A Look at TCC-L 98


David Schelle
Hotchkiss High School
davids@colosys.net

I enjoyed the TCC-L '98 conference, and I didn't have any trouble navigating through the various environments. The fact that the conference was online was paradoxically time consuming. Since I didn't have to physically travel to the conference, attending it was extremely convenient. However, I didn't take any time off from my regular job as a high school English teacher, and this posed some time constraints. Specifically, I did not have the time to attend other presentations in a meaningful manner, nor could I spend much time in the Coconut Lounge.

It should have come as no surprise to me, then, when I noticed that the only people at my presentation seemed to be the same people I encountered in my brief visits to others'. Clearly other presenters had difficulty attending MOOs, too. This is not to say that the people who attended my presentation weren't helpful and interested; on the contrary, they asked pointed questions, and it was clear that they had read my article. However, I did expect to have the opportunity to converse with others in the field of high school distance learning/composition. This was obviously my mistake: how many high school teachers does one meet at a conference for "teachers in the community college"?

I appreciated the opportunity to share my work with others, and I was impressed with the amount of work that went into designing and presenting the conference. My hat's off to the organizers!