TOP TOOLS
Skype

Comments from those who selected Skype as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2008

• "provides mixed synchronous and asynchronous communications, along with file transfer"  Pat Parslow

• "Opens the world to the classroom. Can be used by the average person to communicate with people from all over the world. I recently gave a keynote speech in Indonesia (from my office in Iowa) through Skype." Leigh Zeitz

• "Instant Messaging, VoIP and Video Conferencing in one simple to use package." Karl Goddard

• "A must have. Of all the video chat products available, the consistent quality of calls on Skype wins hands down." Rich Chetwynd

• "lets me stay in touch with family and colleagues around the world" Debora Gallo

• "a great (and free) alternative to the telephone"  Jay Cross

• "I still couldn't do without Skype, and use it frequently to communicate with  colleagues, clients, friends and family all round the world.  I have also been using it recently to provide live learning support for students of e-learning."  Jane Hart

• "I love free long distance. Skype has been an awesome addition to the classroom and allows students to meet with me or with each other at any time. What is more exciting is that students can talk to their international collaborators, as well!"  Beth Ritter-Guth

• "La herramienta más adecuada para reuniones de trabajo informales. [The suitable tool more for informal meetings of work]"  Emilio Quintana

• "a great combination of VoIP and IM"  Jochen Robes

• "Skype does more than just facilitate voice and video conversations. It also is my primary "chat" client."  Jennifer Maddrell

• "international calls and IM.  Reach out and touch someone (I also use Adium and iChat, but I'm not supposed to sneak them in)."  Clark Quinn

• "Paying for your telephone calls is so last century. Internet telephony is changing the way people work and communicate. We use it to conference call for free. The quality has declined a little recently but I suspect this is due to its overwhelming popularity and usage"  Steve Rayson

• "Working from home, Skype is one of my connecting lines to the world. I use it to chat with and call SMEs as well as the other members of the online course development team."  Christy Tucker

• "I use Skype to IM, video chat, and conference with others." Janet Clarey

• "preference for IM and video contacts"  Derek Wenmoth

• "Again, couldn’t imagine living without Skype for connections far and wide and for easy access to my widespread network of colleagues" Anne Paterson

• "very efficient for teleconference (however, it requires users to download and install a software)"  Laurent Janolin

• "this phone-through-the-computer service (VOIP) allows me to call toll-free numbers without tying up the home line.  I have stuck with the free service thus far.

"  Bill Jackson

• "for its wonderful sound quality, its free collaborative complements and options"  Maria R Malmierca

• "A great telecommunication tool that lets me use my own PC to make free voice-over-Internet and video calls to my students and colleagues (who are the Skype users as well) anywhere in the world."  Steve Yuen

• "I have a love/hate relationship with Skype. I love the fact I can make free audio calls to other Skype users and low cost calls to international landlines. I hate the issues with sound quality and calls dropping, and still haven’t got audio conferencing to work reliably. I love the way I can transfer files and badger developers on the other side of the world in real time. However it can also be a real time-drain and a distraction (particularly for the developers)."  Rob Hubbard

• "This tool is free and incredibly useful.  I can have parents (who are at work) watch their students present in class.  I am new to skype, so I'm still learning new ways to integrate it into the classroom. "  Kora Stoll

• "Who needs expensive videoconferencing hardware anymore? I have taught great classes remotely while in my own kitchen. Compared to the more expensive alternatives, it is often far more reliable."  Daniel Lemire

• "Last but not least, I include Skype on my list of Web 2.0 tools. I use Skype to offer virtual office hours for my students."  Rick Lillie

• "Serious phone alternative + IM tool + collaboration add-ons = efficiency"  Stylianos Mystakidis

• "Free international calls, with the capacity to record while you're at it! Does it get better than this? And if you prefer to use text chat, you can always refer back to a chat history to pick up links or to remind yourself of what was said/decided."  Karyn Romeis

• "could not live without it.  I use it several times a day and it allows me to be everywhere at once, I have Skype IN numbers all over the world"  Nigel Paine

• "keeps me connected"  Will Richardson

• "Connecting with others from Sudan can be expensive. Skype allows our teachers and staff to connect with others around the world for free"  Jason Edwards

• "For general VOIP communication with others or for conference calls for a small number of participants, Skype is perfect. We use this for conferencing, recording participant oral feedback, and plan to use it for facilitating mentor-related activities."  Seaghan Moriarty

• "Who doesn't like free phone calls.  This is both personally and professionally a valuable tool.  We have used it to conduct meetings on several occasions."  Kevin Amboe

• "Been involved with a project on the West Coast and have used Skype consistently to communicate. It is great for a quick call and the quality is good (most of the time)."  Karl Kapp

• "the best web-telephony tool to connect to other computers and also landline phones." Cristina Mendes Da Costa

