The Cambridge IT Conference was a very rewarding experience in many aspects, not the least of which

was the fact that it was held in such a fantastic place as Singapore. The city itself was an overwhelming

experience, leaving memories that will be hard to erase.

The variety and richness of cultures, the diversity of perspectives, and the richness and depths of

Singapore’s life were matched in the conference. The constant interchange of opinions from so many

sources was a signature of the meetings. I thrived in talking about school life in India or Malaysia, Philippines

and China, contrasting aspects of education in Argentina, yet many times finding coincidences among us

that made us laugh in surprise. The quality and good atmosphere created during the workshop also fostered

this rich interchange, facilitated by the excellent predisposition and good humour of the coordinator, Elaine

Wilson.

The opening talk by Dr. Kevin Stannard gave the proper framework to the upcoming workshops, and set

the mood accordingly. It was also very enlightening to hear Dr. Elizabeth Pang talking about Education in

Singapore. But the keynote that I particularly enjoyed was Prof. Osborne’s. He raised many questions I

had not dealt with before, relating data about science teaching and language that I had not thought about

previously. There were many aspects of his talk that I readily shared with my colleagues in the science

department, which in turn spawned good discussions on exam design and report writing. Formally I talked

about the conference at department meetings, but informally and in corridors or staff room (where all the real

talk takes place) I had many, many discussions with colleagues about aspects of teaching science.

The workshops were very fruitful, as I mentioned previously, in discussions on teaching practices in different

schools. We confronted several strategies suggested by the coordinator, and I had very good input on

simple yet effective techniques. Some were direct, applicable experiments for instance; others were more

general, and aimed at your general approach to language in teaching. I liked the fact that the approach of

the workshop was hands-on, working on real life scenarios, exams and syllabi. In this sense, the workshop

contributed mostly to my daily teaching practice. Ms. Wilson provided very useful feedback on our work,

and contributed greatly to me having such a good experience from the workshop itself. There were lots of

material that I got to share with my colleagues, and hopefully my teaching practice will benefit from all her

good advice. It was fortunate for me then that she gave the second keynote, as we could continue discussing

further in the workshop. Incorporating ICT in the classroom is an always ongoing and changing practice, and

her talk did raise some interesting ways in which it was implemented, specially in the form of real-time (or

very up to date) use of data and collaboration.

I think the combination of talks and hands-on workshop made for a good overall conference, and certainly the

human factor and good general predisposition contributed heavily to this being a great experience - it was

deeply enriching. The instance I’d change would probably be the closing, to have an opportunity to all get

together one last time, and share a moment. I would perhaps move the dinner from the first day to the last.

This notwithstanding, I have nothing but praise and appreciation for your invitation to the conference, and for

the conference itself. I would certainly attend a future International Teacher’s Conference!