This is an online conference for Nordic language educators and others with an interestin in using ICT communocation in their teaching and professional development. We have been working backstage to make this happen for a long time, and as we are approaching start, this becomes more and more real. We have confirmed presenters from many different fields, ranging from an all online language school to a multimedia project.

Participation is free of charge, you can obtain a diploma for your presence, 14 days of free access to an online language school, and a free DVD with multimedia examples of an cross cultural project.

Anne Fox is my collaboration partner on this project. And an elgg blogger, too. Even more active than I've been. We're going to promote elgg for our conference community CoP
Den Nordiske Stemme online - the Nordic Voice

I need to open a new community for a class; and elgg is indeed an interesting way of getting to know what blogging can be used for. when framed by education needs.

But where oh where can I find simple help. I know I could send mail for Ben or Dave, and I will once I have tracked their emails; there is a feature for "contact this guy", but I am asked to open a file of a sort that my browser does not know (will have to reproduce this bug to explain in detail). And as I was looking for how to start a new community, it did not work for me. Anne said I shoud open mu Owned communities, and start a new one from there, but that apparently does not work for me either. I seem to want to be in some edit mode, from somewhere...

And I found a FAQ, but that appears to be just a dummy, to be continued. I am too busy to solve this now. Gee - this is learning by doing...

I'm sitting in at the TESOL online conference in Alado, with a free passs for invited Webheads. As a virtual meeting space, Alado works smoothly and easy going; it is some time since I was in an Alado session last time. 48 people are participating from all over the world. We're listening to a lecture by Margo Gottlieb on language arts standards and assessment in the US school system. backstage with Daf, in YM, we are agreeing it is a bit surprising that text chat is mute, even for private chats. This session is announced like this: ..."addresses the tensions that currently exist for teachers and administrators in this era of accountability countered against the classroom reality that our students face. Come join us for a lively discussion of the issues surrounding large-scale assessment and effective instructional assessment strategies for balancing the potentially detrimental effects of testing." So far, the discussion has not been very lively as we have seen dozens of slides, and only once been encouraged to answer a pretty closed question; the text chat was open for two or three minutes about halfway - and then closed again for more talking.

This is indeed the sage on the stage model transported into the virtuel environment with a nice audience. now five more minutes left, not much expectation for a lively dialog. In last minute, another question is raised, and a few repsonses are given, but as our professor has another ten slides she will move on quickly, but encouraging after session dicsussion talking about National Language Proficiency Standards. Some good advice is given. Talking about collaboration...

A thought provoking experience.

The Australian Quality Award Showcase 2005, live

Yesterday in a TAFE mentor group meeting on Skype, I met Stephan Ridgway, and he already knew me because he heard my first fumbling podcast mini interview in edtechtalk some months ago. Small world, eh?

Today Stephan is setting up wireless network at the above mentioned event, and he posted this photo to me on Skype, also for his moblog . read more at his wiki qualityawardsshowcase2005.wikispaces.com

Salvör Gissurardottir is now attending the e-learn 05 conference at hotel Sheraton in Vancouver; tonight she reported back to the SCoPE community where we're both members (they are going to meet tomorrow and I really wish I could be there, as well. I happen to know several of these good people, so I was more than happy to make a social link - how many degrees are separating us by now?)More and more I'm looking forward to the Nordic Voice online conference where Salvör will contribute, one way or another!
http://www.nordiskestemme.dk

Salvör's pictures on flickr.com from the e-learn 05 conference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/salvor/sets/1219724/
(I am sure I saw John Smith himself on one of these pictures in the slideshow!)

Salvör's videoclip from e-learn05 network lunch on October 26th
http://www.youtube.com/?v=q1M9kc4YkZc
(The volume of the lively conversation is impressive!)

Today I had invited a group of Australian teachers help me do some beta training as a Horizon Wimba live classroom facilitator. Our Danish surprise guest, Anker happens to be one or our keynote speakers for the Nordic Voice online conference (7-12 November 05)http://www.nordiskestemme.dk


We were back channeling in Skype. Good for troubleshooting problem issues happening by login and download of Java and Quicktime for people before they finally experienced a smooth connection, in most cases. We were 9 people in the live classroom, and I had invited a surprise guest: Anker Rasmussen, an innovative teacher in multimedia and more, who immigrated to Sydney some months ago, now looking for work. Somehow this session turned from being just a trial and eror troubnleshhot playground, to an improvised group interview with Anker in focus. Suddenly, as the moderator I decided to make a recording of this, to se how it turned out.

So grateful to all these fine people for taking their late evening time to help me testing this, technically as well as socially!

Thursday I was invited to host a Moodle chat with SCoPE folks from Simon Fraser University, informal and inspriring: some of the participants, Alice mcGillivray, Sylvia Currie and Cindy Xin, were actually busy attending the elearn 05 conference. This was one of those typical getting to know each other events, where we were refresing old connections and trying to introduce nrebies to an informal chat, where the information was embedded in our conversation, and not planned, and we did not try to set up an artifical structure of our chat session, by making rules or taking turns. Moodle has one good feature that I like: if people have a photo in their profice, this will pop up each time they are talking, at the left of their message.

I've still not read a chatlog, but would like to find time to do so, as I know that I was interrupted at a moment, here at home, and missed some of what people said, recorded chatlogs are so good for catching up.

Those who were at the elearn 05 conference told a bit about interesting sessions they had followed, and one was Curtis Bonk, He's also coming for the WIAOC online conference in November, the first Webheads convergence conference, that I am going to write some more about anytime soon.
http://www.geocities.com/vance_stevens/papers/evonline2002/conve