The 24th NileTESOL Conference
Over 3,000 English language teachers internationally and across Egyptian governorates participated in the 24th annual NileTESOL conference on January 21 and 22, 2020. Under the theme, 'DYNAMIC TEACHING: Sharing Perspectives and Inspiring Practices,’ they examined a variety of interest areas, such as teacher training, teacher and/or student motivation, professional development, program administration, learning technologies, collaborative learning, research development, and assessment - to list but a few.
The world we live in is constantly changing, which challenges both teachers and students to keep up with this progress, find ways to adapt to it, learn from it, and reflect on it. Teachers need to revisit their teaching to redefine their roles, their curricula, and the tools and strategies they use. Since much online information is now available to students, teachers have become facilitators to learning. Therefore, today more than ever, educators need innovative strategies and instructional materials that can be integrated with the available technological tools to enhance their teaching and empower themselves and their students to embrace both current and future challenges.
Ultimately, the goal for participants is to learn techniques that teach the English language effectively. The diverse pool of passionate educators exchanged best practices on integrating technology and innovation, high interaction, and student-centered learning.
“We benefited from beneficial lectures. Especially on how to use new teaching techniques and technology to overcome the challenges we face as English language teachers in the Egyptian classroom,” a participant remarked.
As a professional association for English language teaching, all its partners and contributors create significant value for its members and beneficiaries. Since NileTESOL was established, the International Language Bookshop (ILB) has been a platinum sponsor and pillar of the annual conference and dinner. In 2010, the British Council joined the board and provided ongoing support in the conference organization, keynote speaker sponsorship, and host to numerous professional development (PD) activities. A board member, the U.S. Embassy’s Regional English Language Office (RELO), creates additional opportunities each year with around 20 grants for teacher training courses and ongoing PD and mentorship activities across Egypt’s governorates. AMIDEAST provides multiple grant opportunities and key insights from their +50 year experience as facilitating learning between Egypt and the U.S. The specialized and combined input of every organization, member, and individual involved over its 24-year run is what makes NileTESOL a rich learning ground.
As another astutely summarized her experience, “We are hearing the language from its source and seeing how it translates across cultures and methodology.”