Living in the wild

'There are better ways to think of languages than as rules-based systems': a torrent of language & ideas from @stevenlthorne at #Eurocall17 pic.twitter.com/q7olusAOD8

— Paul Kaye (@PaulKayeEUlangs) August 25, 2017

Tomorrow is the final day of the #eurocall2017 conference. Time for a few reflections. The conference has had a packed schedule as usual and there are a few things I have noticed this time which indicate a greater level of technical engagement from participants. Clearly the focus of this conference is technology enhanced language learning but the shift is towards greater use of "wild" technologies. It may just be my impression but I think there has been a mood of determination that what we do is important. I think Graham Davies would have been proud. There was:

• lots of interest in social media and web tools
• a dynamic group of MALL (mobile assisted language learning) CMC (telecollaboration etc)  VW (virtual worlds) users and lots of PhD students too
• a real interest in open practice as we are all keen to continue to connect and collaborate despite travel bans, brexit and other threats to mobility
• great examples in the keynotes of how the web has transformed learning

I have two further sessions tomorrow. 

A session on CMC in the open

A Virtually Connecting session to reflect on the event before we all bring this year's event to a close. 

I have a feeling that the connections will continue through social media in the coming year too...watch this space!

Working in the open

🦋🌸🌼 #dandelion #dandelionblow #field #nature #scenery #pretty #sky #plants #pretty

A post shared by Becky Skrine (@beckyskrinee) on Jun 13, 2017 at 12:47pm PDT

Currently I'm at the #eurocall2017 conference and wanted to put together a couple of posts around my experiences there. Firstly, like the video image above I spent yesterday afternoon as a virtually connecting onsite buddie and it was very gratifying to be able to provide the means for those who couldn't attend the conference to speak first hand to our first keynote speaker Steve Thorne who was generous with his time and engaged passionately with the network, providing additional insights into his presentation. You can view this session here.

If you are not aware of the virtually connecting network take a look at their blog. Co-directors Maha Bali and Autumn Caines set up the organisation as a way to help those who don't enjoy the freedom to attend conferences for whatever reason, most of which will affect all of us at some point: family commitments, financial or visa restrictions for example to get a flavour of the conference proceedings and get up close and personal with keynote speakers. Everything is managed on a voluntary basis through Slack channels and the resultant recordings shared openly through YouTube.

We had a great session and there is another on saturday with Shannon Sauro and Kate Borthwick sharing their reflections on the conference so join us!