Skype Sounds

Tip of the Week #4 (TOTW#4): Turn off your Skype sounds.

Skype is a great collaboration tool for teachers. I think it has great potential to connect people and/or classes that might not have normally connected otherwise. It is another technology tool that teachers can use to bring different resources to the classroom. However as with every technology I think we need to keep in mind how to make it transparent. If we are not careful technology can be a distraction to learning as much as it can be a tool.

I was observing a classroom recently where the teacher was using an Electronic Whiteboard for a classroom lecture. It was a nice lesson and I thought the technology helped engage the students in what they were learning. About 5 minutes into the lesson however I heard through their speakers the unmistakable sound of Skype telling the teacher that a new contact had just come on-line.

The lesson was a multimedia lesson, so muting the computer was not an option and I can see the teacher leaving Skype open with an away message of “Teaching” or possibly Not available, however the safest bet is to just quit the application while teaching. The default settings in Skype do play a sound when a new user logs on. Had I not been familiar with Skype’s sounds from using the application myself I would have thought it was just another sound coming from the computer, but knowing what it was I definitely found it unnecessary.

What some users do not know is that you can configure Skype so that those sounds do not play. To do this open Skype, go to the Skype menu and chose Preferences. Then select the Notifications tab. In this menu you can chose how Skype handles any number of Events. Change the Events drop down menu to “Contact Becomes Available”. Here you can uncheck the Play Sound check box. That’s it, now you can leave Skype up and it will not be a distraction to your lessons.

I am all for teachers being on the leading edge and trying new technologies even before they find its educational impact. Unless you interact with the newest technologies you will never be able to find their educational implications. However we do have to make sure that we use that technology responsibly. If not we risk knee jerk administrative decisions such as banning certain software b/c they were disruptive to the educational environment. And when their job is to protect that environment it is hard to blame them.

Tags: educational environment, preferences, Skype, sounds