26/04/2026
WHY ME?
Have you ever wondered why technical problems seem to happen only to you while delivering a workshop at an online conference?
I was a presenter at the 3rd Symposium on Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 12:25 pm Muscat time, that is, 11:25 am Beirut time.
Everything went well during the testing session the day before the conference. The moderator of my session confirmed that the PowerPoint presentation (PPT) was working perfectly during screen sharing.
I opened my camera and greeted the audience at 11:25 am, waiting for the moderator to share my PPT on the screen. The first slide appeared for two seconds and then disappeared. I inquired, and the moderator asked me to wait a minute. There seemed to be a technical issue with a video in the PPT, I thought. But it had just worked. Five minutes passed.
“Is there anything wrong?” I asked during the live session. The shocking reality: the moderator’s laptop had crashed!
I was using my phone, so I could not share the screen myself.
“We are solving the issue,” she added.
I smiled at the camera and told the participants that technical problems can happen and that we apologize for the delay. I stayed calm, but now it was 11:35, and I had not yet started my workshop. According to the program, I was supposed to finish at 11:55. Participants had five minutes to move between rooms, and the next presenter’s workshop was scheduled to start at 12:00.
At 11:40, my PPT still had not been shared. I asked the moderator twice to share the screen, even if the video did not work. I was ready to summarize its content.
Finally, I started my workshop at 11:43. Things went well until I heard the moderator interrupt me. “Excuse me, Dr. Hanadi, we should stop now.” I glanced at the clock on my phone. It was 11:56. I was only 13 minutes into my workshop.
I asked calmly but firmly, “Can I have two more minutes? I can finish in two minutes.” She began to speak, but I gently interrupted, “I just need two minutes, if that is okay.”
After receiving her approval, I quickly summarized some slides, skipped some parts, and spoke faster to ensure I delivered the main concepts and reached the conclusion.
My contact information slide appeared at 12:01. The moderator thanked me and apologized again for the unexpected technical issue.
I left the meeting room out of breath. I needed a moment to return to normal, but I was satisfied with my performance. Of course, delivering my workshop in 25 to 26 minutes would have fully reflected the effort I had put into preparing for this conference.
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Excited to present my workshop at the 3rd International Symposium “Humans First: Teaching, Learning and Agency in the Age of AI”!
In my 30 minute workshop, Empowering Language Teachers with Artificial Intelligence: Practical Strategies for Enhancing Student Learning,
You will discover practical, ready-to-use strategies to integrate AI into your teaching, learn how to enhance students’ speaking, writing, vocabulary, and pronunciation, provide effective feedback, save preparation time, and increase student engagement—while keeping the teacher at the center of learning.
If you are looking for simple, effective, and classroom-tested ways to use AI with confidence, this workshop is for you!
Date: April 23, 2026
Time: 12:25 PM (Muscat Time *(11:25 /aM Beirut time)
Format: Online on Teams
Join my workshop here. Meeting Room 1 at 11:25AM Beirut time: :
https://lnkd.in/dSxTYS9C
Below is the program of the day:
https://lnkd.in/dsUiVmQY
