Gaining sponsorship of other groups is an important mission for CALL IS, which seeks to help other ISs learn more about appropriate technology uses for language learning. A sponsoring IS will help send the right participants to your session. And connecting to other elements of the TESOL community is part of the original agreement with TESOL at the inception of the EVO project.

This is a two-part process:

(1) You or your Mentor will contact your IS (or other sponsoring group), in order to get their "official" sponsorship of your EVO session. This is usually a matter of exchanging a few emails with the chair or associate chair of the IS. The letter should say a little about what EVO is/does, describe your session, and tell what sponsorship involves (see the sample below).

(2) Then send a follow-up email to the IS e-list, announcing the opening of your EVO session. (Any current member of TESOL may join any IS for free online at http://www.tesol.org.)

Sample Letter of Request to IS or Other Sponsoring Group Leadership

This is a sample of a letter that might be used to request sponsorship from an Interest Section or other TESOL group (substitute your own session and moderator names for those in the sample):

To: __________, Chair Elect, EFL-Interest Section, TESOL, Inc. [Write directly to all officers--the Chair, Chair Elect, Newsletter Editor, and Past Chair--if possible]

Dear _______--

I got your address [from the TESOL Website, from being member, from your mentor, etc.], and I hope you are interested in more online activities for the _____ IS. I am seeking sponsorship from your IS for several sessions of the Electronic Village Online, a project of the CALL Interest Section in TESOL.

Annually in Jan-Feb, the Electronic Village Online offers free teacher professional development for participants from around the world. The EVO is a project of CALL IS and serves as a kind of extension to the land-based TESOL Convention. Last year EVO had over 1100 participants in 11 sessions, about half of them from outside the U.S. I believe the _________ session would be appropriate for your IS to sponsor. This is an abstract of the session:

Sponsorship involves publicizing the sessions in your newsletter and on your email list, and we will place a reference to your IS on our Websites, which is a form of good publicity for the IS. Of course, we hope that many of your IS members will take part in the sessions, too. It is a way to help your members feel connected to the land-based TESOL Convention, even if they can't attend.

These are the sessions we are hoping the __________ IS will sponsor:

(1) Virtual Worlds - In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the use of virtual worlds for language learning and teaching. This session will take a broad look at organisations and individuals who are involved in language education in Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com) and other virtual worlds. Participants are invited to learn more by becoming involved in field trips, talks and discussions. We will also be looking at different educational tools that can be used to help the teacher and learners. Participants will also be encouraged to try their hand at teaching a language in one of these environments.

Moderators: Graham Stanley, Nergiz Kern, Nicholas Noakes, Dennis Newson, Chris Surridge

(2) Learner Autonomy - Social networking portals that facilitate offline group interactions, such as Meetup.com, encourage learner autonomy and authentic language learning experiences beyond the closed and controlled learning environments of the conventional ELT classroom. As learners create and participate in groups, they gain experience in negotiation, pragmatics, research, composition, socializing and presentation skills – using both written and oral media. The session will offer practical guidance on using this low-cost web tool. We’ll also aim to develop a pragmatic perspective on using this and similar websites as a way to motivate and empower our students.  Participants will be encouraged to develop a plan for incorporating a social networking portal into their language teaching.

Moderators: Jodi Nooyen, Kirsten Duckett, Linda Merlo

I would be most grateful if you would bring these sessions to the attention of your IS Steering Committee, and write to me with confirmation of your support. Our announcement calling for participation will go out on December 1st, so I realize time is very short.

Please don't hesitate to write to me if you have any further questions.

[Your name]

EVO Moderators Team

[Your email address]

Sample Announcement Letter to an E-List

This is a sample of a letter that might be used as follow-up for a sponsoring IS or other group to announce their sponsored sessions through their e-list (substitute your own session name and moderators for those in the sample):

Dear ______________

The CALL Interest Section of the international TESOL professional association is pleased to offer the opportunity to participate in the Electronic Village Online (EVO) 2009 sessions. This is a professional development project and virtual extension of the TESOL 2009 Convention in Denver, CO . The intended audience for this project includes both TESOL 2009 participants and those who can participate only virtually.

You do not need to be a TESOL member to participate in a free, six-week, wholly online session of the EVO, Jan 12 -Feb 22, 2009. Please visit our Announcement Web page to select from the various offerings:

<http://evosessions.pbwiki.com/Call_for_Participation09>

Among the many workshop and discussion sessions in EVO, the Adult Ed IS is sponsoring two sessions of particular interest to its members:

What's in the Library for EFL/ESL Students?

The library is no longer to limited to 4 walls. Whether your students need to find reading material for pleasure or for classes, or to conduct research, the library is the place to start. This workshop will introduce teachers to ways that they can use the library and its resources with their ESL/EFL students. Participants should have access to a library which offers print and electronic media, preferably one they would use with their students. This session will use Tapped In for most of its activities, so participants will also experience the potential of this resource. Moderators: Lynn Zimmerman and Anna Koorey

Internet for Beginners

This session is designed to help inexperienced Internet users learn how to develop and use the Web in their classes either as bridging activities (like homework, but beyond fill-in-the-blank), as class projects or even in the computer lab as a class activity. The session will look into existing activities and sites on the Internet that can be used in class with little or no change. Participants will learn how to find information effectively (search engines), learn the techniques needed to create and share original activities, share suggestions on incorporating the Internet into class activities, and, finally, construct a basic personal website where assignments can be posted and activities presented. Moderator: JoAnn Miller

Please join us in this free professional development opportunity.

Yours in TESOL,

The EVO Coordination Team

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