Although I am an acknowledged digital immigrant, technology and language learning have always been part of my life, and I find that relationship endlessly fascinating. In a world of Zoom, virtual reality, language learning apps from Rosetta Stone to Babbel, cell phones that do everything, and smart watches that don't just tell time anymore, the current affordances of technology and their rapid growth are built upon the foundation of earlier endeavors.

The one constant has been that technology keeps changing at an exhausting pace, and I keep struggling to keep up, keeping the following questions in mind: How can we use technology to maximum advantage for language teaching and learning? How can our research in applied linguistics benefit and inform us?  How can our understanding of linguistics, communicative competence, and culture inform us in developing and applying technology to language acquisition? How can we match the power of cutting edge technology to what is available to learners from different communities to our pedagogical approaches, keeping issues of equity, opportunity, and culturally sustaining learning a priority, as we address the need to diversify instruction? What have been the continuing effects of the COVID Pandemic on all of this?

I look forward to exploring these and other related issues with you- virtually!