I finally got my act together and bought a webcam so I could fully immerse myself in Skype. I had been meaning to do this for the last couple of years but never got around to it. The requirements for this project and the birth of my son finally pushed me to stop procrastinating and move into the new millenium. I am pleased to say that it was a great decision.
My in-laws live 8 hours away and a audio only telephone conversation does not quite give them enough of a taste of their grandson. Now, Saturday mornings my husband, my son and I assemble in the basement in front of the video camera and spend some time with my in-laws. They get to see their grandson and all his new "tricks" and he gets to see them too. I hope this helps him remember them when he sees them in person next. Sometime there is a bit of a lag with the visual that accompanies the audio but overall it doesn't bother me. Despite this, a video call does feel far more personal than a telephone conversation. It feels like we have "visited" with them far more than any phone call ever has.
This week I was unexpectedly unable to attend class due to the lack of a babysitter, so I attended class via Skype. A second student in my class did the same, she describes her experience here. I was quite skeptical about how it would go given that I would be juggling the care of an active 8 month old at the same time.
First of all, the baby behaved himself pretty well so I was actually able to listen and participate in most of the class. I was pleasantly surprised on that front. Though I did have to communicate via chat, there was no way I could unmute my microphone with the racket my son was producing in the background. On my end, this was fine, I just had to be patient and wait for someone on the other end to read it and communicate it to the class. I wonder how it felt on the other end?
Initially, the call was done via a conference call since there were two of us needing to attend the class remotely. This was problematic because it only provided for audio and given the nature of the class a visual of what was going on in class was quite important. In order to solve this problem, a second laptop had to be used. Thank you to my classmate who gave up their laptop in order for us to be more "present" in class. The class was much easier to follow once a visual was provided. Of course, this also meant that someone had to move the laptop around so it was focused on the right spot. Again, thanks to whoever was keeping me in touch with the class.
At one point in the class, I was assigned to a group for a brainstorming session. While I was able to contribute it was not nearly as natural as it would have been if I was participating face-to-face. While my ideas were heard, and they did share the work they were doing on the iPad with me, none of this happened in real time. I had to be very patient.
Unfortunately, I missed some of the wrap-up of the brainstorming session as I had to get supper started for my son. As soon as my husband got home, I was able to jump back into the class. I loved that I was able to do that without interrupting the class. That freedom really helped on my end. I only missed 15 minutes of the class. And while, I would rather not have missed it at all, missing 15 minutes was better than missing the whole thing.
One complaint I had was that it was difficult to see what was projected on the SMART board. This made following some parts of the class difficult, this was one point where I really wished I was present. The other time that I had difficulty following was when there were multiple people speaking at the same time in class. I got confused and could not identify who was speaking or who I should focus on, especially if my screen was not showing anyone.
Overall, my experience with Skype has been very successful. I feel that it has improved communication with my in-laws. I am grateful that my son will "know" his grandparents as a result of our Saturday morning meetings. Furthermore, it allowed me to participate in most of yesterday's class when otherwise I would have missed it completely. While the experience was not perfect, I learned a lot in class that I would have missed out on had it not been for Skype. My classmate rated her experience as a B+, and I think I have to agree with that rating.
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