2013 TESOL Pre-Convention Institute

Wikis: Creating Collaborative Learning Spaces 

Sandy Wagner 

I am an Assistant Professor at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California where I work in the Language Technology Evaluation and Application division.   My experience in the field of second language acquisition and  English as a Second Language (ESL) began with a BA in French education, followed by a MAEd in Instructional Design and eLearning.  I have been involved in ESL as an instructor, program coordinator, online course designer and facilitator, and teacher trainer for over 25 years, with a focus on integrating technology into language instruction.  I currently teach PP103: Teaching Reading and Writing Online for TESOL's Principles and Practices of Online Teaching Certification Program.

I am also a lover of the great outdoors and take advantage of all that Monterey has to offer: hiking, biking, camping, and enjoying the beauty of our state and national parks. A favorite place of mine is Point Lobos State Reserve and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Favorite expression: Life is not the moments that we breathe each day, but the moments that take our breaths away.

I look forward to working with everyone and getting you started using Wikis for online collaboration and English language instruction.

Email: sandylw303@yahoo.com

Collaborative Activity 

Christine Bauer-Ramazani 

I have taught English overseas and in the US for over 35 years and been an instructor and teacher trainer at Saint Michael's College in Vermont for the last 27. With Master’s degrees in English Linguistics, Curriculum, and Business Administration, my specialties are integrating Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) into the classroom and teaching business as well as academic English for business, topics that I have presented on at conferences around the world. Since 2000 I have been designing and teaching online courses for Saint Michael's College (CALL and Curriculum & Syllabus Design) and TESOL, training other teachers in the principles and practices of online teaching. That year I also co-founded the Electronic Village Online of TESOL. The graduate courses I have taught recently include Testing and Assessment, Thesis, and Curriculum and Syllabus design.

Let's integrate Wikis into your classrooms for greater student-teacher interaction and collaboration!

Email: See my web site.

Collaborative Activity

I am a Senior Adminstrator/Facilitator at the University of New Brunswick English Language Programme in Fredericton NB Canada, where I am developing online and blended courses for ELP's Executive Online Learning and Academic Online Learning Series. Most recently I've been focusing on wiki integration into ELP's Study Abroad and Summer Total Immersion formats. As well, I serve on the Steering Committee of the TESOL Computer-Assisted Language Learning Interest Section, as Co-Coordinator of the Electronic Village Fair Classics and of the Web Cast Development Team.

Indulgences include blues guitar (Buddy Guy rules!), home renovation, and playing with cats.

I look forward to exploring the vast potential of wikis in classrooms with you!

Email: jack.watson@unb.ca

Collaborative Activity

Maria Tomeho-Palermino

I have been a Senior Lecturer at the Center for English Language and Orientation Programs (CELOP) at Boston  University since 1988.  I have been teaching academic, business, and legal English to foreign students and training foreign teachers and international teaching assistants. 

At CELOP I often work in program design, needs assessment, and online materials selection.  Most recently, I have been working with using wikis, blackboard, and other course management systems in the classrooom as a way of blending online and face-2-face instruction.  Using these programs and Web 2.0 tools has assisted me in making my students more responsible for their own learning and in encouraging in and outside collaboration on assignments and projects.

My fun activities are dance, reading, and travel.

I am very excited about working with you in the wonderful world of wikis and and the web!

Email:  mrplrmn154@gmail.com 

Collaborative Activity

Robert "Skip" Gole 

I have been teaching ESL for over 15 years at various places, starting with: Nisseki Nursing College in Nagano, Japan; the University of Washington as a substitute teacher; the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland; various other schools in between those; and as an adjunct professor at Montgomery College for the last 10 years.  I have been teaching listening, speaking, and pronunciation classes in the Non-Credit ESL program. 

I started online learning at Anaheim University in 1996 in the mountains of Japan and, after a long break due to Type 1 diabetes, finished with a master's degree. Some areas of interest in my classroom are the use of corpora, connected speech, spoken grammar, etc.  I also want to develop research skills, specifically action research.  I've made plans to study how to develop these skills, again online, at Anaheim University.

In some of my spare time, I am involved with work done by the Sierra Club.  I've marched in downtown Washington, D.C. in support of policies, such as global warming, that they have organized.  I've also spent time online writing to my state and federal representatives and senators on many environmental policies.  After this, I spend my free time outdoors--away from my computer; bouldering around on rocks in the Potomac River, and riding my bike through the woods and fields nearby.  I also commute to work on my bike, which takes about one hour each way; I often take the scenic route home! 

E-mail: skipgole@me.com 

Collaborative Activity