Conferencing

=WEB CONFERENCING=

**Skype**

While there are many web conferencing tools, the easiest and most widely known is Skype. Skype is an application that is downloaded onto a computer or mobile device. There is a build of the application for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and Blackberry operating systems. The requirements aren't steep- any recent PC or Mac computer, or recent mobile device will work. A microphone and speaker are required for the audio portion. To use the video portion, any webcam will work- and many laptops sold today have cameras built in. And the experience can be expanded as needed. If a large room wants to view it, the computer can project on a screen. An external microphone can be plugged in to provide better sound for the remote group. Larger speakers can be plugged in for better sound for the local group. A bigger video camera, with zoom, can be added to improve the video quality for the remote group.



Skype works by having a username associated with each user. They have a "buddy" list with all of their friends. To initiate a communication, the user clicks on their buddy, and then can choose one of three ways to chat. There is a text chat feature, that works just like any other instant messaging client. Each users types with their keyboard and sees the others responses. There is also an audio chat, and the user can "call" their buddy and start talking to each there. Once in the audio chat, one or both buddies can turn on their cameras (if they have one) and see the other person.

Educational Usage
In the past, when two groups of people wanted to conference, they each had to have large, expensive equipment in a dedicated room to communicate. This limited the availability in both cost and usage. With Skype, those requirements are no longer necessary. Any two groups of people, each with a computer that has the necessary hardware, can conference with ease. With budgets always a concern, having a free service with cheap hardware makes it very appealing in the education field.

An example usage in the classroom is to connect to a classroom in another country. We had a librarian who knew a class in India. They connected over Skype and had fun finding out the differences between each others cultures. The kids were really engaged as they could see and here somebody on the other side of the world.