On any given weekend, one can experience a myriad of fun and interesting events in Ulsan, South Korea’s eight largest city. So, it was the perfect city for the Busan-Gyeongnam (BG KOTESOL) chapter of the expat teachers’ professional development organization Korea Teaching English as a Second Language (KOTESOL) to host their fall symposium on October 26, 2024.

The symposium “Fostering a Love of Education in an AI World”, was held at the University of Ulsan and brought together a motley assortment of educators, writers, and artists from around the country. Over the course of the day, they explored the nature of creativity, student motivation, and the how the embrace of artificial intelligence (AI) effects teachers and their students.

It was an intimate gathering with new and perspective members sitting in on discussions, workshops, and roundtables, such as Creative Approaches to Teaching Wellness to International Students, Approachable Course Design: Developing Learning Strategies with Modern Technology, Frontiers of AI in Education, Are Philomaths Born or Made?, as well as Cultivating Lifelong Learning in an AI World, and Writing Short Fiction – Choosing a Narrative POV. The symposium was an opportunity for educators to discover new methodologies and tips on how to manage classrooms increasingly reliant on AI, but also a chance for members of the greater Ulsan community to gain valuable, practical experience volunteering with a venerable education organization. Volunteers were also able to explore their own interests as they manned the registration table, photograph the event, and lent support throughout the day. Some were writers able to gain helpful advice as they kept time in the writing workshop, where others lent their skills to designing the visual aids used throughout the meeting rooms.

An inclusive, wide-ranging organization, which prides itself on providing enlightening professional development opportunitiesfor English teachers and social events that allow those teachers to network and unwind throughout the Gyeongsangnam-do province, BG KOTESOL was pleased to bring their first in-person symposium since 2019 to Ulsan. 

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**BG KOTESOL encourages those curious about the organization to attend one of our events, or if you’re ready to take the plunge, to join the chapter. Being a member offers a variety of opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals and engage in meaningful professional development experiences. We are also always looking for presenters with new ideas or novel twists on old ideas. For questions or more information, please contact us at bgkotesol@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.