It’s always exciting for students to listen to guest speakers during class. But skyping with different lecturers from the British Isles took guest speaking to a new level.

Students in Andrew Sonnabend’s AP Comparative Government and Politics classes participated in two Skype sessions Wednesday. The goal was to provide students with a unique perspective of the political unrest in Northern Ireland.

“I can give them similar information,” Sonnabend said. “But I cannot give a first hand account.”

Students in Sonnabend’s first period class skyped with Sidney Brown, a professor at the University of Maryland who has lived in the U.K. for several years. Brown discussed how initial Scottish settlement centuries earlier contributed to the 20th century conflict.

“I thought the speaker was very dynamic and friendly, so I felt more engaged and inclined to listen,” junior Sophie Palim said. “And since he was from the U.K. and lived through it, he had a more informed perspective of the situation.”

The Skype arrangements were initially conducted by parents of students in the class, Sonnabend said. Although other teachers have also used skype technology to communicate with Whitman’s sister school in Denmark, this was the first time that Sonnabend used Skype in his CP classes, he said.

In Sonnabend’s seventh period class, students joined in a group discussion with Susan Garraty, who worked for RTÉ, the Irish National Television Provider, Deaglan de Breadun, a writer for The Irish Times and author of “The Far Side of Revenge” and Nancy Soderberg, who was a member of the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. While de Breadun and Sorderberg called in through Skype, Garraty came to Whitman for the discussion.

Although initially struggling with poor Internet connection, students benefitted from the presentation, social studies resource teacher Robert Mathis said.

Sonnabend said he hopes to expand the use of Skype in his classes.

“I would like to see more question and answer and interaction, but even a lecture with a Q&A at the end is absolutely incredible,” he said.