Webheads 10th birthday!!!I can add nothing to Tom's post about webheads! I found myself nodding on completing each sentence. I remember I wrote before about /with them on the impact of joining WiA. Today, after attending the session on WiZiq and reading Dennis verse at Tapped In, I can't but post my response to Nina Liakos, who is supposed to present in October about the webheads:
In a response to Nina Liakos, who is presenting at TESOl at her country, I send her the below text:
Describe below how you helped, or were helped by, a fellow webhead:
It was my first webcasted presentation, when teachers from around the globe were supposed to join colleagues at the British Council, Khartoum back in June 2006. http://tinyurl.com/5k7a9b Teresa (Portugal) and Cristina Costa ( Portuguese in UK) offered their help. They spent long hours online , going over my slides, listening to my worries, sharing their knowledge, giving me backup moral support. They were with me until midnight before the day of the presentation. I was like a baby holding tight to his mum’s hand on his first day in school. Eventually, Cristina emailed me asking about my address to send “something”, which, unfortunately, didn’t arrive in the time of the presentation. She sent me a new headset, because we encountered problems in hearing during my rehearsal. “Break a leg.I will be there to applaud to you” were the words written on the back of the card: http://tinyurl.com/5vs65j Andy, the owner of Alado room, offered me countless tutorials for the how-to use the room. He was online with the technician of the BC 2 hours before we started. I would have never delivered a successful presentation without Teresa, Cristina and Andy! http://halafawzi.wikispaces.com/
List below, and add pictures if possible, your favorite f2f encounters with other webheads.
This is a Bubbleshare album I created for my f2f encounter in Fukuoka, Japan. There are more photos if you look for the most interesting pictures tagged with worldcall08 at flickr. It was as if we have known each other for ages. I had the most amazing time in my life with the webheads http://tinyurl.com/69haz2
Describe below how being a webhead has led to professional advancement and/or career changes for you:
I believe all what I have learned about online learning/teaching goes back to the webheads community of practice for teachers. I started as newbie, a co-moderato for Becoming a webhead in 2006, a moderator in 2007 and I ended up as an awardee of a scholarship to attend World CALL 2008, because of my accomplishment in the field of CALL and the benefit I offered to both my students and teachers in Sudan. All goes to the webheads help, sense of commitment, sense of belonging, diverse skills and knowledge; shared objectives, understanding and above all, mutual trust and respect. In the university I teach, I am the first teacher who integrated online learning in EFL classroom in Sudan. This led to more university recognition, more advancement in my teaching and above all, a salary-bonus on the latest promotion scale at my college !
In a reply on the list 16/9/08:
Although the distance should have kept us a part, but all keeps all in the heart.
Your words come from your deep heart, John.
I can't find the exact words that could convey what I feel towards webehsds, and how proud I am of being one of them!
Thank YOU goes to EACH webhead around the globe!
To Vance, Dafne, Teresa and all!
Greetings from deep Africa!
