Dear CALL IS members,

It is my pleasure to report on the TESOL 2016 convention. The Electronic Village and Technology Showcase at the TESOL 2016 convention were a rousing success. Our overall attendance for this year was 1,500+ participants over the 3-day convention with 50+ participants attending virtually. Participants had a lot to choose from this year as CALL-IS accepted more than 150 presentations for the EV Fairs, Miniworkshops, Mobile Apps for Education, Developer’s Showcase, and EV Classics. The most popular sessions this year included presentations on Google Drive, Voicethread, Kahoot, and Memrise.

In addition to the sessions in the Electronic Village, we had 3 full days of panels offered in the Technology Showcase. Once again, we brought back our Hot Topics panels, this year having five different sessions on current and up-and-coming topics in the field of language teaching and technology covering everything from flipped classrooms to MOOCs to gaming and language learning. Our most popular Hot Topic session this year was “Google and Beyond: A Collaborative Commentary on Tech Resources for Language Learning.” The presenters in this session shared with participants their favorite online tools for teaching and learning languages.

Beyond our Hot Topics session, we had four InterSection panels, including “Creating, Adapting, and Using Content for Mobile Apps,” led by CALL-IS with MWIS; “Training Materials for ITAs,” led by ITA with MWIS and CALL-IS; and “One Size Fits One: Incorporating Technology Into ESP Courses,” led by ESPIS with VDMIS and CALL-IS. Our most popular InterSection panel this year was a special panel, “Innovating Language Learning Through Technology for Environmental Responsibility,” led by CALL-IS in collaboration with SRIS and the Environmental Forum. In this session, presenters demonstrated different applications and technologies that could be used to engage learners in the language learning process while educating them about environmental issues. Another well received panel was this year’s academic session, which focused on project-based learning. Our presenters on this panel explored project-based learning in hybrid, mobile, and online contexts and its potential impact on language teaching and learning.

This year was a big year for TESOL, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary. In honor of this major milestone, CALL-IS put together a special panel, “History of the EV Retrospective: Over Three Decades of Professional Development in CALL.” This panel brought together six former CALL-IS chairs to reflect on CALL over the past 50 years and its impact on language learning and teaching. After the session, all of our former chairs in attendance gathered for a group picture.

From left to right: Claire Bradin Siskin (1989–1992), Dawn Bikowski (2010–2013), Sandy Wagner (2007– 2010), Elizabeth Hanson-Smith (1993–1996), Tom Robb (1999–2003), Christine Bauer-Ramazani (2008–2011), Deborah Healey (1990–1993), and Vance Stevens (1983–1985).

If you happened to miss a session, do not despair. All sessions that were webcast from this year’s Electronic Village and Technology Showcase are available for viewing online. I’d like to thank Webheads in Action and Learning Times for their support in hosting all of our webcast recordings.

As we look ahead to next year, we hope that you all will be able to join us in Seattle for the TESOL 2017 convention. Keep a look out for our call for proposals for next year’s Electronic Village and Technology Showcase, which will likely go out in early Fall. We encourage you to start thinking of potential topics relating to language learning and technology that you can present at next year’s TESOL convention. To learn more about next year’s Electronic Village and to stay up to date on all things CALL-IS related, be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Whether it be in person or online, we hope to see you all next year in Seattle for another amazing Electronic Village and Technology Showcase!

Sincerely,

Stephanie Korslund

Stephanie Korslund is director of the Language Studies Resource Center in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University. She can proudly say that she finished her PhD in instructional technology with a focus on CALL from Ohio University in December 2015.