Closing Statement

Chair, ISPP Teaching Committee
University of Massachusetts/ Amherst
USA

Dear Authors, Moderators, and Participants:

First, I would like to sincerely thank the more than 320 registrants from 48 countries who wrote comments or simply read the papers and discussions of the first ISPP Instructional Technology On-Line Symposium. Without your interest and participation, the event could not have been a success. It is really exciting that we were able to bring together so many plant pathology instructors for discussions on such a wide variety of subjects.

I also would like to thank the organizers of the Symposium: Cleora D'Arcy, Darin Eastburn, David Guest, Thorsten Kraska, James Partridge, and Terry Stewart for their work in finding participants, review of the papers, and the actual day-to-day moderator responsibilities during the Symposium. Special thanks go to Terry Stewart for his creative technical skills and to Massey University for hosting the Symposium. I think we would all agree that the software was very accessible, and no problems apparently occurred despite the large number of registrants accessing the Symposium from around the world. Thanks also go to Dr. Peter Scott, President of ISPP, and the ISPP Executive Committee for their financial support and enthusiasm for the Symposium when it was still only an idea.

We now need to consider where to go from here:

Do you wish to continue some of these conversations once the Symposium ends? If so, this could be accomplished with an email list serve or a bulletin board. Which do you prefer? Other ideas on continued conversations?
Would you like to see another teaching-related ISPP On-Line Symposium in the future? If so, what topics should be emphasized? How should it be organized- paper sessions, general discussion topics, or a combination? What time of year is best? How long should it last? Did you have any technical problems with this Symposium?
We also would like some ideas for teaching activities for the upcoming International Congress of Plant Pathology to be held February 2-8, 2003 in New Zealand. Please suggest symposium or discussion session topics. Would you like to participate in an instructional technology workshop in a computer facility? Do you prefer demonstrations of current programs and websites or IT training?

Over the next week, please feel free to post your ideas in the feedback forum or email them to me directly at: <schumann@pltpath.umass.edu>.

Again, thanks to everyone who made this first ISPP Instructional Technology Symposium (On-line) such a success.

Sincerely,
Gail L. Schumann

End