#VenTESOL2015 Featured Speakers

http://www.ventesol.org | http://ventesol.ning.com
Featured
Speakers
Evelin Ojeda Naveda is a Teacher Trainer and language teacher. Doctor of
Education student. Master's degree of ARTS in TESOL from St Mark and St John
University in Plymouth, UK and Master of Education in Reading and Writing from
Carabobo University. Evelin has more than 15 year experience in ELT in UK and
Venezuela. She is VenTESOL president 2013-2015.
Helena Guerrero is Ph.D and MA in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching,
The University of Arizona. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics, Universidad
Distrital, Colombia. She is faculty in the MA program in Communication
Education and is the main researcher of the research group “Critical studies on
language and educational policies. She serves as the present president of
ASOCOPI.
Elizabeth Ortiz is the General Director of COPEI in Guayaquil, leads the team
that organizes the COPEI International Congress and ELT Conferences all over
Ecuador, also coordinates the Training and Professional Development
Department and manages the educational services development division. For the
last 10 years she has focused her Professional attention to develop and implement
training and Professional Development Programs and the design of social interest
projects with national and international non-profit organizations. She is the
current President of ECUATESOL, an Ecuadorian English Teachers Association.
Breaking Paradigms and Borders in ELT: The Andean Region Experience
Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy – RELO Andes
It is well-known that many English teachers worldwide work in challenging and difficult contexts.
Nowadays research in the field and experts state that the goal of teaching English should be to
develop learners’ communication skills while enhancing their cultural awareness. However, in the
circumstances in which many teachers work in Central/South American and the Andean Region
(for example, extremely large classes, insufficient, non-existence or inappropriate didactic
materials, exam-driven language sessions and the like) making the changes needed to achieve
such broad aims in real classrooms often seem to be unfeasible, unattainable, almost beyond our
reach, but is it really that way?
This colloquium will explore examples of how positive and enriching changes can be achieved in
difficult teaching conditions as the ones encountered in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Perú,
and equally importantly will highlight and discuss some of the factors that have made them
possible in these countries.
To a better understanding of the state-of-the-art situation of ELT, this session will examine the
current status of English in these different education systems as well as the projects developed by
VenTESOL, ASOCOPI, EcuaTESOL and RELO Andes in order to enhance education in the Andean
Region.

Featured
Speakers
Graham Stanley works for the British Council on a project teaching children
English via videoconferencing in Uruguay. Author of ‘Language Learning with
Technology’ (CUP, 2013), winner of the ESU HRH Duke of Edinburgh ELT book of
the year; and co-author of ’Digital Play: Computer games and language aims’
(Delta, 2011).
Gamifying the ELT Course Book
Online Session
Spice up your course book by integrating practice activities with computer games and by using
gamification. Gamification is the application of game design thinking to non-game contexts to
make them more fun and engaging. We’ll be looking at how you can effectively incorporate this
in class to supplement any course book you are using, as well as ideas for adapting a variety of
free-to-play online digital games to practise English.

Featured
Speakers
Pete Sharma is a Director of Pete Sharma Associates Ltd, a consultancy and
training organisation: www.psa.eu.com He lecturers in EAP (English for
Academic Purposes) and has co-written many books on technology including
Blended Learning, 400 Ideas for Interactive Whiteboards, Apptivities for
business English and How to write for digital media.
Enhancing Language Learning Through Technology
Sponsored by British Council
Can pedagogy keep up with the speed of technological change? While new technology
continues to advance, disagreement exists as to what constitutes good practice in the teaching
and learning of languages.
This plenary talk will take a ‘snap-shot’ of English language teaching in the 21st Century. Firstly,
it will provide five statements which background this area. Secondly, the speaker will critically
analyse key learning technologies, including the interactive whiteboard, Virtual Learning
Environments and m-learning (mobile learning). Thirdly, we will focus on ‘innovation’ – what’s
new? What is ‘cutting-edge technology’? What is ‘adaptive learning’ and why does it matter?
There will be a short opportunity to discuss some of the controversies in the field. Finally, the
speaker will conclude with some practical teaching ideas for use in the language classroom. In
all these ideas, the technology has become ‘normalised’.
Participants will leave with fresh insights into one of the most exciting areas of language teaching
today.

