The magic of Skype!

This evening was a nice lesson in how we (or at least I) have become increasingly comfortable with
what technology allows us to do! Over this past semester I have been a visiting lecturer at Regent's University London (RUL) and whilst there today I was due to have a tutorial over Skype with a student on the distance learning Intro to Pos Psych course (the course delivered through here at Bucks) who happens to be based in Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada. As it turned out the internet connection at RUL was down so we couldn't do the tutorial.

However, as I had Skype on my phone I was at least able to IM the student via 3G. So the lack of a wifi or cabled link to the web didn't stop us and eventually as I was walking down Baker Street towards the tube, I was able to have a real-time 'tutorial' via the Skype IM facility with a student in Vancouver! I was able to give concise answers to specific questions she had regarding her assignment which allowed her to move forward. I am still utterly amazed at what communications technology now allows us to do. A great example of this supporting learning and teaching in a subtle yet helpful way. :-)

This is just the latest example in how Skype (and related communication tools) are becoming increasingly integrated as tools that allow us to support students in different ways. For example, I am increasingly holding one-to-one tutorials with students over Skype, even those who could visit the University campus relatively easily. This is because it is reliable, convenient and time-effective for both students and myself. Also, as I work in a shared office environment, it is often not practical to hold tutorials in my office space if one is not wanting to disturb others as well as feeling less constrained to talk freely. Using Skype in this way also makes it possible to have tutorials with MAPP students outside of the monthly teaching weekends (as these weekends are often very full as it is!) especially with students who live some distance away.

This year we have also attempted to support MAPP students via the use of Skype when they have been unable to attend a scheduled teaching session in person. For example, as we have students who travel internationally to attend the teaching weekends, we have allowed students on a small number of occasions to 'Skype in' so they could follow and be part of the sessions. Whilst this was appreciated by the student Skyping in (one was based in Qatar; another, on a different occasion, was based in Austria), it did create an extra challenge for the tutor and also created a small disruption for some of the students when trying to engage with the 'Skyped in' student in small-group discussion.

I am now looking back over these experiences and seeing how they relate to Salmon's (2000) model. It is hard to place them at any one stage of the model... perhaps there are elements here for stages 1 to 3 here, from online socialisation, through information exchange, to knowledge construction?

Reference
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.#