Keynote Speakers
Assoc. Prof. Di Zou
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Prof. Zou Di is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Communication and the Faculty of Humanities at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She holds a PhD in English from City University of Hong Kong and a TESOL certificate from Trinity College London. Her research expertise lies in educational technology, language education, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), game-based language learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) in language education. With a strong research focus on educational technology in language education, Professor Zou has led and collaborated on over 20 research projects. She has published more than 220 research papers, primarily in SSCI- and Scopus-indexed journals, including Computers & Education, British Journal of Educational Technology, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Language Learning & Technology, and Systems. Her work has had a significant impact in the field, with a Google Scholar citation count of 11939 (as of July 2025), an h-index of 52, and an i10-index of 107. She has been recognized as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University for four consecutive years (2021–2024). Several of her papers in Computers & Education and Computer Assisted Language Learning rank among the Most Cited Articles in their respective journals. Professor Zou's contributions to teaching and research have earned her numerous awards. She has received the Excellent Paper Award from the International Conference on Blended Learning and the International Conference on Open and Innovative Education. Her innovative teaching projects have been recognized internationally, winning the Gold Medal and Special Awards at the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN) and the Silver Medal at the International Innovation and Invention Competition (IIIC) in Taiwan. Beyond her research and teaching achievements, Professor Zou plays an active role in academic publishing. She serves as an Associate Editor for Computer & Education (SSCI IF=8.9), Computers & Education: X Reality, and previously for the Australasian Journal of Education Technology (SSCI IF=4.1) (2021–2022). She is also an editorial board member for Education Technology & Society (SSCI IF=4.7) and the International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation. Additionally, she has led special issues for several prestigious journals, including Computers in Human Behavior (SSCI IF=9.0), Systems (SSCI IF=4.9), Education Technology & Society (SSCI IF=4.7), and Computers & Education: Artificial Intelligence (Scopus CiteScore=16.8). Professor Zou’s extensive research, editorial contributions, and dedication to technological advancements in language education continue to shape the field and inspire scholars worldwide.
Assoc. Prof. Song-Kyoo (Amang) Kim
Macao Polytechnic University, China
Prof. Song-Kyoo (Amang) Kim (Senior Member, IEEE) received the M.S. degree in computer engineering and the Ph.D. degree in operations research from the Florida Institute of Technology, in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of computing program with the Macao Polytechnic University. He used to be an Associate Professor of several United Arab Emirates universities. Before moving to the Gulf Region, he was a Core Faculty Member of the Asian Institute of Management, providing courses in technology, innovation, and operations. Before his academic career, he was a Technical Manager with the Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, for more than ten years and mainly dealt with technology management in the information technology industry. He has been an Invited Speaker at many international conferences concerning technology management, innovation process, operations research, and data sciences.
Prof. Li-fang Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
Li fang ZHANG is Professor of Psychology
and Education in the Faculty of Education at The
University of Hong Kong. She has been chairing the
University’s Human Research Ethics Committee since
2020, was Associate Dean (Research Higher Degrees)
(2007–2010), and led the Division of Learning,
Development, and Diversity (2013–2019).
A world-renowned authority on intellectual styles,
Professor Zhang has also conducted research and
published papers in other academic domains,
including giftedness, creativity, student
development in higher education, teacher education,
and the academic profession. Professor Zhang has
(co)authored nearly 160 peer reviewed international
journal and encyclopedic articles and has published
numerous academic book chapters and books, including
two single authored monographs with Cambridge
University Press – The Malleability of Intellectual
Styles (Zhang, 2013) and The Value of Intellectual
Styles (Zhang, 2017). She is editor in chief of the
Oxford Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology and an
associate editor of Educational Psychology. She also
serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of
Educational Psychology and sits on several editorial
boards in psychology and education, including
Educational Psychology Review and Thinking Skills
and Creativity. She has also served as an ad hoc
reviewer for over 50 peer-reviewed international
journals, including Cognition and Instruction,
European Journal of Personality, Higher Education,
Learning and Instruction, Learning and Individual
Differences, Personality and Individual Differences,
and Psychological Bulletin.
Invited Speaker
Prof. Hisayuki Sasaoka
National Institute of Technology, Asahikawa College, Japan
Hisayuki Sasaoka received his Ph.D. in Engineering from the Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkai-Gakuen University in 2000. From April to September 2000 he was a postgraduate at the Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University. He then served in the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (Asahikawa KOSEN), Japan, starting from October 2000 until March 2025. Since April 2025 he has been a Professor (Thailand KOSEN) at the National Institute of Technology Headquarters (Japan) and a visiting professor at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (Thailand). His research interests include e-Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Machine Translation.