Educational Technology Blog

Screen Sharing with Skype

October 4th, 2011

I have been experimenting with Skype to allow remote participants to present to and participate in some of our face-to-face workshops. Screen sharing allows the presenter or participants to share their screen while speakers and microphones allow for two way communication. This is simple and can be set up in minutes by any two people with Skype accounts as in this YouTube video. You need to connect before initiating screen sharing. Group screen sharing is available with paid Skype accounts.

Initially, a participant on maternity leave presented her project from home. She presented her work and handled questions and answers from the class. With a fixed mike, the facilitator sometimes needed to repeat the questions from the rest of the class. She also listened to the other participants presentations and asked questions.  I have tried this a few times now and find it works quite well. The only downside is that in the flow of the class, it is easy to forget about the one remote participant.

The next challenge is to use Skype in a taught face-to-face workshop where the participants are evaluating resources and learning how to use software tools.

I have also used Elluminate within Blackboard (now Blackboard Collaborate)for webinars. As it designed for online classes, Elluminate has many more features than Skype. However, Skype is quick and easy with minimal setup and suited to allowing an individual to join a classroom session.

Entry Filed under: Teaching & Learning,tool