Hello,
I have used SKYPE on three different occasions with classrooms in Spain, France and China. It worked great and our students were thrilled to be able to see and chat with their epal they had been emailing all year long. The first thing to do is download SKYPE on your computer , then invest in a good pair of speakers and a web camera. We have two different varieties and both work well. One is Creative Cam and the other Quickcam. Then choose a skype username and let whoever you are skyping know the username so they can add you to their buddie list. It is simple to use and if you can't see each other you can still chat, sort of like instant messaging. The only problem using it in the classroom is coordinating the time zones. When we chat with China it is around 10 am here in the USA and about 11 PM at night over there. But Spain and France is more doable as we are only 6 hours behind them. Good luck!!
Christine D.
