[pn] Banff trip report

[Mark Warschauer]

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I attended the WorldCALL (computer-assisted language learning) 
conference in Banff, Canada May 6-10.  Information on the program and 
abstracts can be found at <http://worldcall.org/>.

This was the first conference I had attended in the middle of a 
national park.  It was a great experience, and I encourage more 
conference organizers to consider it.  I hope that my next invitation 
to a conference will be in Yosemite or Yellowstone (or I'll settle 
for any place in Hawaii).

The Canadian Rockies are absolutely spectacular, with dramatic cloud 
formations dancing in and out of wild snow-filled peaks, with plenty 
of meadows and canyons for hiking. It was quite chilly most of the 
week, due to a late-season snowstorm, but the last couple of days 
cleared up nicely and we enjoyed some sight-seeing in Banff, Lake 
Louise, and the surrounding areas.

As for the conference, I especially enjoyed an international panel 
with speakers from Egypt, Thailand, Ukraine, Iran, Kazakhstan, Viet 
Nam, and South Africa.  The WorldCALL conference has always placed on 
emphasis on bringing in participants from developing countries 
through its scholarship program.  The scholarship committee and its 
chair, Claire Bradin Siskin, deserve congratulations for their 
successful efforts in this regard, which have helped to broaden 
participation in the conference and bring important voices which 
might otherwise not have been included.

I especially enjoyed my interactions with graduate students at the 
conference.  This reinforces for me a point that I've made before for 
graduate students and others: be sure and take the time at 
conferences to introduce yourself to professors or others whose work 
you value.  They will enjoy meeting you and hearing about your own 
research, projects, and ideas.  (And special kudos to Joy Egbert, who 
drove more than a 1000 miles to the conference with a van full of her 
own graduate students, all of whom I enjoyed meeting very much.)

My own keynote talk was titled "Of Digital Divides and Social 
Multipliers: A Global Perspective on Language, Technology, and 
Development."  (Sorry, I don't have a copy available.)  In the talk, 
I surveyed CALL, educational technology, and community technology 
programs around the world, emphasizing how the social relations that 
are built around technology use are far more important than the 
outlays for hardware or software.  Hopefully I can turn the 
presentation into an article eventually and make it available.

Congratulations to all the organizers and attendees for a fabulous conference!
Mark