To Skype, or not to Skype—that is the question

In any classroom environment, communication is extremely important. After all, if the teacher becomes checked out in the course, chances are that the students will too. The importance of communication increases when the class is online. After all, there is a high chance that the students and the teacher will never meet, given the circumstances. So, for the most part, face to face communication is entirely out of the question. So, the teacher has to think of many alternatives to ensure that students are not afraid to discuss something with their teacher.
   Many teachers will automatically reach for that device that seems to becoming another limb for everybody—the phone. I personally do not like talking on the phone partially because I feel that I am not communicating to the best of my abilities. These phone calls are to people that I know; I would hate to imagine talking to my students over the phone and having two sorts of pressure on me.
   That is why if I teach online writing classes, I plan on using Skype has become one of the main ways that people are communicating online. In fact, Skype has joined that illustrious group of websites that have had their name become a verb. Anyway, I plan on using Skype for the variety of communication tools that it uses. That includes:
•    Video chat
•    Text chat
•    Conference calls
•    Sharing of files and/or images
All of these tools are extremely useful for teaching writing online. I could use video or text chat to have virtual office hours with my students. If I need to meet with a specific group of students, I could always do a conference call with them. That way, we would be able to discuss the issue all at once. The sharing of files and images can become extremely beneficial when students are trying to revise projects but desperately need help with it. Skype is definitely a great tool to have for teaching any class online. Skype is also very easy to use for anyone who is familiar with working online. It has also has apps available on almost every major electronic device out there. What could possibly be wrong with it?
   Unfortunately, there are a few disadvantages to Skype. First of all, Skype has a paid version that students may feel pressured into buying. Even if the free version of Skype has the essential tools that I will need for my classroom, students may feel that they have to buy it in order to possibly impress me about their commitment to the class. Secondly, not all students have the same amount of Internet availability. Some may live on-campus, so they do not necessarily have to worry about going over on their Internet allotment. For other students, that is a high concern. I completely understand, because I am one of those students who have very limited Internet access at home. I also know what it is like to want to use those cool websites that absorbs all of the data in the Internet plan. These “cool websites” include Skype with its multitude of necessary tools to succeed in the online writing classroom. These two concerns can be extremely detrimental to an online student, but these obstacles are easily overcome. Just tell your students that they only need to get the free version of Skype for the purposes of this class, but if they want to buy a different version of Skype, that is their decision. Also, make sure reiterate to students that they are not required to use Skype at all times, but if they have questions, Skype is the gateway to getting an answer.
   Overall, Skype (in my opinion) is an extremely worthwhile tool to have in the teaching online arsenal. It is hard to ignore the many avenues of communication that Skype has paved since its creation. If you can only have one tool to have virtual office hours, Skype is the best bet.
Works Cited
Skype. Microsoft, 2015. Web. 24 April 2015