Skype


 * Skype**[[image:skype1.jpg width="315" height="315" align="right" caption="the features of Skype"]]


 * Skype** is a software application that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet, chat using an IM feature, as well as a webcam feature, and file transferring. Skype has a growing population, gaining more users since its release in 2003. The program is free to download but there are costs to do certain things using Skype. You may use the chat free with no cost, but if you were expecting to make a call using Skype expect to be paying for minutes. The newest feature of Skype is the iPod touch/iPhone application, where an owner can download this application for free and use it through WiFi with the same features Skype has to offer using it on a computer, minus the webcam feature.

//__Students__//: As we have in our 21st Century Communications class, we have used Skype for all educational purposes. This year we started talking to a school for the gifted, pretty much children that were born geniuses. The kids were in a fifth grade level and we communicated to them via webcam which through this we were able to see the types of things they were doing in their school versus what we were doing here at Woodsville High School. Skype is also a great tool for students because when in a rut with a project Skype can be useful to contact people that can help you. When working on our podcast presentation this year we were able to contact a teacher from another school who had experience with podcasts, telling us everything we needed to know about them,

//__Teachers__//: As the same for students Skype is a great tool for teachers. The idea of connecting with other classes around the United States, or possibly even around the world could be a huge advancement in the idea of penpals. These way teachers can see the other ways teachers are doing things in their classrooms and possibly gain new ideas from this experience, if it were for the better or the worse.
 * PROS**: The pros of Skype are the ability to communicate via webcam and the feature of instant messaging to anybody that has a Skype account, whether it were someone you knew that was on the other side of the world, or if it were needed for business. Skype is reliable as the numbers show over the years the community is growing each year, and more and more people are actively using Skype because of the uses it has to offer.

Skype to Skype calls, that being a call somewhere in a different country. Rates of calls vary depending on the country one resides in, but because we are in the US we only have to worry about that cost, which is not bad at all only costing someone 2 cents a minute.
 * CONS**: The only problem with Skype is the fact that one has to pay to make