Welcome
Following from the success of last year's online workshops, once again, the TnT/PD Workshops will be online, September 11th. They will be run in two streams - Technology in Teaching and Professional Development.
The Call for Abstracts runs from June 1 to August 15, 2026.
All sessions will be recorded and made available to attendees for 3 months after they are uploaded.
Technology in Teaching (TnT)
The current and future reality for language teachers is technology in and surrounding our community of practice. Now, this can be seen negatively or positively. Teachers, learners, and by extension all those connected to the language education field face the challenge of selecting appropriate tools and learning how to use them. The aim of these TnT Workshops is to help participants in attendance navigate their way through the exciting array of educational technologies available, select those that are appropriate for their context, and learn how to effectively make use of them in their educational environments. The TnT workshop leaders, are experts with the techniques and technologies they will demonstrate, will offer guidance on using specific technologies, and share ways to best integrate the technologies with language teaching and education practices.
TnT Plenary
Adam Jenkins, Associate Professor, Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology
Title: When Teachers Become Toolmakers: AI Agents and Open-Source EdTech
Abstract: For educators developing their own software, open-source platforms like Moodle offer a practical advantage: when existing tools don't quite fit, a plugin is easier to build than a whole new system. This has long been true, with MoodleReader (later MReader) as one example, but with AI agents now able to read, modify, and extend open code, a pedagogical idea can become working software in hours rather than months.
This opens new possibilities for EFL. The AI Escape Room plugin enables an interaction style unachievable with conventional tools: students converse with an AI character who responds adversarially, providing opportunities to practice the language of persuasion, making their case against an opponent who provides a genuine challenge that a human partner or scripted dialogues cannot replicate. Another example, the Textless Forum, replaces typed forum posts with audio and video recordings for asynchronous speaking. Both were created with an AI agent building on Moodle, and demonstrate that custom tools are now accessible to anyone with an idea worth trying.
Bio: Adam Jenkins is an associate professor at the Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology where he is also the system administrator for the university-wide iLearn@SIST Moodle platform. In addition, Adam is known in the Moodle world for his instructional videos about Moodle administration on the WiseCat YouTube channel.
Professional Development (PD)
The technology-based presentations are our digital offering, while the PD workshops are our more analog offering. At these workshops you can learn more about, for example, data analysis approaches for your research study, writing abstracts, developing ideas for research studies, how to enhance your resume, troubleshooting a thesis or dissertation proposal, career planning, etc. Technology may be a dominant feature in our lives as the global pandemic forced educators and learners alike to develop new cyber competencies. The times also pushed educators, learners, researchers, etc. to hone their other competencies. The PD workshops are JALTs way to provide additional support to our community of practice.
PD Plenary
Gregory Glasgow, Professor, Kanda University of International Studies
Title: Establishing My Scholarly Voice Through Academic Publishing: Reflections on the Journey and the Road Ahead
Abstract: Publishing journal articles, book chapters, and books was something I never imagined when I began my career in language education. Yet, over two and a half decades, what once seemed beyond my reach gradually became possible. Looking back, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to discover and establish a scholarly voice I could scarcely have imagined at the outset. In this talk, I reflect on the principles and practices that enabled me to develop that voice within TESOL and applied linguistics. I invite audience members to consider the trajectories that might suit their goals as I explore five principles that have become a personal mantra: (1) developing a research identity; (2) pursuing goals through incremental but concerted action; (3) cultivating meaningful research partnerships; (4) never being afraid to make “the big ask”; and (5) learning by observing and adapting effective scholarly practices. Audience members will consider how these principles might support their publishing journeys, development, and future scholarly aspirations.
Bio: Gregory Paul Glasgow is Professor in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan. His research spans critical applied linguistics, critical realism, educational sociolinguistics, Global Englishes, language policy, teacher education, and the sociopragmatics of intercultural communication. He has authored and edited five books, with his latest co^edited monograph entitled English Language Education in Japan: Negotiating Global Transformation and Local Innovation (Routledge). He is a founding member of the JALT Global Englishes SIG and serves as an editorial committee member for the Japan Black Studies Association.
Conference Team
Conference Chair - Wayne Malcolm
Conference Coordinators - Robert Remmerswaal and Luc Gougeon