Educating via Skype

A group of year 7 and 9 students had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing an up and coming American author- Danette Vigilante who has written three successful teenage books centered in the city of New York. We had the pleasure of listening to her read the first chapter of her new book "Saving Baby Doe" and also her trials and tribulations of success as an author. Students asked her questions on her motivations for writing and what inspired her to be an author. Her first book "The Trouble with Half a Moon" has recently been placed on the curriculum reading list in the state of Florida.

"It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to be able to speak to an author over Skype" said Sandra Underwood, School Link Coordinator and organiser of the event. “It's great to see students engaged in a new way of learning via video conference.”
Adam Prescott, Literacy Coordinator, said "I really enjoyed the discussion and meeting the author. I was pleased with the students' inquisitive minds and believe that they learned a lot from the experience"

Mystery Skype sessions are a great way to engage your classes in an alternative way of learning from a real life source. We look forward to another one in the near future - who knows, maybe we will talk to marine biologists in Australia or even learn about space from the Canadian space agency… The possibilities are endless!