Skype an Author and Support Orphans Africa!

This year the authors represented on Online Author Visits (formerly Skype Authors) are pleased to support the charity Orphans Africa. We are especially proud that one of the three founding members and secretary/treasurer of the charity is fellow children's writer, Michele Torrey. All of the authors on this site pledge 25% of virtual visit fees to Orphans Africa. When you hire one of us you are also helping to support this worthy cause.

About Orphan's Africa:
 Orphans Africa (OA) is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt charitable organization that began in 2007 with the coming together of three ordinary people, whose desire was to build peace between nations by providing assistance to those who are most vulnerable.

Together they traveled to Tanzania where malaria and the AIDS epidemic has left victims of all ages. Over two and a half million children have been orphaned. Widows have lost their husbands and desire opportunities to support themselves and their children. Working hand-in-hand with grassroots non-governmental organizations in Tanzania, OA provides the orphans with education and basic necessities, and provides the widows with the training and opportunities they need to become self-sufficient. We believe that by educating children and helping widows to become self-sustaining, we are bringing hope, not only to today, but to the future.

Introducing: OnlineAuthorVisits.com

We've changed names!  Online Author Visits (formerly Skype Authors) has changed its name to better reflect the many different services that now offer video connections. Whether it's through Skype, Google Plus, Adobe Connect, or some other service, we're eager to connect with you in video presentations to classrooms and book clubs. Please explore the information on our site and contact the author(s) you'd like to chat with online!

Skype in the Classroom

I ran across this site on Twitter and think it has an admirable goal in bringing classrooms together via Skype:

Skype in the classroom is a free global community that invites teachers to collaborate on classroom projects where they might use Skype, and share skills and inspiration around specific teaching needs.

Teachers all over the world are using Skype to make learning more exciting and memorable. It's easy to see why: Skype offers an immediate way to help students discover new cultures, languages and ideas, all without leaving the classroom.

http://education.skype.com/about

~ Joan Holub

Imaginations Soar Across the Miles

by Trudi Trueit

Take one middle grade author from Seattle, Washington, 120 creative students from Gadsden, Alabama, throw in some techno hocus pocus and you've got the recipe for a fun, fast-paced virtual author visit!

Trudi Trueit

Susan Wills, Media Specialist at R.A. Mitchell Elementary, was one of our lucky Half 'n Half contest winners in October. Susan won a half-price virtual visit with the Skype Author of her choice (with 100% of the fee going to Skype Authors 2011-12 charity, CAMFED).

I was honored and excited that Susan selected me for her Skype visit. Projected in the school cafeteria on a movie theater-sized screen (I was enormous!), I told the third and fourth graders about how I fell in love with storytelling when I was their age, and began writing plays. I discussed my career as a TV news reporter and my path to publication, giving the students a sneak peek at my upcoming releases and what I'm working on now. I got to lead the kids in an interactive creative writing exercise, a Q & A session, and a game (complete with prizes sent ahead of time to Mrs. Wills). The Mitchell Elementary library also received a complimentary audiobook of my latest release, Secrets of a Lab Rat: Scab for Treasurer?

I was so impressed with how imaginative and articulate the students were. The fact that I was on the big screen didn't slow them down a bit. We were able to create and share ideas as if I was right there. Sometimes, it felt as if I was there!

For the kids, I think the highlight of the visit was a surprise appearance by my trusty assistant and calico cat, Bernadette. I'm still not exactly sure what was going on behind me that had the kids howling with laughter, but I suspect a toy mouse may have been involved.

If you are a teacher or librarian, Bernadette and I would love to Skype with your class, too. Fees are listed on the Author Info Page, and you can contact me through my website at www.truditrueit.com. Remember, all Skype Authors pledge to donate 25% of their Skype fees to charity!

Skype Authors Half 'n Half Contest Winners!

Congratulations to Lee Ann Simon and Mrs. S. Wills, winners of our Half 'n Half Contest. On behalf of their schools or classrooms they have won a half-priced visit with an author from this site, the entire fee to be donated to Skype Authors' 2011-2012 charity, Camfed. Enjoy!

Skype Authors Half 'n Half Contest

In celebration of the launch of Skype Authors, a Half and Half Contest is open now through October 1. Here's your school or book club's chance to win a half-priced visit with an author from this site. And the entire half-priced fee you pay will be donated to our 2011-2012 charity, Camfed. To enter, simply leave a comment at the end of this post, along with a contact email. We will randomly select two winners.

Good luck!

Tune in at the Start of the School Year

For those of you who are just now discovering Skype Authors, we hope you will explore our site, then check back with us at the beginning of the school year for a special offer that I'll be posting information about during the first week of September.

On Sunday, I spoke with librarians at the Arkansas Association of School Librarians Conference via Skype.  It's so exciting to see this technology spread as more and more educators learn about its potential for connecting students with authors. Kudos to Conference Chair, Tracy McAllister, and Greenbrier media specialist, Erin Shawe, for showing Arkansas school librarians how easy it is to connect with Skype. You are ahead of the curve! If you were in Erin's session, I hope I and other authors on this site will see you in a virtual visit sometime during the 2011-2012 school year!

--Suzanne