(by Mike Barker)
There’s nothing like going to a conference to get a person inspired by all kinds of new ideas, alternate approaches, and different perspectives. WorldCALL 5 in Chile was a great experience for me. Not only did I get to meet CALL practitioners from all over the world, but I also got to hear about what they’re doing in their own particular contexts and about how these contexts are similar to or different from my own.
Mike Levy’s keynote address, for instance, really connected with all the conversations we’ve been having here at Carleton about experiential learning:
“What I am interested in is the connection between what happens inside the classroom and what is happening outside it…make (learning) meaningful and relevant.”
While a presentation on Linguistic Landscapes by Stephane Charitos and Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl inspired me to get out into the Ottawa community and think about different ways students might map language onto the city.
One presentation that really affected me was called “CALL Challenges around the World: Voices of Experience.” The session brought together presenters from countries like Honduras, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Venezuela, and introduced us to the challenges instructors in these countries face every day; some sounded similar to my own; some, not at all. It’s got to be tough to use computers in your teaching when your country has an unreliable power grid or a government that might shut down Internet connectivity at any time!
My own poster presentation was about the technology we use to support the Linguavision Song Contest (which is happening again this year…get the word out!) and more broadly about encouraging students to seek out ways to continue their language learning outside the classroom; to push their limits just a little. A past performer said it best:
“I am not here to win. I’m not here to exactly impress anyone either. I’m here to prove to myself that I can get up on that stage and sing in the language I have loved learning and walk out of this school having done something I otherwise never could have imagined myself doing before.”
– Sarah (Japanese)
Mike discusses his poster with Dr. Phil Hubbard (Stanford)
It was my first time in South America and I very much enjoyed the experience. The campus of Universidad de Concepción is gorgeous and organizers introduced us to a range of cultural experiences (e.g. dancers, artisans, food & drink). I also very much enjoyed meeting and talking with attendees from all corners of the world. Qué interestante!