idroo for Skype

I am inspired when I read Daniel's thoughtful well written posts. I hope this measures up.

Skype is a tool that offers inexpensive or free communication on the computer and/or telephone. In my house we use Skype on the computer to stay in touch with my sister-in-law in Vienna and my brother in San Diego. Using the video capability of Skype makes talking to your distant friends and family like a dinner table conversation.

Skype has a free app that is a terrific collaboration tool for a phone call or a conference call and that is called idroo which can be downloaded at shoppe.skype.com. It has the look and feel of a white board. Let me know what you think.

I setup my iPad to work with Skype this week. I don't have the new iPad2, and the original iPad doesn't have a camera, so the person that I am communicating with only gets to see a terrific profile picture of me while we talk. Perfect for those early morning calls. What more could they want?

If you don't have Skype, the latest version can be downloaded free from skype.com. To use Skype, a microphone is necessary, a webcam is nice but not necessary and you must create an account; but you don't have to put money in the account because using a computer to computer connection is free. In the contact area look for your friends and family that already have accounts and send them a request. If you are like me and don't have any friends, search for me, Dennis Olson, I live in Tucson. We can get all of the problems resolved and you can introduce Skype to others.

The AUP lesson and research was enjoyable; of course I always have fun when I am learning something new like the AUP. I was surprised at the collaborative design of some AUPs. Scott County School District for example had AUP videos made by the students and brochures. I thought that most AUPs originated in an attorney's office and then went to the school district making for a dull document that had no buy in from the students, staff and faculty. I believe that the contracts the parents and students signed were above the skill level of many elementary students and would like to see how teachers (my peers) work with AUPs in the classroom.

I believe that the blog should be used more by our group. Beyond our blogging assignments, this blog gives us an opportunity to get to know each other better and to share our experiences with all the new applications. I know that have a lot to learn from your classroom experiences.

I hope your Spring Break is awesome!

Dennis