ePals with Skype

I think that the ePals program could have a lot of potential for many of the tools we have learned about in this course, such as TalkShoe, Tokbox, Voxopop, and Skype. For this blog post I am going to focus on how I would use an application like Skype with the ePals program.

I would first use ePals to find and connect with a classroom in a Spanish-speaking country. I want my students to practice writing, and therefore would definitely have the students communicate via e-mail, but I also think that they need to hear and practice using Spanish with native speakers. Only then will they truly become proficient enough to use the language.

Skype not only would allow students to call their partner in another country, but they could also use it to video with their partner if that feature was available. This is probably as close as we could come without having the students meet, to communicating authentically. This would give my students and their students listening and speaking practice. Conversations could alternate between Spanish and English to give both students a chance to practice speaking. I think that this would be a great tool to use with students around the world!