Εύρηκα! (eureka)

There is nothing like a deadline to get you going - that's all I have to say!  A while back, like last January or something, a colleague asked me if I would be interested in presenting at an IALLT webinar on a topic of my choosing - it just had to do with technology and education.  I generally don't have a problem with coming up with topic to talk about, but this particular topic gave me pause to ponder.  While I can talk about pedagogy and technology in general, pedagogy and technology in the context of a language classroom is not something I actively think about. I know, it's a bit odd since I have both an MA in Applied Linguistics and I work for a department of applied linguistics!  My own research ponderings have taken me away from the linguistic side of things, although like dark side it's alluring and I often think about it.

Anyway, I couldn't really come up with a topic then and there because EDDE 804 was taking up all of my brain's bandwidth at the time. That, and the NERCOMP Instructional Design Symposium last April meant that I deferred the presentation until April 2017.  Since I was remiss in providing any substantive details to my colleague (and with the kind reminder on her part :-) ), I needed to put something together.  What came to me immediately was resurrecting a topic that I had toyed with in the past as a potential dissertation topic.  The topic was  using MOOCs for language learning.  I had also presented a poster about it at the annual NERCOMP conference (our local Educause affiliate) a few years back).




I was particularly sick that day. I only really attended because I wanted to present the poster and engage with folks about it :-).  Anyway.  MOOCs kind of cooling off for me now.  I still like open learning, and the idea of MOOCs, but I think the concept is tainted. So, sitting out on my balcony, I was thinking to myself - what is it about this topic that really lit my fire?  Was it the (c)MOOC itself? Was it OER?  Was it the unknown?  Perhaps it was being outside, in nature(ish), or perhaps it was the lack of screens, or that I was reading about lurkers.  But it came to me!  What really was interesting was networks.  MOOCs are a conduit for networks, and the idea that appealed to me was not the MOOC, but rather the idea of language learning in a network - and how networks can be developed and supported in a language learning classroom.  There might be a little bit of a rhizome in there.


So, here is my  proposed title:  Language Learning in Networks: Tools and Frameworks for Open Language Learning


And my description: Networks are all around our.  Our classrooms are small, transient, networks of learners, but we don't have to limit ourselves (and our learners) to the networks that exist in our classroom.  Using technologies which allow us to network, open learning tools and resources, and fellow language learners around the globe, we can enrich our language classrooms, and the classrooms of our colleagues in other places.  In this session we will discuss networks and digital citizenship, how it is relevant in the language classroom, and what types of tools can be used to enable language learners to gain a glimpse into the emic perspective of the language and culture they are learning.


What do you think?