
You mentioned some excellent ways to use Skype to connect with others in your music classes. If you don't get a projector, you could gather your class around a computer, though it wouldn't be ideal. You could also set up a camcorder so that the people you Skype with could see your whole class. Have fun!
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