The presenter aims to bring together numerous language-oriented teaching and learning communities in a demonstration of how synchronous communication tools freely available on the web can facilitate the formation of such communities, contribute to their cohesiveness, and further their educational goals. Several such communities have been invited to attend this presentation.

The communities are:

1. Those in attendance at the conference and physically present at the demonstration
2. The members of the presenter's online class, Writing for Webheads, https://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/webheads.htm. This purely online and volunteer community of learners and teachers has been together for two years and still ongoing.
3. The members of a professional listserv recently formed by the presenter and his colleagues online: Teaching for Webheads,
   http://vancestevens.com/prohosting/tfw/index.html
4. Members of NETEACH-L and TESLCA-L, who were sent a blanket invitation to join the presentation

Plan for this demonstration / workshop

The tools used in this convergence of communities are:

1. ICQ for finding each other online, http://www.mirabilis.com (no longer exists by this name)
2. The text chat site at: http://www.homestead.com/vstevens/ - This is a browser based chat site, easy to reach, and works fairly well for a broad base of user. It was created simply by starting a web page at http://www.homestead.com, using the web page builder there, and dragging the chat icon onto the page. (The plugin script is no longer supported by Homestead)
3. The voice chat site at: http://www.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/hearme.htm - This page was created by visiting http://www.hearme.com and registering to receive the code by email. The code was pasted into a Notepad file, saved as html, and stored on the web. Anyone can use it by visiting the url using a PC and a 4.0 or better browser (on first visit, you install the plugin and grant the security clearances). You also need a sound card but if you don't have a mic you can interact in the text chat area (Hear Me no longer exists but was groundbreaking at the time)
4. The Palace chat site - This is a chat client available from http://www.thepalace.com/products/client/index.html, and we visit a Virtual Schoolhouse, efi.virtualscholar.com on port 9998, made available by http://www.coterie.com. This has proven to be a highly suitable and enjoyable learning space for our online class members. (The Palace no longer exists. The coterie domain has been taken over by a diaper company)

Gatekeepers

We have learned from previous experiences how to better greet visitors, so there should be someone in the chat areas we will use to welcome visitors as they enter. The gatekeepers are:

• In the voice chat, Peter a Teaching for Webheads list member in Tokyo
• In the text chat, Choi Hae Young, a Writing for Webheads student in Korea
• In The Palace, Maggi , a Writing for Webheads teacher in Germany)
• Michael, another Writing for Webheads teacher in Australia, will also be keeping an eye out in the voice and text chat areas as will Maggi in Germany and Vance presenting live in Dubai.

There is more information on these materials available from: https://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/software.htm

For reports of other Webhead events of this nature: https://prosites-vstevens.homestead.com/files/efi/reports.htm

Previous update: May 10, 2000
Most recent update to re-establish lost links: July 20, 2019