Hats off to WiAOC

I think everyone who participated in the Webheads in Action Online convergence (WiAOC) was deeply impressed by the undertaking. Of course, with so many events happening, it was impossible to attend all the presentations, although I know a lot of people tried to skip on sleep to be able to attend some of the presentations. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if part of the 'Becoming a Webhead' session of evo2006 includes a session on 'How to sleep less and spend more time online :-)



As I was travelling (in Bilbao, for some talks to teachers on blogging), I didn't get to attend many sessions, but the great thing about this event is that most (if not all) of the presentations have been recorded for posterity, and are available to listen to. I've just started doing this, and am trying to find the time to listen to more, as there are so many great presentations. The conference Moodle is also still active, and it's worth checking in there if you haven't already done so.

Apart from my presentation on interactive listening mazes at Tapped In, and being asked to participate in the Dublin Brunch, which was broadcast live on NEAR FM, and Irish radio station with 20,000 listeners, I managed to get to the opening session by Curtis Bonk on Blended Learning, available to listen to at Learning Times (this requires registration, but is well worth it. There were some great ideas presented and discussed here.



I also attended the sessions on:



'Teacher blogs in action' by Renata Suzuki and Karen Garcia (again available to listen to at Learning Times). This was an extremely interesting presentation, which turned into a stimulating debate about various aspects of blogging.



'Going Global with the Webheads in Action' (this link will take you directly to the recording of the session, at the Alado Webheads voice classroom) by the one Webhead that I've actually met in person, and who was instrumental in getting me involved with blogging, Teresa Almeida d'Eça. I think Teresa's presentation took a lot of people's breath away as she outlined her activities with the Webheads. This was a great session, and one that should inspire a lot of people to become involved with Webheads in Action...




And catching up, I have been able to listen to:



Bee and Aaron's presentation about Dekita and P2P in EFL/ESL(direct link to voice room recording), also available to listen to through the Webheads room in Alado. The Dekita project presentation should be essential listening to anyone involved in blogging with students, especially if the idea is to publicise and create connections with other weblogging classes and students around the world. Inspiring stuff, as always.



the Worldbridges podcast of the session by Dave Sperling, someone who did more than anyone to promote ESL online activities in the days when the Web was young. He talks about the tenth year anniversary of his ESL cafe, and some of the changes that he has gone through since it started. It was interesting to hear how he is now able to earn a living from the site, and that he has not been teaching ESL since 1999.



And if the quality and interest value of the other presentations is anything like those I've already listened to (I don't doubt it), I think I'm going to have to take a month and listen to them all. It was truly an inspiring event.