GCCCE 2010 Paper Presentation for W06

Would not have thought of presenting any paper in a Conference that's targeted mainly for the "Chinese World" of Educators - but it happened. So, it once proved again, its the relevance that overrule the medium of communication (Mandarin vs English).

Indeed, I think many a time, because we were so exposed to the articles and educators in the English speaking world, we were pretty ignorant of the vast amount of work carried out in the Chinese-speaking world. Yes, look at the papers that were presented in the conference! On the other hand, it's through this one-time experience that made me wonder... does this group of educators do things differently, as compared to those in the English-speaking world?

Things that could be better...

• I guess, it's really a matter of expectation and preparedness - which was 'shaped' over time and our previous experiences when presenting papers in conferences - be it big or small.
• What would cross one's mind when one is told it is a Workshop? The physical layout, settings (including equipment) would definitely be different! One would not expect it to be a tutorial set-up with rows of chairs and tables lined up in straight rows. That defeat the objective and the strategies that people would normally employ in workshops!
• It's the engagement level that one looks out for - participation is one of the key highlights, what's more if it's an ICT-enabled workshop! (Hahaha... I could find my ex-ETO self coming back again!). Unfortunately, there seemed to be disalignment in expectations, and perhaps interpretation of what a workshop entails! {sigh...}
• I guess nothing got more frustrated when the enquiries went nowhere... it went like a ping-pong ball that bounced around because there was no 'ownership' or clear direction on management of enquiries by the organiser! {another sigh...}
• Well, of course, the last assumption we had was the event took place in NIE! Hahaha... We presume the event 'must' be taking place in NIE since NIE is the co-organiser. Nevertheless, we were lucky to have the logistic personnel in NIE to assist. Phew! Else, we'll be late too!
• Indeed, not knowing that there was a chairperson assigned to the session (oh yes, we were not told), we started at 1.35 pm about 5 minutes before the organiser (and his team of people came in). Hahah... in chinese, we really 喧宾夺主. It's both unforgetable to us as well as the organiser, I believe.

This is the 2nd time presenting a paper that is related to the use of Web 2.0 applications and platform. Indeed, it's a collaborative effort with Ching Ya - to share good practices we have in SST, in particular, for this conference, those that were implemented in the Chinese Language subject. It's heartening to be able to surface good practices within just 6 months.

Here's the Blog that host the information and materials prepared specially for this occasion: http://sst-20100601.blogspot.com/; http://sst-20100601.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html