Thing 3 Skype communication in the class room

I do like Skype and have had lots of use with it. When my daughter moved to Japan we used Skype a lot for special day we would have a meal together. We also use Skype with my son in law while he is in Iraq. Though as the popularity has grown and the internet connection has not the quality of the picture has gone down. I do find using the instant messaging helpful.
My favorite classroom use was years ago when I taught in an elementary classroom. My brother is a university professor in France. I was teaching my students about communication on the computer and we connected to the university in France. Most of the student’s primary language at that time was Spanish and my brother’s student’s main language was French. The 2 classrooms connected and the students on both ends shared a lot as we were finishing up. The French side was getting their first snow fall for the season so they turned the camera to the out side window and my Houston students were able to see snow it was very exciting.
I hope to be able to connect my middle school math students to gather with another class room. I think they could both present how to solve a particular problem having the student do the actual teaching . I feel that the size of the active board would help in the process.