SOMEs = Self-Organized Mediation Environments

Tomorrow, 25 June 2009, will be my trial session with children from India taking part in the SOME Project created by Dr Sugata Mitra and coordinated by Suneeta Kulkarni. I don't know the age of the children.

We will be videoconferencing through Skype.

I will introduce myself and have the children introduce themselves and teach me how to pronounce their names correctly.

Then I'll use the Google maps below to show them where I am and where they are. I will tell them a little bit about where I live, what I did and what I do now.

Then it's story time. They will listen to the story, "Pets at the animal shelter" < http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-pets.htm >. I will repeat each dialogue. We will talk about the story and they can tell me which animal they would choose.

28Jul09

The 25 June session (above) had to be postponed to today due to Internet connection problems and a local blackout for my friends on 25 June.

Suneeta was there to great me and I also heard a male voice in the background now and then. I thought it would be an all girls group, but there were two-three boys after all. Great! They were a lively and smiling group of about ten, looking very elegant in their blue uniforms and white blouses and shirts. And a blue tie, I think. We greeted one another. It reminded me of my years in a British school when I loved wearing a tie.

I showed the students my name written in big capital letters with a marker on a white paper and they told me theirs. I didn't understand all of them, because some spoke low into the mic. Shy? No need for it. It was such a pleasant informal get-together over Skype with video!  :-)  They are in year 6 and their average age is ten-eleven, if I understood correctly.

I asked them what they're favorite hobbies were: "Reading!" "Writing!" "Painting!" Fabulous choices.

Suneeta told me that she had been showing them a map of Portugal and they knew that I was in the Lisbon area. I also showed them the first map above so that they could see the great distance between our two countries. The distance implies a time difference. I told it was 9:00 a.m. in my country and they told me it was 1:30 p.m. in India. They hadn't had lunch yet, waiting for the chat with me. And I hadn't had breakfast yet.

I told them that I used to teach children their age and then put a link to the Art Gallery 2008-2009 so that they could see some of the drawings my students did for me (http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/473857.507c54003b1/overview). The page didn't open correctly on their side.  :-(   They would take a look at it later.

Then came time for a story. I gave them the link to a British Council site with stories, but the story I'd planned - Pets at the Animal Shelter - didn't open for them (http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-pets.htm). What a shame! The pictures were part of the interest. I read them the story and then asked which animal the family had chosen. There were three incorrect answers and then Alya said: "The cat!" Bingo! She was right. "Congratulations!!!", I said.

I hope sites open up for them next time. However, I do need to think of alternative ways of telling stories.

The Skype video conference worked very well and I enjoyed seeing those enthusiastic faces in front of me during the whole session. At the end I also saw Suneeta in a beautiful sari.The only regret I have is not to have had the chance to take screenshots. I hope you did, Suneeta!

Seven years of many videoconferences and live online sessions without video, just text and voice, haven't erased the excitement I still feel when taking part in a live session. This one was extra special. I'd never chatted with children at a distance. Just face-to-face, in class. Voice makes communication special, but add video - the power of the image, the expressions and body language! - to it and communication becomes extra special. It was unforgettable! The power of communication is awesome!

I'm looking forward to next time!  :-))

Interesting links 

Google maps <  http://maps.google.com/ >

British Council: Stories < http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories.htm?mtklink=kids-stories-kids-popular-offers >

Things to cover

Stories

Art Galleries (my students' drawings)

Zimmertwins cartoon films