Hi,

My name is Larry Udry, and I am the editor of the CALL-IS e- newsletter, “On CALL”. This is the second pre-Dallas conference newsletter. In this edition, there is a link to the EV program, so you can view the schedule before the conference. In addition to this sidebar, there is our poll about TESOL’s technology standards. There is also a notice about our reception on Thursday, March 22^nd at the Iron Cactus. Finally, there is a reminder about the deadline for submissions.

For the technologically inclined… if you’re hoping to find us on Facebook and Twitter, you can follow us on our Facebook Page at Tesol CALL Interest Section. We know you will really "like" us” , or you can tweet us on Twitter. To get to the CALL-IS Community, click here. Here is a link to the EV Events on CALL-IS Moodle and finally a letter with links for those looking to volunteer in the EV (a paid volunteer gig, no less) EV Volunteer Letter .

Secondly, if you cannot attend the conference but still crave professional development, there is the EVO ( Electronic Village Online). Carla Arena describes it as “ a virtual extension of the TESOL 2013 Convention in Dallas in which educators around the globe will have the chance to enhance their professional development, network, collaborate, share and learn with like-minded professionals in wonderful online sessions that were carefully designed by our moderators.” Please note that you don’t have to be a TESOL member to participate in these five-week sessions. They are free and online from January 14 - February 17, 2014. Visit the Announcement Web page to select one among the various session offerings. Registration starts on January 7th, 2014. If you want to be reminded of the EVO registration period and the latest news, join the mailing list. The EVO is offered every year in January. So if you can’t be a part of it this year, there is always next year.

As you may know, many of the convention presentations will be webcast and allow your full participation, even if you’re not in Dallas. Thanks to Jack Watson, here is some further information.

The CALL-IS webcast team has been busy preparing to broadcast many of the presentations for this year’s convention. This year the TESOL CALL-IS is pleased to present webcast sessions from the Technology Fair and the EV Fair Classics. Here’s the Technology Fair roster (all times are CST):

• Thursday, March 21, 10–11:45 am: CALL-IS Academic Session: Gaming and Language Learning
• Thursday, March 21, 6:45–7:30 pm: CALL-IS Open Meeting
• Friday, March 22, 10–11:45 am: Mobile Apps for Education Showcase
• Friday, March 22, 1–2:45 pm: InterSection: New Tools and Techniques in CALL
• Saturday, March 23, 10–11:45 am: InterSection: New Technology Horizons for International Teaching Assistants
• Saturday, March 23, 3–4:45 pm: InterSection: Harmony in ESP Practice With Computers, Video, and Digital Media

The EV Fair Classics feature eight webcast sessions, including four from the EVO. Here’s the roster:

• Friday, March 22, 2–2:50 pm: Leslie Opp-Beckman: Shaping the Way We Teach English
• Friday, March 22, 2–2:50 pm: Sandy Wagner: Oh, What a Site! Google Sites for Language Learners
• Friday, March 22, 2–2:50 pm: Nellie Deutsch: Moodle for Teachers (EVO)
• Friday, March 22, 2–2:50 pm: Daniela C. Wagner-Loera: EVO Mentoring (EVO)
• Friday, March 22, 2–2:50 pm: Evelyn Izquierdo, Miguel Mendoza: Podcasts, Web-based Recordings, and Videocasts: Dynamic and Interactive Ways to Provide Feedback (EVO)
• Saturday, March 23, 11–11:50 am: Leslie Opp-Beckman, Rawan Yaghi, Deanna Hochstein, Deborah Healey: WTWE: Women Teaching Women English
• Saturday, March 23, 11–11:50 am: Jim Bame: Student Projects and More Using Nicenet.org
• Saturday, March 23, 11–11:50 am: Vance Stevens, Claire Bradin Siskin: Multiliteracies MOOC (EVO)

If you're attending the TESOL convention in Dallas and are interested in helping out the CALL-IS and getting experience with conference software, the Web Cast Development Team would like to hear from you. Contact Chris Sauer or Jack Watson for more details.

Information on how to participate, along with links to the various sessions, will appear soon on the CALL-IS Moodle.

Still looking for professional development? Then the TESOL Community pages maybe for you. Here teachers discuss teaching trends and pedagogy, and share tips and ideas for effective teaching. The pages have been very active with teachers, researchers, and others adding to the discussion. Recent discussion topics include the use of Diigo, an ongoing dialogue on the benefits and drawbacks about online classes, the use of wordle, and 526 other messages that are too numerous to mention.

Finally, I’d like to thank all the members of the Steering Committee and EV planning groups (Justin, Chris/Roger, Dawn, Suzan, Stephanie, Tom, Jeff, Christine, Aaron, Nellie, Jack, Claudio, Diana, and Snea) and for their tireless work. The endless stream of emails makes me wonder how (and if) they ever sleep. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, the convention and all the other activities related to our field continue to grow. In addition, I’d like to thank all the volunteers, presenters, and others who put on the EV and who are always excited about professional growth and all things related to CALL. Their enthusiasm is infectious. Finally, thanks to all the contributors to the newsletter—without whom, I wouldn’t have a job.

Whether you make it to the convention or not, we hope that you can use the resources in this newsletter to continue your professional growth.

Larry

Editor’s note: In an article by Christine Sabieh, it was inadvertently published that she was at Notre Dame. Right name but wrong country. That is the Notre Dame in Lebanon, not the one in Indiana. We apologize for the error.

Originally hailing from Cincinnati, Larry was a Peace Corps volunteer in Rich, Morocco, from 1986 to 19988 and then graduated with an MA TESOL/linguistics from Ohio University in 1992. He has worked with Partners of the Americas in Venezuela, and he lived in Isahaya, Japan, for a year. Prior to his position at Divine Word College, he worked in UT Martin for 11 years, where he published the TNTESOL Newsletter. He enjoys playing guitar, making music, and playing with “his girls.”