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ETS Criterion Conference

Last Friday afternoon my team had a very exciting experience... because we held the Criterion Conference!

We invited many teachers from all across Taiwan to come and share their experiences in using Criterion, an Online English Writing Program. Some of our speakers were teachers who had used the Criterion program in their classes in Kaohsiung and Zhenda Fu zhong schools.

Some of the images from the conference

But before the conference started, that's when we were running around. Our office was so busy on Friday! We had a lot of things to do in preparation for the conference... there were name tags to organize, information books and conference bags to pack...

As you can guess, the entire team was very happy when the conference began. We were also very proud with the success of the conference!

At the Conference: Jessie, Riana and Ruby

Ian gave a demonstration on how students can use the Criterion program. I know he was a little nervous because he practised many times before the conference. I think he did a very good job because his voice was very clear, and he didn't look nervous at all! But he told me afterwards that he didn't think he did well, so I guess he must have been nervous still!

Ian giving a demonstration on how to use Criterion                             

Stephanie also presented at the conference, but she talked about how she uses the Criterion program in her Virtual Classes. She's a terrific speaker, and always impresses her audience with her professional and interesting way of speaking.

Stephanie talking about Criterion

During the tea and coffee breaks, we had the opportunity to talk with the teachers. Some were very interested in the new ways they could use Criterion. Others wanted to know more about how Criterion evaluates the essays and gives a score. Some teachers wanted to know if the evaluation system is the same used for scoring TOEFL essays (which it is!).

It's always nice to talk with the teacher and to be able to answer any of their questions. They're always full of interesting experiences and stories too! It was good that we had time to exchange name cards and show them specific features of Criterion on the notebooks.

The Teachers were very interested in listening to the speakers

The conference ended with a lovely dinner, where everyone could socialize and talk more casually over some delicious food.

I could see that the conference was a success from all the happy faces around me