Fall Academic PD Day 🍁

About Ela Smith

Aanii, my name is Gee waniway eekwe (Whirling Wind Woman). I am of the bear clan, displaced through colonization. My home community is Waterloo Region. I am a graduate of an Early Childhood Education Diploma program, Bachelor of Arts Degree, and a Master of Social Work in the Indigenous Field of Study. Much of my career has focused on working within mental health and advocacy. I am a Teaching and Learning Consultant - Indigenous Education with Mohawk College. I work from a wholistic, trauma-informed Indigegogy perspective that aims to empower people to critically reflect on how their practice impacts the world. I am also a sessional faculty member with the University of Toronto in the Indigenous Trauma and Resilience MSW program. Currently, I sit on the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies.

About Cassie Hilll

Cassandra Hill is a Haudenosaunee woman from Six Nations and an educator, researcher, and policy advocate dedicated to gender equality, Indigenous rights, and ethical technology solutions. Her work focuses on gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, Indigenous-led policy development, and culturally grounded, trauma-informed approaches to education and advocacy.

Currently pursuing a PhD at Athabasca University, Cassandra’s research explores how AI can create safe online spaces for Indigenous women who have experienced GBV. Her work bridges Indigenous knowledge systems with emerging technologies, emphasizing survivor-centred AI, digital safety, and Indigenous data sovereignty. She is passionate about ensuring that technology development reflects Indigenous governance, self-determination, and community priorities.

Cassandra teaches Indigenous Studies at Brock University and Indigenous curriculum and programming at Mohawk College. Her courses center Indigenous knowledge, cultural safety, and critical digital literacy. She brings a trauma-informed, relational, and intersectional approach to the classroom - blending academic rigour with personal and community-based teachings.

With extensive experience in curriculum development, community engagement, and policy advocacy, Cassandra has designed and facilitated educational programs that center Indigenous knowledge, cultural competency, and intersectional approaches to well-being. She has developed and led GBV prevention initiatives, training programs, and policy recommendations, working to integrate decolonial, strengths-based, and trauma-informed frameworks into systemic change efforts.

Cassandra is dedicated to leveraging research, policy, and technology to create safer, more equitable spaces for Indigenous communities. She actively works to advance Indigenous-led solutions, ethical AI, and gender justice in both digital and real-world spaces.

🌎Braiding Learning: A Teaching Framework Reimagined

with Jennifer Fournier & Amy Jenne

The Braiding Learning Framework is built from knowledge which engages the Potlach as Pedagogy: Learning through Ceremony, sk’ad’a Principles, the four “R”s, Bloom’s Taxonomy, the Science of Learning Strategies, and is held together by the Wholistic Medicine wheel, the four Medicines (Tobacco, Sweetgrass, Sage, Cedar), and the Seven Grandfather Teachings, intertwined with lessons from the land such as circular learning and teachings from Richard Wagamese about the Sacred Breath, and Water. The Framework, and each ring, has been created such that no individual approach is favoured, highlighting the ease at which the four approaches blend, building a wholistic understanding of education. We have used this framework to align with the program competencies.

1️⃣ How To Root Safety in Indigenous Knowledge

2️⃣ Braiding Learning and Knowledge: A new teaching approach

3️⃣ Fostering Inclusion and Diversity through Cooperative Online International Learning (COIL)

🪺 Indigenous Cultural Competency Drop-In Discussion and Activities

1️⃣ Reimagining Representation: AI, Bias, and the Educator’s Role

2️⃣ Roots of Recognition: Understanding Land Acknowledgements

🪺 Indigenous Cultural Competency Drop-In Discussion and Activities

Online testing: How much time do students use?

Generative AI in Post-Secondary Education: Comparing Student and Faculty Use, Perceptions, and Technology Readiness

Empowering Student Success: Leveraging AI and UDL to Redesign Assessments for Impact

Closing the Feedback Loop: Automated Assessment for Coding Education

1️⃣ Online testing: How much time do students use?

2️⃣ Generative AI in Post-Secondary Education: Comparing Student and Faculty Use, Perceptions, and Technology Readiness

3️⃣ Empowering Student Success: Leveraging AI and UDL to Redesign Assessments for Impact

4️⃣ Closing the Feedback Loop: Automated Assessment for Coding Education

5️⃣ Academic Integrity Module for Students

1️⃣ Self-reported preferences of flexible deadlines by Durham College students

2️⃣ Quantifying learning over time in a COMM course

3️⃣ Testing online vs. in person: Does it affect test scores?

4️⃣ Is there a role for AI in durable skills development: An investigation of student perceptions

5️⃣ Nutrition Education’s Impact on Student Wellness and Nutrition Literacy at Durham College

Our Next Academic PD Day is happening October 23, 2025

Event details