KOTESOL gears up for international conference

Korea TESOL has opened registrations for its international conference in October.

The conference is an annual gathering at which around 1,000 professionals in English education discuss issues and research in the field and develop their skills.

Keynote speakers at this year’s conference will be Andy Curtis of Anaheim University and Nicky Hockly of Consultants-E, an online training and development organization.

Curtis is an intercultural communications expert and the author of several books who will talk about the drawbacks of online instruction.

Hockly is director of pedagogy at Consultants-E and will talk about how technology such as machine learning and wearables might affect teaching in the future.

Other featured speakers among the scores of workshops and other sessions include professors from universities in the US, UK, India, Japan and Australia.

The conference theme is “Why Are We Here? Analogue Learning in the Digital Era.” The somewhat wry question is a nod to the conference format itself, in which people eschew online communications to go to a large venue with hundreds of people they don’t know. More broadly, it is intended to promote discussion about the relevance of face-to-face learning when there are so many digital alternatives.

The conference runs from Oct. 21-22 at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul. Advance registration is open until Sept. 24, with a 10,000 won discount on attendance fees. Other discounts are available for students, groups and KOTESOL members.

(paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)