Did we lose you? Can you see us?

In class on Wednesday, I had the opportunity to be a part of a group Skype session with my section of Paideia as well Knick's section. The Skype session was with representatives from the ISA school in San Antonio, TX. This school is a MAGNET school that offers a non-traditional approach to high school. In this school, students are heavily introduced to concepts surrounding global citizenship and each class takes an out of state field trip every year.
In the Skype session, we had the opportunity to talk with teachers, administrators, and students and ask them a variety of questions about the school and its curriculum. I found the discussion to be extremely interesting and I especially enjoyed that students were allowed to participate in the discussion. This type of school is very interesting to me because I think that this is the type of knowledge our high school students should be learning. Far too many high school students are unaware of issues that are happening in our world. This school teaches its students the essential skills of becoming a part of global society. The field trips allow the students to explore other cultures and learn what it is like to live in another country. I also enjoyed hearing that the school accepts students based on a lottery system that has no basis on grades. This allows all students that apply to have an equal chance of attending the school.
I think the idea of using Skype in the classroom is something that students at all age levels can benefit from. In the future, I hope to establish connections with contacts around the world that will allow me to help my students learn about the world around them.