Using Skype in ESL classrooms

Last week we talked about some advantages of using Skype in our classroom. I used to think that Skype is for one-to-one communication. But in the class, I know that it can be used in group activities and video conference as well. From the video Mimi showed us, I felt impressed by the excitement and brilliant smiles on those students’ face when they saw and talked to their foreign pen pals together through Skype. I think it is an excellent tool in ESL classrooms as students feel motivated when they could communicate directly with native English speakers at the same age.

Another interesting tool is Acapala: Text to speech. It reads aloud everything you write! And it can speak in different voices. In foreign language classrooms, students can make animated cartoons by choosing the voices they want for different characters. It is really fun!

We also talked about Games. (http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/globalgizmo/globalgizmo.html ) I cannot wait to explore more about those tools in our following classes.