Featured
Speakers
Dr. Doris Molero is an EFL Professor at Universidad Dr. Rafael Belloso
Chacin, Maracaibo-Venezuela. Doctor in Sciences of Education
specialized in curriculum and instruction. Holds a master degree on
Educational Informatics (2002) and graduated from Modern Language
School at Universidad del Zulia (1991). Dr. Molero is an E-learning
Instructional Designer and tutor for Universidad Señor de Sipán, Peru.
Her teaching and learning style is an eclectic approach that involves
project based learning, multiliteracies, high order thinking skills, 21st
century skills, connected knowledge, constructivism, collaborative
learning, web 2.0, disruptive learning, augmented learning and
communicative language.
ELT for Peace
When teaching another language, we teach about culture, food, music, people, the mechanics
of the words and expressions, grammar, places, and so on. Most of the time, we focus our
lessons on “the book contents”, program, syllabus, or on what we were told to teach. How can
we do all that and at the same time teach about what unites all the cultures of the world? Teaching
peace becomes an important and meaningful way to show our students how they can use all that
they are learning to communicate with the world and help on what we need the most: empathy,
love, peace, cooperation, forgiveness, tolerance. Join me and get to know some serious great
little projects on how to use language learning and social media to build peace helping heal the
world and ourselves. Have yourself and your students act big by starting small…Talk, Write, Call,
Record, Tweet, Post, Blog, Host, Design, Build, or Compose… All For Peace.

Featured
Speakers
Marina Majonica has been teaching English for 14 years. She holds a CELTA
certificate, is a Teacher Trainer and Life Coach. Since 2006 she has been
involved with her own academy and is co-founder of Carpe Diem Coaching. She
has been Bolivar State Representative since 2011.
Miguel Perez is an EFL teacher graduated from Universidad de Carabobo with
teaching experience in pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary level. His
main area of interest is Learning Technologies in ELT. He has been an active
VenTESOL member since 2010 working as a State Representative in Yaracuy
state and Communications Coordinator.
Milagros Quijada is an EFL instructor and current VenTESOL Zulia State
Representative. She holds a TEFL Certificate by Hunter College and she is the
Resource and Research Center Coordinator at CEVAZ where she has organized
ELT events, designed integrated activities for students and worked as a teacher
trainer for over three years.
Johannes Rojas is the current Academic Director at CEVAC and VenTESOL
Region 1 Coordinator. He has organized a range of ELT and ELL events
nationwide as well as participated as speaker in national and international
conferences. He has done some research in pronunciation teaching and
technology use in EFL contexts.
José Zapata is a professor of English graduated in 2008 at UPEL Maturín. He has
been teaching English to teenagers and adults since 2007. He started organizing
Spelling Bee competitions in 2012 at the National High School “Luis Padrino” in
Maturín. He is also Anzoategui State Representative.
I’m a Teacher! What’s your Superpower?
Teachers are heroes by nature and if they truly believe and love what they do, changes can be
brought through and to education. This plenary aims to present teachers in Venezuela how
regular teachers actively involved in VenTESOL through a Regional Convention Tour (RCT) went
throughout the country for a year reviving in teachers their true-self and showing them how “it is
possible” to make the difference despite all the issues in education we face daily in our country.
Seven cities from different regions in Venezuela were visited and re-sparkled in order to give
education one more chance as the best tool a country has to stand out. Experiences, reflections
and results are shown as well as the impact RCT had during the 2014-2015 period. Some
teachers’ personal impressions will be shown to present a general idea of what the RCT reached
professionally and personally in individuals.

Featured
Speakers
Russell Stannard is the founder
of www.teachertrainingvideos.com which has received 3 major
educational awards from the Times Higher, The British Council
ELTons and the University of Westminster. His website offers free
step by step videos to help teachers incorporate technology into
their teaching and receives more than 300,000 visits a year.
Russell is truly an international speaker, having presented in 26
countries around the world. His interest in technology includes
feedback, developing student’s fluency, assessment, reflection
and the Flipped Classroom. His feedback ideas generated
widespread media interest including an appearance on TV and
inclusion in a report submitted to the UK government. He was also
an early adopter of the Flipped Classroom approach, flipping his
courses while at the University of Westminster and winning
funding from JISC in the process. Russell currently works part-time
as a Principal Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and
as a NILE (Norwich Institute of Language Education) associate
trainer. He writes regular columns about technology in the English
Teaching Professional and the Teacher Trainer.
What the Flipped Classroom Means to Language Teachers
Online Session
The talk will focus on key tools that we can use to flip our teaching and learning. Russell will talk
specifically about how the Flipped Classroom can be applied to language teaching and how it
can help us to extend, differentiate and vary our teaching and learning. Russell will talk about the
theory behind the flip classroom and focus on some of the key tools we can use. The tools Russell
focuses on are easy to use, free and can have a real impact on all our classes, not only in a
flipped classroom scenario. This will be a session full of practical ideas and examples. If you are
looking to blend your learning, flip your learning, bring more collaboration into your classes and
help develop your students speaking skills, then this talk will provide you with loads of practical
ideas and simple technologies that you can use.

