As you can see in this screenshot (in the upper right corner) a "help online" icon is built into the interface. The programmer who offers technical support for the program shows users when he's online and ready to chat by activating that icon. When he's not available, the icon switches to "help offiline."
When one clicks the icon, a chat window pops up, poking the supportive programmer and summoning him to chat.
This is precisely what I try to do with my students when we use Skype. Yes, there's a time management issue. But I have not found that being online and available to students has been an imposition on me. Usually, I can answer their questions in less than a minute, and doing so saves us days of email tag.
Next, I would like an equivalent of the "help online" icon, which I could embed in a web page, that would let my students know I'm logged in to Skype when they're not.
Update:
This button (above) activates skype. It was the best I could do. If you have skype on your computer and click it, skype should open and automatically call me. One is supposed to be able to modify the icon so it lets people know when one is logged in to skype. However, I could not set my options to allow others to see when I'm logged in. Maybe that function has been suspended?
1 comment:
This idea is interesting. could you talk more about how and how often you use Skype in your classes?
regards, cyberian
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