Thing #3 - Like Skype (11.5 More Things)

Skype reminds me a lot of how I received my degree in graduate school -- interactive video. It can definitely be used in classrooms or libraries for collaboration, distant learning, or perhaps to interview someone for a project. The article about the teacher who used it with her class to debate and collaborate with a class from another country was really cool. I also thought it was neat to see the video where a Skype kiosk station was set up in a college library for students to ask a reference question. However, while this technology is a really neat thing (I love the Oreo commercial where the dad is out of town on business and "Skypes" his son so they can share an Oreo together), and there are many great uses (I think about people in the military who might use it to call and/or see their families from Iraq), it seems like too much of a production to set up for ordinary use. I tried downloading Skype on my SBISD laptop and I couldn't do it. Then I tried logging in with the home login, but couldn't get the login to work. Then you have to coordinate with whoever your conferencing or calling to make sure they have an account. I even read on the page that Skype encourages you to send people a thank you gift after inviting them to join. And then even the college librarian on the video mentioned above admitted that the students rarely used the Skype option they had set up. I messed around with EvaPhone and PokeTalk to try to make a local call, and then just got frustrated. I most likely will not revisit Skype or the like under normal circumstances. The video conferencing is amazing, but as far as making a phone call (or texting) goes, a cell phone works for me.