Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto: Teaching Above the Water Line

Main Venue ARTHUR

Livestream

World Clock Sun 9am GMT. 10am London. 11am Paris, 6pm Tokyo, 5am New York

The vast majority of teachers in Asia are not here at the Virtual Round Table. Actually, even with some of the most wired countries in the world belonging to this part of the world, Asian and Asia-based teachers make up a very small percentage of participants in webinars, online conferences, and informal online professional development groups. If we apply an iceberg analogy to represent teachers who are and are not taking advantage of the many professional development opportunities available to teachers online today, these teachers are working below the water line. Why? In this final presentation of the iTDi Asian Symposium, we’ll look at the reasons that keep teachers from taking advantage of online opportunities, ways to successfully move teachers from above the water line and bring them into the rich international teaching community that exists online, and what happens when previously disenfranchised teachers become active members of this community.

Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto has taught both English and ESL in the United States and EFL in Japan for more than 25 years. She earned her BA from Western Oregon University and her Masters in TESOL from Northern Arizona University. Barbara has conducted workshops throughout Asia, the U.S. and Latin America, and is co-author of the best-selling young learners Let’s Go series (Oxford University Press). She is Program Director of the International Teacher Development Institute and one of the authors of iTDi’s English For Teachers course. She is also a founding member of the JALT Teaching Children special interest group. Her motto is „Always try new things,“ so these days, when she’s not teaching, writing, or giving workshops; you’ll often find Barbara online exploring the potential of social media for professional development. If you’d like to explore with her, you can usually find Barbara on her award winning blog, Teaching Village.