Date: Late October / Early November (exact dates to be confirmed)
Announcement
The COVID-19 crisis has forced many changes to how we live, work and interact, and many organisations have had to make major decisions about activities and events planned for the remainder of 2020. We are no exception. As with many international conferences, we have made the difficult decision not to go ahead with a face-to-face conference this year. Instead, the British Council New Directions 2020 will be going digital.
Theme
Our original theme of Connecting Contexts is of particular relevance to the current situation that we – educational institutions, learners, testers and other stakeholders – find ourselves in. Worldwide, tests have been cancelled or postponed, and alternative means of assessment are being considered or adopted. These responses to the current, unprecedented context of learning and assessment bring with them their own issues: test-taker access to quality tests, challenges to validity and fairness of assessment, questions around test security, and practical problems around test delivery and technical capabilities.
Digital ND2020 will continue with the themes outlined here and, in recognition of the significant changes and challenges that social and/or physical distancing has raised, we will be including an additional sub-theme in the conference: RETHINKING ASSESSMENT: INNOVATION IN A CRISIS. This sub-theme specifically invites Work-in-Progress research, practical applications, and innovative solutions to assessing language proficiency in these challenging times.
Format of Digital ND2020
We intend to run plenaries and parallel ‘breakout’ sessions, as well as include panel discussions. Details, including the duration and spread of the talks and events, will be shared as soon as they have been finalised.
