Skype has become a mainstay for many English teachers. It’s free, works well, and almost everyone has heard of it. But Skype isn’t the only technology out there.
Let’s look at some of the alternatives.
After being launched, now quite a few years ago, Google Hangouts has certainly come to rival Skype. Many people prefer it for sound quality and its numbers are growing.
Hangouts can be used to just message people. But it functions best as a video call system, allowing you to phone up to 10 users at the same time. Maybe a little too much for a virtual classroom, but useful non the less.
If you use your smartphone, this service is provided solely over wifi, so any calls are free to other Google Hangout users. A fee is occurred when calling landline and mobile numbers.
You can add contacts from your phone, gmail account and manually so it is easy to keep updated.
One of the most simple technologies out there is Appear.in. No sign up and no download make this an incredibly simple way to make a call on your device.
Appear.in also make is easy to integrate the technology into your website or blog, allowing users to call each other free and simply.
Appear.in works by one user creating a ‘room’. This link is then shared with whoever you want to join. Multiple people can join the room and have a chat.
This can be a voice call or a video call and settings can be made private if you do not want strangers joining the conversation.
ooVoo seems to combine what is good about WhatsApp and Skype. It enables the users to make free calls between each other and has strikingly good sounds quality.
Up to 12 users can get involved and there is no need to download or sign up to anything, making quick connections to students a piece of cake. Another nice feature for English teachers is that all conversations can be recorded, handy if a student would like to listen back to the lesson later
You can also keep in contact with students via the message service which functions something like WhatsApp.
Free calls and chat and some fun games make this an attractive platform for some.
Viber has no Ads, it’s available on most platforms and if you make many long distance calls, then there are no roaming fees. Handy when most of your students will be in different countries.
Each group chat can have up to 40 people, but we would not recommend this unless you are into teaching in more extreme situations.
Like most of the other Apps its possible also to send documents, text, images and video messages.
Making it stand out is the option to challenge friends to a game or two, we haven’t tested these for usability in a class room, but could make for some good ice breakers.
Similar in style to Appear.in Talky is a dedicated video chat app. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, just choose a name for a room, obtain your URL and share with students.
Once you and the student are talking it is possible to lock the room to avoid any unwanted visitors.
Talky is also available for making international or domestic calls, for a fraction of the price of landline or mobile.
With wifi connected, Voca again excels in providing cheap international calls.
The sound quality is good, and can be used as a reliable back up, for those moments when Skype is down.
Like many of the others, calls between Voca users are completely free, plus for those on a private call, they will be happy to know that all the calls are encrypted.
Finally we have WhatsApp. A very popular app that many are more familiar with as a way of keeping in contact with groups of friends. However it can also be a valuable teaching tool.
Calls are free between WhatsApp users, but it is limited to only 2 people per call, so is not suitable for group lessons.
WhatsApp is a great way of keeping in contact with groups via message.
So will you be changing from Skype?
