Skype in the classroom (Beta) Brings Teachers And Students Together.

Skype in the classroom (Beta)  http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Like the rest of us finding innovative ways to use Skype to reach into the near and far corners of the country, world, teachers across the world use Skype to take their students to places . They use it to bring experts, authors, and guest instructors into the classroom, those who would never otherwise be able to visit the school. Students can take virtual field trips, if you will, via Skype as they're connected to places through video chat. A Skype communication session can involve foreign language learning or a cultural exchange. It can connect classrooms across the city, state, country or around the world and bring an expert on any subject in front of the class. This would have been impossible without an aid of a tool like Skype.
Now SKype has taken a step forward and created Skype in the classroom (beta); 

Skype in the classroom brings together a community of people and information to save teachers time and help them make the most of Skype and the international teaching community.
Teachers create a profile that sets out their interests, specialities and location. They can then browse through the community to look for teachers who can offer them help, or whom they might be able to help. Once teachers find someone they’d like to connect with, they can add that person as a Skype contact, or share Skype-related teaching resources.
Skype in the classroom is in beta, which means it is still being developed and refined. We are very open to feedback as to how we can improve it, so please share your comments and ideas using the Feedback tab on the left of the page. Equally, if you have an inspiring story about using Skype in your classroom, please share it with us.

I just wrote about how a University professor leverages Google Voice and other Google tools to interact with his students. So there are other solutions if Skype is not for you.
Have a look at Skype