I was really impressed by the way the conference was organised despite so many parallel sessions going on. The key message was to do with 'enhancing teaching academic writing through student experience' which was reflected in the sessions too as several sessions were led by students themselves - pretty impressive. I wished I had some of the students from our own modules at the OU - pretty inspiring though not many things to take away!
Another highlight of the conference for me was meeting an ex-classmate from Lancaster after 8 years. The most surprising bit was that she worked at the OU for more than a year about two years ago and I did not know this! Life is full of surprises, huh? Likewise, I met with a writing centre director from Louisville Uni (Mary Rosner) who knew my ex-classmate from Nepal - Shyam.
What about the presentation? The topic was on collaborative learning in academic writing in open and distance learning. Well, I was slightly nervous about it as my colleague, Dave, could not make it as a co-presenter which was not new to me though as I had done a solo for a dual one before (last year). I was glad that I could finish it in time and left plenty of time for questions and discussions which invited lots of good response; Jim (colleague and boss!) too was impressed - so far so good!
There was also a social event organised last night - an Irish dance - Ceili dance. It was fascinating to see the young boys and girls dance without moving their hands/ arms but only legs and body! Here is a little snippet!
It was not all fun though! The first night when we were trying to find some food after 6.30pm on campus, we ended up eating roast potatoes and fries! Then I wondered how Deepak Dhungana, one of my ex-students, spent nearly two years or more there alone! Or maybe it's different when you stay there rather than just visit!
Well, I also met several other people including David Russell, one of the US New Rhetorics theorists, who were interested in my work. So I think we should make use of conferences such as this one to extend our networks although there may be little or no time for this as was the case with me. No regrets! All's well that ends well!
