In this episode we explore the use of Skype as a communication tool by hosting a group Skypecast with members of the Australian OzTeachers group. Skypecasts enable a large group of people to get together in a virtual chat space and talk in real time. If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here After spending some time sorting out the quirks of the system, we managed to have a few interesting conversations about online collaboration, international sharing, and how Skype might be used in an educational context. My apologies in advance for some of the audio quality in this episode - large group Skypecasts can get a bit noisy (as this one did at times) but there’s still plenty of good stuff in here. Links from this episode: SkypeSkypecastingOzTeachersAnne’s blog about our Skype callChris’ blog about our Skype callA big thank you to everyone who contributed to this episode! You know who you are.

VSR04: Across The Pond

Conversations with leading teachers about technology in the classroom.

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Kathleen McClaskey and Barbara Bray take a special interest in personalised learning, differentiated instruction and the whole concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In this episode we dig into many of these concepts to learn more, including the sharing of some useful apps for personalised learning.
Originally published January 20, 2012

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VSR46: This is Personal

Like most teachers, Brett Moller, Bruce Fuda, Ashley Proud and Carolyn Foote all have to deal with the realities of filters and blocks on their school Internet connection, although they all experience this reality in slightly different ways.. In this episode we talk about web filters, the need to keep kids safe online and try to balance the argument with good old fashioned some common sense.
Originally published January 13, 2012

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VSR45: Blocks and Filters

Michael Graffin is a young relief teacher from near Perth, Western Australia who has never had his own classroom but has still managed to discover the joys of working across the Internet on global projects. In this episode, Michael is joined by one of his collaboration partners Theresa Allen from Chicago, and also Lisa Parisi from New York, as we discuss the wonders of learning using online collaborative projects.
Originally published January 13, 2012

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VSR44: A World of Difference

John Warnken is a good guy. He's 58 years old, lives in Florida and is not officially a teacher. However, John has been voluntarily working with students from all over the world to help them improve their English and broaden their view of the world. He's now on a mission to help other seniors do the same. Using the power of Skype, John has spent the last 4 years Skyping into classrooms all over the world working with kids that want to talk with a native English speaker. It's a short podcast, but a great story.
Originally published April 15, 2011

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VSR43: The Global Village

Deon Scanlon, Andrew Churches, Allanah King and Amanda Marrinan are leading Australian and New Zealand educators who use iPads, iPods (and even iPhones) in their work with kids. In this episode we share 48 of our favourite and most useful iOS apps… some fun, some silly, some educational, some serious; but all amazing!
Originally published April 5, 2011

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VSR04: Across The Pond

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