After months of virtually communicating with each other through Skype, students from The Mary Louis Academy (TMLA), Jamaica Estates, were able to welcome their friends from Italy.
Fifteen students from Il Istituto di Istruzione Secundaria Superior G. Curcio in Ispica Ragussa, Italy, along with their teachers and principal, spent the day at TMLA experiencing an American school firsthand from homeroom, to cafeteria lunches, to dismissal.
In the months preceding the visit, Nicholas Maurantonio, TMLA Italian teacher, led his classes in regular Skype sessions with the school in Italy. Skype is an online program, which allows users to speak with, listen to, and see the people with whom they are talking wherever they are located. TMLA students have been using this technology via the SMARTBoard and iPads.
In this way, the Italian Class in TMLA could learn more about Italian culture and language while at the same time, the Italian students could learn more about English and U.S. culture.
The group from Italy came to the U.S. for a school trip and both schools appreciated the opportunity to meet face to face.
Wow, that’s a great article. Skype and other communication software, especially Skype has made it possible for us to communicate easier. I’m also learning italian skype as the “classroom” at http://preply.com/en/italian-by-skype so I can really relate to your article. Thank you for such an inspiring post. 🙂