[CALL News] Info: World CALL

[Larry Chong]

Dear CALLers!
This from Mark, who is running [PN] list.
It is what we may have acheived soon in Bangkok.

Hope to see you.

Larry


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I attended the WorldCALL (computer-assisted language learning)
conference in Banff, Canada May 6-10.  Information on the program and
abstracts can be found at <http://worldcall.org/>.

This was the first conference I had attended in the middle of a
national park.  It was a great experience, and I encourage more
conference organizers to consider it.  I hope that my next invitation
to a conference will be in Yosemite or Yellowstone (or I'll settle
for any place in Hawaii).

The Canadian Rockies are absolutely spectacular, with dramatic cloud
formations dancing in and out of wild snow-filled peaks, with plenty
of meadows and canyons for hiking. It was quite chilly most of the
week, due to a late-season snowstorm, but the last couple of days
cleared up nicely and we enjoyed some sight-seeing in Banff, Lake
Louise, and the surrounding areas.

As for the conference, I especially enjoyed an international panel
with speakers from Egypt, Thailand, Ukraine, Iran, Kazakhstan, Viet
Nam, and South Africa.  The WorldCALL conference has always placed on
emphasis on bringing in participants from developing countries
through its scholarship program.  The scholarship committee and its
chair, Claire Bradin Siskin, deserve congratulations for their
successful efforts in this regard, which have helped to broaden
participation in the conference and bring important voices which
might otherwise not have been included.

I especially enjoyed my interactions with graduate students at the
conference.  This reinforces for me a point that I've made before for
graduate students and others: be sure and take the time at
conferences to introduce yourself to professors or others whose work
you value.  They will enjoy meeting you and hearing about your own
research, projects, and ideas.  (And special kudos to Joy Egbert, who
drove more than a 1000 miles to the conference with a van full of her
own graduate students, all of whom I enjoyed meeting very much.)

My own keynote talk was titled "Of Digital Divides and Social
Multipliers: A Global Perspective on Language, Technology, and
Development."  (Sorry, I don't have a copy available.)  In the talk,
I surveyed CALL, educational technology, and community technology
programs around the world, emphasizing how the social relations that
are built around technology use are far more important than the
outlays for hardware or software.  Hopefully I can turn the
presentation into an article eventually and make it available.

Congratulations to all the organizers and attendees for a fabulous
conference!
Mark