Twelve Eighth Graders Participating in a Skype Video Conference

With the proliferation of ICT tools, new online platforms such as blogs and wikis have been integrated into the field of education. Due to their interactive, communicative features, these tools are used as new avenues of communication among professionals, students, teachers, teenagers etc.
Recently many educators have considered blogs as innovative tools in the language teaching and learning. They view them as vehicles that enable users to connect, communicate, and collaborate online. What's special about them is that through blogging, the relevance of students' performance no longer ends at the classroom door because they promote a relationship with authentic audience.
Recently, HHHS students have passed through the blogging experience. In a 12-week blogging project, grade 8 A students exchanged ideas and reflected on each others’ responses in a way that they hadn’t done before. Through this experience, there were neither sheets of paper nor a red pen. Instead, all they had were a keyboard and a small comment box which they extended with their unexpected performance. Moreover, it was a chance to unveil their real potentials. Some students described it as "the magical wand that suddenly turned the world of studying into an amusement park full of adventures. It builds up a hopeful future where we can share this experience with everyone else." (Serena, Kareem, and Dala-8th graders)
The experience came to fruition after inviting international audiences. Lisa Z., an American researcher and blogger was one of the readers of the blog. After reading the students' posts and examining their performance, Lisa shared the students' blog with 25 teachers abroad. As a result, she invited our students to a video conference.
The conference was held on February 2011 at the High School computer lab. The IT manager had prepared all the technical devices, and a mobi device was used to maintain a better connection. The conference session was projected on a 12 ft. x 12 ft. screen so that the fourteen students who participated in this conference could easily see the speaker. At the outset, they felt puzzled and confused. However, later the communications went smoothly and they shared openly their thoughts and perspectives concerning their blogging experience, favorite reading books, cultural diversity, 21st century skills, among many other topics. After 1 hr and 30 minutes of online meaningful chatting, students left the computer lab more excited. They were amazed meeting such an international audience who praised their work, their minds, and their abilities.
On the next day, Lisa sent a message reflecting on the meeting:
" Dear Huda,
I am still smiling after talking with you and your students! I feel so fortunate to have had these important opportunities: to read the blog comments; hear your students' voices; and learn from you. I am thrilled that you have accepted the invitation to video conference into the conference in May! I'll be in touch to talk more about that."
Please tell your students that their English is impressive, but their minds are even more amazing!! WOW! Rest assured that anyone viewing any clips I share from the video will see clearly how impressive your students and you are!"
To sum up, the advent of the push button of the internet has paved the way for all teachers and educators to easily communicate with experts and professionals abroad and has provided students with opportunities to experience a novel type of learning.
Huda kaeen
Middle School