Zachary Schulman has studied abroad in both Panama and London, and has never paid a dime for long-distance phone calls.
The GW senior said that he used Skype, a free Internet phone service, to stay in touch with contacts in the States on both of his trips.
"In London they have Skype pre-loaded on computers in Internet cafés there. To call home on a cell was $2.99 per minute, but computer to computer is completely free," Schulman said.
While in Panama, his professor also had the program on his computer and allowed Schulman and his peers to call home.
Skype allows users to make unlimited voice and video calls free-of-charge to other Skype users around the world, and it has won the hearts of some students and professors at GW.
All a Skype user must do to access the program's services and download its software. Then, users not only have access to chat with any other Skype user worldwide, but they can also call landlines and cell phones from computers in the United States and Canada free-of-charge. Skype, which was founded in 2003, charges a small fee for calls made to phones abroad.
"A huge population of college students likes the fact that it's free. They spend a lot of time on the Internet, and this is a new way to use the Internet for phone calls," said Jennifer Caukin, a Skype spokeswoman. "Users can talk through the computer directly, or plug in a phone or headset."
Professors at GW are taking advantage of the system as well. Richard Robin, associate professor of Russian and International Affairs, has used Skype in his classes in order to host live conversations with people in Russia.
Robin said he tells his Basic Intensive Russian students that they will be speaking to a Russian family in Russia and that they should prepare questions to find out as much about the family members as possible. When students arrive at class, they phone the Russian family using Skype.
"We now have an independent study set up where two advanced Russian students will be doing Skype conversation exchanges with four students in Russia," Robin wrote in an e-mail.
The GW senior said that he used Skype, a free Internet phone service, to stay in touch with contacts in the States on both of his trips.
"In London they have Skype pre-loaded on computers in Internet cafés there. To call home on a cell was $2.99 per minute, but computer to computer is completely free," Schulman said.
While in Panama, his professor also had the program on his computer and allowed Schulman and his peers to call home.
Skype allows users to make unlimited voice and video calls free-of-charge to other Skype users around the world, and it has won the hearts of some students and professors at GW.
All a Skype user must do to access the program's services and download its software. Then, users not only have access to chat with any other Skype user worldwide, but they can also call landlines and cell phones from computers in the United States and Canada free-of-charge. Skype, which was founded in 2003, charges a small fee for calls made to phones abroad.
"A huge population of college students likes the fact that it's free. They spend a lot of time on the Internet, and this is a new way to use the Internet for phone calls," said Jennifer Caukin, a Skype spokeswoman. "Users can talk through the computer directly, or plug in a phone or headset."
Professors at GW are taking advantage of the system as well. Richard Robin, associate professor of Russian and International Affairs, has used Skype in his classes in order to host live conversations with people in Russia.
Robin said he tells his Basic Intensive Russian students that they will be speaking to a Russian family in Russia and that they should prepare questions to find out as much about the family members as possible. When students arrive at class, they phone the Russian family using Skype.
"We now have an independent study set up where two advanced Russian students will be doing Skype conversation exchanges with four students in Russia," Robin wrote in an e-mail.
