The world’s largest online professional development conference for English language educators returns for a third year

Oxford University Press (@OxUniPress) is preparing to host 23,000 English language teachers at its English Language Teaching Online Conference (ELTOC) later this week. This is more than twice as many as attended last year’s conference, with registrants to this year’s event coming from 166 countries including places as varied as Peru, Germany, Kazakhstan, and the Cook Islands.

The three-day event, which runs between 25 and 27 February, will provide practical tips and explore current trends in the industry through its suite of expert speakers from across the English language teaching world. Key topics to be covered in this year’s conference will include, among others:

• Classroom motivation
• Learner agency, and why it’s important
• Alternative ways of teaching and learning: Online, blended, hybrid and socially distanced classrooms

Teachers will have the opportunity to engage with some of the most pressing topics in the industry today, and all attendees will receive free professional development resources and a certificate of attendance.

As educators worldwide continue to rely on digital materials to support remote learning, OUP recognized the appetite among teachers to seek professional development and connect with their peers online.

Peter Marshall, Managing Director of OUP’s English Language Teaching division said:

‘As teachers across the globe seek to navigate an uncertain and fast-changing environment, we want to do all we can to help them adapt, develop, and support their students—especially when faced with a future where teaching is increasingly reliant on digital technologies.’

Alongside the practical learning sessions, attendees will have the chance to connect, network, and engage in interactive opportunities with one another. ‘We know from previous ELTOC events that both teachers and remote educators have found comfort in the sense of community the event provides—something that is more important than ever this year,’ said Sarah Ultsch, Marketing Director of OUP’s English Language Teaching division, and founder of ELTOC. ‘As well as giving educators the opportunity to connect and obtain world-class professional development virtually, we can, in turn, improve the learning experience for thousands of people all over the world.’

Reflecting on ELTOC 2020, one attendee said: ‘it felt like I had forgotten what it was like to learn, share, communicate and everything was coming back again” while another said that the normality of attending the conference and networking with others in the field simply made them “feel like a teacher again, and that is priceless’.

ELTOC is free to attend and runs from 25 February to 27 February, 2021.