Featured
Speakers
Helena Guerrero is Ph.D and MA in Second Language Acquisition and
Teaching, The University of Arizona. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics,
Universidad Distrital, Colombia. She is faculty in the MA program in
Communication Education and is the main researcher of the research group
“Critical studies on language and educational policies. She serves as the
present president of ASOCOPI.
Best Practices: Teachers Making Things Work
Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy – RELO Andes
Traditional teacher education practices involve experts telling teachers what to do and how to
do it. But research has shown that there are not ready made recipes that suits everyone needs
and that teachers have developed very valuable experiential knowledge which is worth to be
heard and shared. This workshop intends weave the results of a recent research study conducted
in Colombia regarding teachers’ positioning in front of educational with participating teachers
experiences in the workshop. The aim of this exchange is to bring to the surface knowledge, tips,
techniques, strategies, and the like, that school teachers have and use to make things work. All
and all, this workshop follows a bottom up approach in the understanding that teachers’ voices
have been silenced for too long and there is time to listen to them.

Featured
Speakers
Pete Sharma is a Director of Pete Sharma Associates Ltd, a consultancy
and training organisation: www.psa.eu.com He lecturers in EAP
(English for Academic Purposes) and has co-written many books on
technology including Blended Learning, 400 Ideas for Interactive
Whiteboards, Apptivities for business English and How to write for
digital media.
40 Practical Ideas for Using Technology in ELT
Sponsored by the British Council
While new technology has changed the teaching and learning of languages forever, using ICT
remains a controversial area. Many teachers are enthusiastic about using new technology in their
courses; some are less so. Whether teachers and students benefit from such digital approaches
depends on a range of factors, including: the teachers' level of knowledge and skills; the support
of the institution; the availability of hardware; and perhaps most importantly of all, the teachers'
attitude towards new technology.
This highly practical session will complement the plenary talk. It has three parts. Firstly, it will
provide a brief overview of what we mean by ‘new technology’ and will update participants on
some new developments in hardware and software. Secondly, there will be an interactive
presentation consisting of 40 practical ideas for teaching grammar and vocabulary, the four
language skills (listening and speaking, reading and writing), phonology and language games.
In all these ideas, good pedagogy is central. The ideas can be adapted, and are intended to
inspire. Finally, there will be a short open forum for participants to share their own ideas, ask
questions and engage in the current debate about the use of ICT in language teaching.

Featured
Speakers
Marina Gonzalez is an Argentine primary school teacher, teacher
trainer, editor and researcher. She coordinates the Language School
at Universidad de Flores (UFLO) in Buenos Aires Argentina. She
teaches Materials Design and ELT Management at the BA for English
teachers at Universidad Caece. She has delivered teacher training
workshops in Uruguay, Chile, Peru and coordinated TESOL EVOs on
Mentoring and Management together with professionals form various
parts of the world. Her research interests revolve around innovation,
both in pedagogy and management. She has been doing research on
the implementation of TBLT at university level, and she is currently
writing about professional development from the perspective of Social
Complex Systems.
A Road from Binary to Complex Thinking
Sponsored by Universal Text, Cengage Learning & National Geographic
Complexity in ELT is a rather recent endeavor. It is a tool for describing reality around us by
focusing on the tension among the various social factors that create it, rather than providing a
prescriptive centralized vision. It seeks to produce wider readings and understandings of the
reality that surrounds us. If we consider our administrative and teaching practices, they have long
been marked by dichotomies which have shaped our perception of the world into a quite binary
system of understanding. Sometimes valid, others fake, these dichotomies strongly represent our
first reaction to issues in our classes and organizations. In this session, we aim at reflecting on our
learned styles by first identifying generally accepted opposing pairs. We will then flesh out the
concepts behind the supposed oppositions and try to widen the scope and vision. Thirdly, we will
look at the pedagogical implications of naturally incorporating binary pairs as the set path in our
teaching and organizational management of ELT organizations. Last, we will suggest a way of
incorporating complexity theory to enrich the shades of meaning and complementariness among
concepts and strategies we can use in our settings to enhance 21st century students’ needs and
hopes.

Featured
Speakers
And many more
well-know national and
international speakers
and surprises to come…
Keep an eye on us…
http://www.ventesol.org
http://ventesol.ning.com
/ventesol
@ventesol
@ven_tesol

#VenTESOL2015 Featured Speakers

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