• "instant messaging that does what email was supposed to do: provide an efficient, quick means of communicating. Chat is free and searchable; international phone calling option is very inexpensive. I have many international contacts and this enables me to keep in “human touch” easily. Skype has so much functionality that there’s a “Skype for Dummies” book out now."  Jane Bozarth

• "simple - free - efficient to communicate everywhere"  Florence Meichel

• "Indispensible part of the delivery of online classes. A truly wonderful program with high levels of consistency and performance."  Jonathan Lecun

• "Connecting via voice... after years of being involved in text/image/virtual communities; it is clear that something is left out when you can't hear the human voice.  I find that communities that reach the point of critical analysis, need the capacity to understand the emotion that connected to the passionate/intrinsic reflection and inquiry that leads to meaningful change.  Video Conferencing is one step better, but still is a limiting connection.  Skype helps provide a solution for the next step of collaboration."  Mark Arnold

• " It is my gateway to the world.  That's how I connect to my friends and contacts in different parts of the globe."  Anastasia Prynikova

• "the ability to chat or talk directly and use a webcam to see your contact has been very effective. We had a Skype conversation with participants from Hawaii, Korea and Australia that was conducted with an entire Yr 9 group. Had a huge impact on our students and got a global project off the ground."  Jenny Luca

Comments from those who selected Skype as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2007

• "I just couldn't do without Skype now.  I use it to contact colleagues, clients, friends and family - and although it isn't the only instant messaging tool that I use (some of my contacts are only available on MSN), it is the one I like best."  Jane Hart

• "for conferencing, capturing conversations and interviews, point, click and talk"  Paul Coyne

• "This is a great free tool. Internet telephony is changing the way people work and communicate. We use it to conference call for free. Even my dad has just got Skype and keeps in touch wherever I am. Though I have deliberately avoided getting a video camera. Though you should never call a mobile you can call landlines across the rest of the world for months for £10." Steve Rayson

• "free calls to Kiev and the rest of the world. Low cost calls to landlines and mobiles around the world. Saves me a fortune." Mike Alcock

• "an invaluable tool to chat by text or phone"  Vaughan Waller

• "VoIP is simply a sweet deal...at least when I'm at my computer. $30 for a year's worth of free calls around the world is a very sweet deal." Brent Schlenker

• "Skype has been an indispensable collaboration tool for our team. We use it for weekly meetings as well as quick calls and chats."  Christy Tucker

• "it is a free tool for international phone calls and webconferencing"  Ilpo Halonen

• "it's cheap and has worked well so far...although this is a relatively new tool for me"  Janet Clarey

• "Invaluable for keeping in touch with colleagues as well as with the far-flung family and friends"  Karyn Romeis

• "My number one communication tool. I use it for all kinds of stuff these days, from video-chat with my family while away on trips, to management conference calls."  Scott Wilson

• "instant messaging that does what email was supposed to do: provide an efficient, quick means of communicating.  Chat is free; international phone calling option is very inexpensive."  Jane Bozarth

• "Who needs expensive videoconferencing hardware anymore?"  Daniel Lemire

• "VoIP Tool for establishing voice communications via internet"  Jose Carlos del Arco

• "my IM client and VoIP all in one"  David Flanders

• " I use skype more for IM and group chatting than Internet phone calling but it’s easy to use and really catching on."  Colette Cassinelli

• "My mouthpiece"  Phil Green

• "Opens the world to the classroom. Can be used by the average person to communicate with people from all over the world. I recently gave a keynote speech in Indonesia (from my office in Iowa) through Skype" Leigh Zeitz

• "what is there to say"  Lisa Valentine

• "The main way to keep in contact with collaborators globally"  Ulrik Juul Christensen

• "it's free and easy to communicate with all my contacts"  Paulo Gingao

• "The best tool for instant messaging, international calls and video conferencing. Most professionals use this one. It is good also to have free calls to toll-free numbers in USA."  David Delgado

• "a free internet telephone company allowing participants to connect (computer to computer)"  Ramona Dietrich

• "my connection to students and colleagues around the world"  Cheri Toledo

• "I don’t even know where I’ll be half the time, so this makes it easy for me to keep up with friends and staff by chat or voice.  Also handy as a file sharing backup when all else fails"    Andrea Barrett

• "How I connect to people much brighter than myself"  Patrick Higgins

• "For general VOIP communication with others or for conference calls for a small number of participants, Skype (or the Gizmo project and others) is wonderful. I use Pretty May to record learner's audio feedback or short verbal assignments"  Seaghan Moriarty

• "one of the better tools to come along"   Tom Winterstein

• "Instant messaging has been around for ages, but no tool offers more functionality than Skype. Whether it's a department conference call, discussions throughout the day about support cases, or even sending screenshots via Skype, my colleagues and I rely heavily on it." Gabe Anderson

• "Makes people far away feel close. And I love to use the mood-message-line for Twitter-like microblogging "  Andrea Back

• "in my opinion, it's the best VOIP tool"  Alexandre Bobeda