Webheads in Action and Me: personal impressions

I must go back in time very briefly to explain how my very fortunate 'meeting' with the Webhead community came about. After all, it is the result of a series of very pleasant coincidences that I'll explain through a series of if's.

If I hadn't joined TESLCA-L some years ago, I'd (probably) never have met Claire Bradin Siskin. And if I hadn't met Claire, I certainly wouldn't have spent three wonderful  weeks with her and Mark in Pittsburgh, in October 2000, and wouldn't have submitted a proposal for the Tesol 2001 Conference in St. Louis in December of that year. She kept pushing me into it and how I thank her for having done so! Then, if my proposal hadn't been accepted, I (probably) wouldn't have become a Tesol member in 2001. Finally, if I hadn't become a Tesol member, I probably wouldn't have known about this fabulous community.

Each of these four factors has greatly contributed to my personal, academic and professional development, especially in the last year and a half. Above all, I have been immensely enriched at all levels by all the contacts and friendships I've made along the way.

I first heard about these two-month online sessions in mid-December. My antennas popped up immediately. Knowing that I wouldn't be at Tesol 2002, I wasn't about to miss this opportunity to explore different (a)synchronous communication tools. When we are part of a community, involvement and commitment are easier. We're motivated and driven by curiosity, personal, academic and/or professional development, as well as by a group dynamic. Besides, when these elements are constantly pushed forward by super energetic members such as Vance Stevens, Susanne Nyrop and Dafne Chavez, it becomes absolutely contagious!

I contacted Vance for the first time in mid-January to register after having taken a look at many of his Web pages on the Webhead community and syllabus, as well as having received Claire's strong advice to join the group. Thanks, Claire, for that final piece of advice that left no doubts in my mind!

The first week was practically based on introductions by email and getting a Yahoo account. I was very much at ease with email. Though the account was not totally linear in my case, because the two IDs I chose were not available (so I was tossed back and forth and ended up following their suggestion), everything was pretty intuitive.

My first literally 'extraordinary' experience was the 'virtual pets session' at Tapped In on Jan 27. For someone who had entered a MOO environment for the first time only the day before and for a very short time, it was like being sent into outer space without ever having set foot in a spaceship before, much less having looked at its commands! It was daunting, but fascinating! It was confusing (and frustrating at times), but challenging!

The following day I wrote these words to the group: "Yesterday was my first try with chat in TappedIn. I visited the site for the first time ever the day before, browsed around and then followed the "Things to try in TappedIn" (http://www.tappedin.org/info/things_to_try.html). I admit I only started getting some feel of things when I got to #12. However, it was not enough to really help me understand 'how' things were happening at the 'Pet show' yesterday. Above all, they were happening too fast for a true beginner. I felt totally lost and out of context, though I shared in the fun some of you were having through your comments."

Yes, in spite of all the humorous, informal and friendly talk going on, which somehow helped me be in a good mood and not give up, I felt completely uprooted. Probably like an E. T. would feel had he/it (??!!) just landed on Earth!

The first thing that caught my attention was the amazing speed at which text scrolled down right in front of my eyes. Concentrating on anything else was difficult. That's why I only remembered to click on 'detach' a while later (one piece of advice that sank in the day before). Ah, that bigger text area sure made a difference!

There were jokes being pulled off on people, side comments, moods and emotions showing up in straight/curved brackets right after people's names.There were icons and photos of members, and icons of pets and objects.

There were notes passing around as well as pretty elaborate descriptions of some of those  pets and objects, and what they do. There were people describing their pets, playing around with them, feeding them, teasing them, even buying them from a 'vending machine'!

There were signs, big and small, and ASCII drawings of pigs and hens in all sizes with wise cracks inside. There were also URLs showing up on the screen. And then, as if out of the blue, a new window opening up to show us that Web site. "How do we do these things?" often ran through my mind. I felt I was in another galaxy!

Alas, there were other people feeling totally lost and dumbfounded, just like me, which felt comforting! But, at the same time, there were very helpful and supportive members trying to guide the newbies, or taking them aside into virtual offices, explaining things, sort of letting them breathe or just get some fresh (virtual) air!

All along the session I kept thinking to myself: "What's going on? What's this all about? What does all this have to do with EFL? What am I doing here? I don't even like chat! I never have!"

My urge was to give up, disconnect, but something inside told me to keep on. I felt there was no problem in just sort of lurking. I was there as a guest. Nothing really made me take part in the conversation. Anyway, while trying to keep up with the flow of text and pretty much afraid of clicking here and there to explore things, suddenly two hours had gone by. Whew! I 'was' exhausted!!!

Later that day, I tried to sort out my ideas and think about the purpose of chat to the teaching and learning of EFL. Though I didn't immediately grasp some of its applications, one thing was certain: there was no going back. That group had magnetized me. Suddenly, an email addict had surrendered to the appeal of chat! The following week, I became a member of TI! And the following Sunday I decided to go for it and join Susanne and Dafne in preparing a session on Carnival!

Why such a change in me in such a short period of time? Well, here was a warm group of people who immediately greeted and welcomed everybody as they came in, and tried to make contact. A closely-knit group of people, some going back a few years, who made 'newbies' feel 'at home', and were willing and available to patiently teach them what they had learned before us. That human and affective touch sure felt nice!

To be continued (with other episodes from this fabulously 'high-touch' and affective two-month virtual experience, as time permits).

8 Mar 02

Teresa Almeida d'Eça