Back to School 2023 is Osaka JALT’s 13th annual spring conference aiming to share ideas on a wide range of topics related to language teaching and learning to help everyone in the new academic year. This year's conference is back in person at Osaka Jogakuin University for the first time since before the pandemic, but we are making it partially hybrid as well so as to allow online participation for people throughout Japan and around the world, which we really enjoyed the past three years during the pandemic. It will also be an Open Campus day at Osaka Jogakuin, so there will be additional presentations by Osaka Jogakuin professors, and we expect to have more students, parents, and high school teachers on campus than in past years, which will be nice.
Our featured speakers this year are Tamara Swenson and Steve Porritt, presenting:
A Brave New Era: Educating With Generative AI
Technological change is altering education in ways we did not anticipate at the start of our careers. The introduction of generative AI tools is going to make as big of an impact on education as the introduction of the moveable type. Taking a Luddite position will not prevent students, whether they are studying English or any other subject, from employing the available tools to complete coursework. This presentation will define the problems with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, give an overview of generative AI use for the types of writing and other activities that students typically undertake in L2-English classes at Japanese colleges and universities, and provide some solutions that might work within reading, writing, and discussion courses, as well as for grammar instruction. We are all entering a brave new world. Let’s explore it together.
Tamara Swenson (Ph. D. Communication) first used a computer in 1974 (remember punch cards?). Since then, she has updated her skills regularly to take advantage of technology in English and media studies education. She is currently a professor at Osaka Jogakuin University and an adjunct instructor for graduate-level classes at Temple University, Japan.
After decades wandering the desert as a copywriter/technical editor, Steve Porritt found his way to Temple University, Japan, and earned his MS (TESOL) at the age of 63. He thinks he can make up for the lost years by teaching nine writing and four discussion classes at Osaka Jogakuin, Kwansei Gakuin, Kobe, and Ritsumeikan Universities.
We have a record number of presentations this year and look forward to what is sure to be a great conference!
Click here for the SCHEDULE for the day.
REGISTRATION is now open! Click here to register and to receive the Zoom link for the remote presentations.
This event is again co-sponsored by Osaka Jogakuin University's Research Institute of International Collaboration and Coexistence Research on Language Learning (RIICC). OJU is a short walk up the hill from Tamatsukuri station on the JR Loop line or metro system. Doors will open at 9:30, with opening remarks starting at 10:00, followed by the opening session.
Abstracts of this year's presentations and presenters' bios are now posted on our chapter website.
