Connect, Manage, and Engage: Best Practices for the Online Classroom

Presenters: Chia Suan Chong and Sean Bermingham

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and a teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019 and now has a regular feature ‘Not Only But Also’ in the bi-monthly ETp magazine. She has contributed extensively to Business English materials for the British Council Learn English website, is a regular ELT conference speaker and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. Chia is also a co-author for an integrated series that’s currently in development with National Geographic Learning for young adult and adult learners of English.

Sean Bermingham is an Executive Editor for National Geographic Learning. A former English language teacher, Sean has given presentations and workshops at language teaching conferences in Asia and North America. He is currently based in Singapore, where he works on the development of new products for the global ELT market, including coursebooks, digital components, and instructor materials.

World Link Helps Learners and Teachers Track Progress Towards Confident Communication

Presenters: John Hughes

John Hughes is an award-winning ELT author and teacher trainer. With over 30 book titles, his best-known course series is National Geographic Learning’s Life and he is also a co-author on the new third edition of World English. As a teacher trainer, he has run courses, workshops and given conference presentations in over 40 countries. His main specialism is materials development and bridging the gap between theory and practice. He still teaches and pilots his own materials with students in Oxford.

What Have We Learned about Teaching During the Pandemic?

Presenters: Joan Kang Shin and Jered Borup

Dr. Joan Kang Shin is an Associate Professor of Education at George Mason University and the Academic Program Coordinator of the Teaching Culturally & Linguistically Diverse & Exceptional Learners (TCLDEL) program. Dr. Shin specializes in teaching ESL/EFL to young learners and teenagers and has provided professional development programs and workshops to EFL teachers in over 100 countries around the world. She is a Series Editor of National Geographic Learning’s young learner programs Welcome to Our World, Our World, and Explore Our World, as well as the teen program Impact, and an author of the professional development title Teaching Young Learners English.

Dr. Jered Borup is an Associate Professor in the Division of Learning Technologies at George Mason University. In his current position, he is the professor-in-charge of the Blended and Online Learning in Schools Master’s and Certificate programs that are devoted to improving teacher practices in online and blended learning environments. Previous to earning his Ph.D. at Brigham Young University, Jered taught history at a junior high school for six years. He has also taught online and blended courses since 2008. He currently researches student support systems in online and blended environments and has published 35 journal articles and 12 book chapters.

Exploring the Shifting Literacy Needs in English Medium Instruction

Presenters: Nonie K. Lesaux

Nonie K. Lesaux is Academic Dean and the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society. Her research focuses on promoting the language and literacy skills of today’s children from diverse linguistic, cultural and economic backgrounds, and is conducted largely in urban and semi-urban cities and school districts. Lesaux’s work has earned her the William T. Grant Scholars Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the United States government to young professionals beginning their independent research careers. She has served on the U.S. Department of Education’s Reading First Advisory Committee, and the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council’s Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8. Lesaux’s research appears in numerous scholarly publications, and its practical applications are featured in three books: Teaching Advanced Literacy Skills (Guilford Press, 2016), Cultivating Knowledge, Building Language: Literacy Instruction for English Learners in Elementary School (Heinemann, 2015), and Making Assessment Matter: Using Test Results to Differentiate Reading Instruction (Guilford, 2011). She is also the author of a widely circulated state literacy report, Turning the Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success, that forms the basis for a Third Grade Reading Proficiency bill passed in Massachusetts.

Supporting Your Textbook with an LMS: Canvas and Stand Out

Presenters: Rob Jenkins and Staci Johnson

Rob Jenkins is Professor of English as a Second Language, and Professional Development Coordinator at Santa Ana College, School of Continuing Education. Rob has received several awards including the Best Practice of Model Program Award in 2013 from the Association of Community and Continuing Education (ACCE) for the professional development program, the Santa Ana College Distinguished Faculty Award, and the 2013 Heinle Outstanding Achievement Award. Rob is the co-author of the textbook series, Stand Out, he was chair and one of the authors for the TESOL Publication, Standards for Teachers of ESL Adult Learners (2008), and he is also a series editor of two National Geographic Learning textbook series, Grammar Explorer, and World English. He has also served on several projects for the American Institutes for Research (Air). Rob is a popular national and international presenter on topics related to classroom practices.

Staci Johnson has taught all levels of adult ESL, including credit, non-credit, and workplace English. She holds an MA in Linguistics with a Teaching ESL Certificate, which is supported by more than 10 years in the English language classroom. Her passions are teacher training and curriculum development, both of which she does on a continual basis. She is one of the two authors for Stand Out, published by National Geographic Learning, now in its third edition. Staci is series editor with Rob Jenkins of Grammar Explorer, a National Geographic Learning textbook series. She was also the recipient of the 2013 Heinle Outstanding Achievement Award. Staci is a popular presenter with topics related to learner-centered instruction, multi-level instruction, and grammar instruction. She has presented throughout the United States.