President’s Letter Spring 2016
Dear IALLT members,
I am pleased to write to the IALLT membership for the first time as IALLT’s president. You may remember that my tenure as IALLT’s 26th president began at the conclusion of the FLEAT6 conference at Harvard University in August 2015. There I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with many of you – past presidents, board and council members, regional group leaders, and members – and celebrate IALLT’s 50 years.
IALLT Board 2015-2017
Upon assuming office in August 2015 IALLT’s new executive board, consisting of (left to right below) Felix Kronenberg (President Elect), Sharon Scinicariello (Programs Director), myself, Gus Leonard (Secretary), and Kristy Britt (Treasurer), along with Harold Hendricks (Past President) began working on several crucial IALLT projects. Our efforts have also been bolstered by those of several IALLT council members and volunteers devoting time and attention to these projects.
One of our first tasks was to debrief the FLEAT6 conference and 50th anniversary celebrations at Harvard University in August 2015. The number of registered attendees at the FLEAT6 conference totaled over 300, making the FLEAT6 conference one of the best attended conferences IALLT has hosted in recent years!!! The post-conference evaluation was overwhelmingly positive. To our delight a large majority of the respondents indicated that they are planning to attend the IALLT 2017 conference! We deeply appreciate members that attended the conference and those that worked diligently behind the scenes –your involvement and efforts went to make FLEAT6 and the 50th anniversary celebrations a grand success! We are looking forward to seeing you at the IALLT Summit in 2016 and at IALLT 2017 in Minnesota.
IALLT Programs Director Sharon Scinicariello and IALLT 2017 conference host Ron Balko are orchestrating the planning of IALLT Summit 2016 (June 17 – 18, 2016, Concordia College, Minnesota). The Summit affords an opportunity to review IALLT’s activities, chart the organization’s path for the future, and network with colleagues. Summit attendees will discuss IALLT’s publications, its professional development activities, regional groups, and alliances with other organizations. If you’d like to suggest a topic for discussion, contact programs@iallt.org. Since the Summit is held at the IALLT 2017 conference site, Summit attendees will also preview the conference venue and program. All IALLT members are encouraged to participate in the Summit either at Concordia or online! Remember, too, that the dates for IALLT 2017 are June 21 – 24, 2017.
CALICO (Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium) and IALLT share interests in language teaching and technology, and it is becoming a tradition to have an IALLT track at the CALICO conference in the year when IALLT does not host its biennial conference. IALLT meets with CALICO this year at Michigan State University in East Lansing May 10 – 14. The IALLT track includes twelve presentations, one panel, an entry in the Courseware Showcase, and three workshops. There will also be an IALLT special interest group meeting. Make your plans now to attend CALICO 2016!
IALLT President-Elect Felix Kronenberg and a newly-constituted IALLT Publications Committee reviewed IALLT’s publications and came up with a new publications roadmap. One of the recommendations of this committee is to combine the LCD (Language Center Design) and the ManMan (Management Manual) into a new “one-stop” publication for a broader audience. This publication, tentatively called The Language Center Handbook, will be available before the IALLT 2017 conference. Additionally, an edited IALLT book about the Past, Present, and Future of the Language Center is to be published by summer 2016. The next issue of the IALLT Journal (volume 45, issue 2) will be available soon. The IALLT Journal is transitioning to a new website and all content is being moved over to the new site in the coming weeks.
For our 2016 IALLT webinar series we have an impressive line-up of presenters and topics! The webinars are a valuable professional development resource and so please review our upcoming webinar offerings and plan to participate! We are also exploring new ways of expanding participation in our monthly webinar series. For example, the February webinar offers members the opportunity to preview and comment on the topic before the live event. If you cannot participate live, all our webinars are recorded and available to IALLT members for viewing through the IALLT website. Please help us spread the word about the webinars!
IALLT members know that the IALLT website has been “under construction” for several years. Under the leadership of Past President Harold Hendricks, we are now transitioning to a new IALLT website. A combination of software tools such as Word Press, Wild Apricot, and OpenJournal is addressing IALLT’s major organizational needs including membership management, IALLT Journal, conference hosting, webinars, and publicity via social media. Have a look at our new and improved website and let us know what you think!
As always, we are looking to expand IALLT’s membership. We need new people with expertise, enthusiasm, and commitment to join IALLT. While IALLT has a committed group of long-time members, for it to continue to grow as a professional organization and thrive, it needs a steady influx of new members to both contribute innovative ideas and become leaders. There are several vacant council positions including that of the Publicity Coordinator and AsiaCALL affiliate representative. You can see the current roster of IALLT’s board and council including open positions here. To encourage the involvement of future professionals IALLT offers Ursula Williams Graduate Student Conference Grants. Five graduate students used these grants to attend FLEAT6 and are becoming good ambassadors for IALLT; three of them serve as IALLT’s graduate student representatives, working to identify strategies to encourage student participation in IALLT activities. Recruit a colleague or two to join IALLT! Consider volunteering for leadership positions! And interest a graduate student or two in IALLT!
We are continuing to explore ways to strengthen our existing relationships with other organizations world-wide representing language teaching and technology, and also form new alliances. Lastly, I am also happy to report that the fiscal health of IALLT is in good standing. IALLT is benefitting from IALLT Treasurer Kristy Britt’s bookkeeping acumen and IALLT Secretary Gus Leonard’s expertise as parliamentarian, and we appreciate their insights on numerous IALLT matters.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, comments, or suggestions pertaining to IALLT’s membership, activities, and future. Remember, too, that IALLT communicates through multiple channels, including the IALLT website, the LLTI listserv, Facebook, and Twitter. Please consider following these forums to stay abreast of IALLT’s activities.
I hope to see you at the CALICO with IALLT conference at Michigan State University in May 2016!
Best wishes,
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D.
President, International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT)
Director, Foreign Language Technology Center
Wayne State University
385 Alex Manoogian Hall
906 W. Warren Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA
Email: sangeetha@wayne.edu
