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Skype teleconference with American students

October 7th, 2008Esra'a (Bahrain)

It’s that time again! Frequent readers of this site know that we occassionally have teleconferences with American high school students [Listen to Session I here and Session II here.]

This is a great educational experience, and we’re glad to be doing it again. It will take place this Thursday 8:00am EST, and we invite you to join us via Skype!

Sorry for the short notice, but we would really love to have at least 2-3 of you join us for this to be a success.

How it works:
Using a group conference call on Skype, we communicate with a high school class in the USA (Pennsylvania to be exact) who ask us questions about the Middle East. The entire class gets to listen to the interchange and students keep chipping in with their questions and comments. I later edit this into a podcast and provide it on MEYcast, our podcasting site.

What you need:
If you have a Skype account, you’re all set. All you need to do is contact us or leave a comment and we’ll get back to you with an invite! If you don’t know what Skype is, it’s a widely used service that allows you to communicate via audio with the people of your choice.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you’re interested in joining the session. It usually goes on for about 25-30 minutes. Remember, we desperately need at least 2-3 people from the Middle East! Find out if you’re free (or make yourself free!) on Thursday at 8:00am EST.

Gregory Wimmer, their teacher, will be moderating the discussions.

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15 Responses to “Skype teleconference with American students”

  1. #1 Abdalsalam - October 8th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    hi:
    I am a teacher from Jenin I’d like to join you in this conference and replay for the questions

  2. #2 Mohammad - October 9th, 2008 at 2:41 am

    I wish I could join dear, I wish I could join :(

  3. #3 Esra'a (Bahrain) - October 9th, 2008 at 4:27 am

    Dear Abdalsalam,

    Thanks a lot for your interest! I tried to send you an email but it bounced back, what is your Skype username? You can reply to this e-mail (it belongs to Eva who will help host the discussions) the.pilot.woman[at]gmail.com

  4. #4 Mohammad Hamayel - October 9th, 2008 at 5:56 am

    Hello,

    I am a university student living in Al-Bireh. I would love to join these conversations. Eva already has my e-mail. So I’ll just wait up on her. Though 8 am EST is what time exactly? This whole time zone difference has me at a complete loss.

  5. #5 Esra'a (Bahrain) - October 9th, 2008 at 6:24 am

    Dear Mohammad and others,

    We just completed our session, however due to the quality the American students were not able to ask and/or hear the answers for all of the questions. That was the only limitation. I have it recorded and most of it was okay, for those of you who wish to hear – it was incredibly interesting. We had a Jordanian, Palestinian, Israeli and 2 Bahrainis present and we would have loved to add more but were unable to.

    Greg, their teacher, sent me a copy of the questions that some students either asked or intended to.

    Please let me or Eva know your Skype usernames so that I can make a personal call for you at the time of your choice on either Saturday or Sunday and ask 1-2 of these questions (you can choose which ones you relate to most) and have you answer them directly. One-on-one Skype calls are usually flawless. I will record these and make them available to these students so they can hear them clearly, I think it’s important that all of their questions are answered. I will also be making them available on this website for everyone else who is interested. That is the best way to involve as many voices as possible without being limited by people’s interfering internet connections.

    Mohammad Azaq, Abdalsalam, and Mohammad Hamayel, what do you think? I’d be happy to do this with anyone who wishes to add their opinions as well.

    Eva, if you are reading this, you can also send the comment to Shaul, Kamal, Mohammad Hindi or any others who were unable to add their input due to technical issues. I will be happy to speak to them on a one-on-one call and have them answer the questions, a recorded version of which will appear on this website and to the many people who emailed us with the interest of listening in on the conversation.

    Thanks to Greg and his class for their enthusiastic involvement.

    My e-mail is director[at]mideastyouth.com for those who wish to do this.

  6. #6 Mohammad Hamayel - October 9th, 2008 at 6:48 am

    Sounds like a plan to me. I have too many classes on Sunday. But I can manage on Saturday. I can talk between 12:00AM-2:00PM. I should have good internet access. And no one pestering me over my shoulder. If you want a more specific time, just tell me.

  7. #7 Esra'a (Bahrain) - October 9th, 2008 at 6:58 am

    Great! What about Saturday, 12:00PM (your time)? If you prefer any other time, let me know. I am pretty flexisible.

  8. #8 Mohammad Hamayel - October 9th, 2008 at 7:03 am

    Excellent. That would be perfect. I will send you an e-mail this instant to give you my skype account name….thing..yeah.

  9. #9 Greg Wimmer - October 9th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Everyone,

    Thanks for your participation in the teleconference this morning. It’s a shame that the connection was not stronger, but my students were able to pull a few things from the conversation. I appreciate all of your help in assisting my class in understanding issues from around the Middle East and the various perspectives from throughout the region. I look forward to working with Esra’a, Eva, and the others again.
    Best regards,
    Greg Wimmer
    Social Studies Teacher
    York, Pennsylvania, USA

  10. #10 Eva (Israel) - October 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am

    Dear All,

    I’m sorry that I had to disconnect Kamal, Mohammed H. and Shaul during the conference – even I could barely hear them and we truly were too many people online on such distances :)
    It was the first time that I participated in such a conference and I loved the experience! To be able to speak directly to a class of students “on the other side of the world” is something quite amazing. We should have better technical possibilities to make it better, but well, that’s what we have, and it’s already something!!
    As for me, I’m always ready to help out in such things – I know that people all around the world (and even here, in my own country) receive such partial information about what happens “far away” (and in my case, just beyond the Separation Wall) that it’s very important for us here to get some “correct” information heard!
    Thank you all for participating and thanks to Esra’a for making it possible at all! :D
    Eva
    Jerusalem, Israel

  11. #11 MEYcast - Broadcasting ahead » Blog Archive » Latest teleconference with American students - October 10th, 2008 at 6:43 am

    [...] American students [35:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download We were extremely excited to be doing this again. I love it that today we live in a world where with just a few clicks you can connect yourself with [...]

  12. #12 Podcast: Latest teleconference with American students - Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead - October 12th, 2008 at 2:24 am

    [...] were extremely excited to be doing this again. I love it that today we live in a world where with just a few clicks you can connect yourself with [...]

  13. #13 Esra'a (Bahrain) - October 12th, 2008 at 2:26 am

    Note: The audio file is now available.

  14. #14 mohammed alabed - October 12th, 2008 at 3:10 am

    to everyone who did not got the chance to be in the teleconference i hope you get the chance next time….with love….PEACE

  15. #15 Voices without Votes » Podcast: Latest teleconference with American students - September 16th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    [...] were extremely excited to be doing this again. I love it that today we live in a world where with just a few clicks you can connect yourself with [...]

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