Keynote Speech V EdTech in Language Teaching:A Cup of TEA

Stephen E.Ronto

[Abstract]Learning technologies are common features in today’s higher education teaching.Throughout higher education in Asia,Europe,and North America traditional classroom instruction is evolving into technology driven instruction.Consequently,instructor-led teaching today has in many respects buried the chalk and blackboard.In the field of language learning,Education Technology or EdTech has made learning a foreign language more learner-friendly and more teacher-friendly while creating a more interactive learning environment conducive to the writing,listening,reading,and speaking.Learning technologies for online and brick&mortar instruction offer a vast array of web-based and software platforms,both commercial and proprietary.When the hundreds of language learning applications are included in EdTech,the class-room instructor is confronted with a mind-boggling menu of tech teaching tools which the instructor can choose to adopt into the teaching plan.The problem which arises for the classroom instructor is whether he/she is tech-savvy enough to use a specific EdTech tool and whether his students can learn by using that tool.A straightforward solution to this problem is for the classroom instructor to adopt EdTech tools that are technology engaging and easy to use for both the teacher and the learner during classroom instruction.

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Stephen E.Ronto is a training & education professional having extensive experience in Business English Communication and English as a Second Language(ESL)within academia and industry.His teaching platform includes 1:1 executive tutoring,corporate professional and university ILT,intensive courses,and workshops.

Stephen delivers learning thru instructor-led teaching,computer-based training,and web-based instruction.He is focused on having students learn-by-doing thru tasked-based exercises such as learning simulations,learning scenarios,Web Quests,and capstone projects using an array of Web3.0 educational technologies.

Stephen’s international background is built on growing up in Western Europe & South America,serving overseas with the USMC,attending graduate school in Hawaii,and delivering corporate training and academic instruction in Salt Lake City,Seoul and Tianjin.He is currently teaching Business and ESL courses at Jilin University of Finance and Economics in Changchun,Northeast China.Stephen speaks fluent English,fluent Spanish,and conversational Korean.