Conferencing Featured Article

May 14, 2012

Skype Unveils Connected Classroom Sweepstakes

By Raju Shanbhag

TMCnet Contributor

Skype’s (News - Alert) education initiatives help teachers collaborate with each other and bring people into the classroom that they would never have been able to. It also allows them to encourage students to discuss different topics. It allows teachers and students to exchange ideas, learn and bring other cultures into the class.

Taking this initiative further, the company recently introduced Connected Classroom Sweepstakes. The new program offers an exciting opportunity to students to call celebrities Steve Harvey, James Patterson, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Jackie Collins and Tinsel Korey.

This sweepstakes is available on Skype’s in the classroom Facebook (News - Alert) page. The idea behind allowing the students to call celebrities is to encourage more teachers to experience the value of video calling within the classroom. The initiative provides the students an exciting opportunity to meet a celebrity face-to-face via Skype on Wednesday, June 6, the company stated in a press release.

“Through Skype video calling, we are able to bring the experience of speaking to well-known actors, comedians and authors who want to give back by sharing their story with students," said Andy Schmidt, head of social good of the Skype Division at Microsoft (News - Alert). "At Skype we believe that shared learning experiences greatly enhance education. This sweepstakes aims to help more teachers understand the value of video calling within the classroom and it further demonstrates Skype's belief that amazing learning experiences should be available to everyone.”

In 2010, TMC’s (News - Alert) Beecher Tuttle reported that the company introduced its latest Windows-based free communications software, Skype 5.0. With this integration, users can see their Facebook News Feed in Skype. They can also link their status updates to Skype mood messages as well as comment and "like" friends' updates and wall posts straight from the interface. Skype 5.0 provides improved call quality and a totally new interface.

Edited by Brooke Neuman

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