In 2026, instructors often feel they are moving through a dense fog. The path forward—how to encourage students while balancing institutional policies, sticking to time constraints, and dealing with the disruption of AI—is rarely clear. In this keynote, Brent Warner addresses the JALTCALL 2026 theme "Prevail or Fail?" by shifting the focus from tech integration & innovation as a novelty to a guiding light, helping us support students who are moving into an unclear future. Just as sailors use anchors and sails to navigate unknown waters, we will explore how to stay grounded in evidence-based teaching (The Anchor) while utilizing technology specifically to support student progress (The Sail). Recognizing that there are times to pause and times to move forward, the difference between prevailing and failing lies in our ability to keep the student’s needs as our North Star. Drawing on concrete examples of classroom successes and productive failures, this keynote provides practical strategies for troubleshooting real-world storms in modern education. Participants will leave with a clearer vision of when to slow down and when to sail ahead, using technology as a stabilizing force that empowers learners, even when the horizon remains obscured.

As educators and technology enthusiasts, we often hope that each new innovation introduced into teaching will become a success story. While educational technologies have considerable potential to support language learning in many ways, failure remains an ever-present possibility. Such experiences, however, can provide valuable opportunities for reflection, learning, and growth. In this keynote, Mehrasa reflects on her past work with immersive technologies in language education, examining not only what prevailed but also what failed and how she attempted to address these challenges. By critically engaging with initiatives that did not unfold as planned, she will highlight key pedagogical and practical lessons drawn from these experiences. She will also demonstrate how these insights have directly informed the design and direction of her current project, offering a reflective account of how learning from failure can ultimately help innovation prevail in technology-enhanced language learning.