It’s a rainy morning, and I’m up early to squeeze a bit more out of the day.
I can’t believe I was in Chicago last week because actually, that was two weeks ago, before the Thanksgiving break. Time has gone quickly, and we're almost at the end of the semester, and already looking to next year.
So much of Chicago is iconic and easily recognized; the big dirty downtown gives way to deep set suburbs that stretch up the coast of Lake Michigan, each neighborhood has distinct identities, and places to explore.
This week, a trip through the windy city and various updates.
Stephan
Spaces to Connect
It was my first time attending ACTFL, the American Council for Teaching of Foreign Languages. It is a behemoth, over 6000 delegates for three days of talks, presentations and a vast exhibition hall of various vendors, agencies and organizations supporting language learning.
Flying out on the Thursday, and arriving around lunchtime, I took a cab straight to the University of Illinois, to meet a former colleague who has taken a role managing a digital learning team, that includes learning designers and media creators; much like the one I looked after at the University of Southampton. We've been in conversation these past few months, and it was great to catch up, and to meet the team and chat about some of the projects that they are doing. It is a great setup, they have support from the higher-ups to create online courses, and it looks like they have everything in place to do that, including an upcoming move to a new space where all the team will be together.
I miss this work a little bit, I think I did okay, and I look back with fondness on particular moments, meeting interesting people, and doing some good at least. It is tricky managing the relationship between academics and digital learning teams, making sure that projects are conducted equitably and that they move forward as collaborations. I worry that some academics see digital learning teams as a service, to be told what's needed, rather than seeking to benefit from their obvious expertise in online learning, media creation, and activity design.
On Friday I gave a talk, it's a bit of a weird thing, you walk through this enormous conference center, like finding your gate at an airport, and find your room. It was busy with a few people, you wait until your scheduled time and without anyone introducing or moderating, you load up your slides and start talking. It was fun, mostly because I got good questions, and met some colleagues who had come especially to meet me, who also work in similar areas, and a few of us went for a coffee after, and chatted a bit more.
On Saturday, I visited the Illinois Holocaust Museum and met with staff to talk about their virtual reality exhibits. We have similar works in our room, and would welcome the opportunity to share projects. The museum itself was excellent, the stories incredibly moving, and left with an overwhelming sense of the importance of these museums as places that hold history, that pass knowledge from generation to generation. These are the front lines in fight to preserve memory, and counter the rampant anti-semitism that exists across the world. There were only a few references to the war in Israel and Palestine, the message rings out that human suffering, at the hands of those who claim to represent their people, should not be tolerated, that there truly, is no place for hate, that everyone deserves to live in peace.
Life Lessons
With just a few days, I couldn't start to figure how big Chicago is, I walked and walked on Saturday afternoon, through different neighborhoods, such as Lincoln Park and Old Town, and found myself in Wicker Park. At lunchtime I asked the server for tips on interesting places, and although there were many restaurants and eateries, there seemed to be a few bookshops, such as Myopic Books, second hand clothes stores, where I picked up a few things for my wife Sharon's birthday; and I wandered into couple of record stores to leaf through racks of lovely vinyl.
It was in one of those that I noticed a drop of blood on my hand, and as I worryingly felt my head, I could feel my scarf damp, and my woolly hat absorbing a cut that had opened on my ear, having nicked it shaving that morning. I had honestly not thought too much about it, but shocked to see how much blood was pouring onto my shoulder. I ducked out of the record store and found a Walgreens over the road where I got some cotton wool, some vaseline (an old rugby trick), and plaster (Band-Aid) to stop the blood. Despite all this, I found time for a wander, bought a poem from a small group working their typewriters on the street corner. They looked cold, and it made a nice gift, along with a few other bits and pieces, neatly avoiding souvenir shops.
I forgot to mention too that we stayed in a wonderful apartment, found by my colleague, we shared rides to the conference, he went off and gave his talk, and met with colleagues, and we dined together in the evenings, one night in a nice Italian restaurant, with oven-baked octopus (delicious), and the following night in an incredible Thai restaurant, with some of the best and most efficient service I've ever observed. Rather than one server per group of tables, it looked like everyone covered, so when one person was getting your food, another was topping up the water, and another clearing plates, there was never any pause.
I think I'd like to head back, I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface, and while I didn't immediately warm to my surroundings, as I have in Austin, Cambridge, or Minneapolis, I will give Chicago its dues, it's an incredible city, and can't wait to return.
Lost and Found
Okay, a few things I came across this week, some from the conference, and others from elsewhere.
This fascinating map from my wonderful colleague Kenya that shows the most spoken language in each US state besides English and Spanish.
Another previous colleague Naoko Tagushi just published this piece on the use of VR in intercultural conflict resolution.
I got some good stickers from LingDisco which is a way of learning languages through playlists of favorite songs. So many people talk about music as a way into languages, this is really useful for teachers at all levels.
Educause are hosting a course on ChatGPT in Higher Education, there we go, just the one AI link this week.
There are some good gifting lists going around, one at Kottke, which also has a rundown of all the others, and The Kid Should See This, and also a guide to giving to charity, which is almost always better. It’s always tricky buying gifts, so love to do this, but it is getting difficult to find new things. We will be traveling during the holidays, so that's a gift in itself.
Finally - here's a playlist of songs that accompanied me around Chicago, including a few local bands, such as Tortoise, and Wilco, who's seminal Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot record has a photo of the Marina City building that I walked past every morning, and that I pay homage to in the cover art.
Thank you
We had a lovely few days for Thanksgiving, and visit from a friend of mine, an old bandmate, who has left behind his old job for a career as an actor and has now appeared in almost 40 films, including a few things currently playing on Netflix, and at your local multiplex. It was great to catch up.
We spent a few days having a tour of Pittsburgh, heading to Lawrenceville for food on Saturday night, and even catching a band at Mr Roboto Project. It's fun to see where we live through someone else's eyes, and I know we enjoyed having him as part of our family, and see what we're up to.
On Tuesday morning I dropped him off for the next leg of his US tour, headed to Las Vegas, so that he can visit the Grand Canyon before heading to Oakland, CA. We'll try and catch up on the way back, before he leaves from Pittsburgh back to his life in Hungary, which is where he lives.
Okay, probably going to get a warning that this is too long. Remember to leave a high five and hug (that's a like and comment). Take care.