Hello, Fellow CALL-ISers!

I hope all is going well where you are.

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” –Benjamin Franklin (Williams, 2013).

In a recorded interview entitled “How to Build the Future (Y Combinator, 2016), Elon Musk noted, “I think we must always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side” (start video at 7:00). One of our most significant duties as educators is to enact and to participate in change. The same is true of organizations that develop and serve an engaged membership in a changing world. In that spirit, I’d like to share with you some of the changes of which CALL-IS is a part.

Valuable benefits accrue to professionals and students alike through participation in TESOL International Association’s many and varied interest sections (ISs)—and, as you probably know, TESOL is currently proposing a realignment/reconfiguration of its ISs. Knowledge-based member communities (KMBCs) are intended to provide similar opportunities as the ISs do for professional collaboration, sharing of knowledge and expertise, and collegial discussion and debate on the topics of the day. Two types of KMBCs are proposed: professional learning networks (PLNs), easily-formed groups of fewer than 100 members, and professional knowledge sections (PKSs), larger groups with memberships of more than 100 and particular/discrete loci of professional knowledge. To participate and/or follow developments, checkhere.

You have probably noticed changes at myTESOL. Our CALL-IS Community has gotten a makeover (as have all other IS communities, so we’re in good company). It’s a new interface with a bright, welcoming look; all your CALL-IS friends are still there, and there’s even a resource library for our membership to continue to use and develop (so your contributions are, as always, welcome). One difference you may have noticed already is a change in the CALL-IS Community email discussions arriving in your inbox. These are now presented in digest form, which you receive in your regular email. The digest post header displays two buttons “Reply to Group” or “Reply to Sender”. Choose the one you want and click the button and you’ll be presented with the myTESOL login page. Once you’ve logged in, your reply form appears, and you’re ready to compose and send your response.

This year in Seattle, you’ll also see some changes at the CALL-IS Electronic Village (EV) and Technology Showcase, too. Remember the poll from our last On CALL newsletter regarding topics that you consider current within our field? You’ll find some of those nested in this year’s five Hot Topics. Graduate students get an opportunity to showcase their research, too, with “On the Cutting Edge: Graduate Student Research” presentations. See Stephanie Korslund’s Letter from the Past Chair for details on these excellent developments.

Webcasts from 2017 TESOL CALL-IS EV Fair and Technology Showcase are taking on a different look. CALL-IS Webcast Team Development Coordinator Abe Reshad and his team are using YouTube Live for live webcasting and recording. It’s a promising step forward in making EV presentations freely available for people unable to get to the convention and for involving more volunteers in the professional development context.

Each year, TESOL International Association generously provides the CALL-IS with support for the Electronic Village venue, including funding for more than 20 computers, internet, and all the infrastructure needed to produce quality presentations and webcasts. In hopes of offsetting some of these rising costs, TESOL is charging a US$10 EV admission fee. TESOL and CALL-IS invite you to purchase your US$10 pass to the Electronic Village by adding it to your registration or purchasing on site. Your convention registration gives you access to the Technology Showcase, as in past conventions.

Undoubtedly, CALL-IS will undergo more change and development as we move toward and through the annual convention, and into 2018. I invite you to welcome it—better yet, be a part of making it happen.

I’ll conclude this, my final On CALL newsletter article as CALL-IS chair, with big thank yous to all of the steering committee members and EV planners of this year. Incredible energy, determined focus, generous spirit—what a pleasure to share with such professional representatives of our IS. And to all CALL-IS members, thank you for your input, interest, and continuing participation in our mutual professional development. Onward to TESOL 2017—I look forward to seeing you in Seattle!

Best regards,

Jack

Reference

Williams, David K. “Top 25 Quotes to Discover the Leader in You.” Forbes Magazine, August 17, 2013. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2013/08/17/top-25-quotes-to-discover-the-leader-in-you/#7a5e8f4531be

Y Combinator. (2016 September 15). Elon Musk: How to build the future [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnBQmEqBCY0

Jack Watson is the ELP e-learning coordinator at the University of New Brunswick English Language Programme in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and has more than three decades of experience in teaching ESL/ESOL. Jack’s past involvement with CALL-IS includes presenting in the Electronic Village (EV), coordinating the EV Fair Classics and CALL-IS webcast development, reviewing proposals, and contributing as a steering committee member. Interests include outdoor photography, website building and maintenance, blues guitar, and (still) playing with Siamese cats.