Spring 2024 / April 24

In the wake of ChatGPT's launch by OpenAI, the conversation around AI in education has reached a fever pitch, with promises of vast transformations in teaching and learning. However, amidst the buzz, educators are left grappling with how to effectively integrate GenAI into their instructional practices.

In this session, we'll move beyond the hype to explore tangible ways educators can leverage GenAI to help inform their planning and lesson design. By focusing on evidence-informed methodologies derived from the Science of Learning, the session will describe practical, tangible ways educators can harness GenAI to facilitate effective and sustainable learning outcomes for all students.

When it comes to informal or just-in-time learning, microlearning is ubiquitous. From YouTube videos to TikTok reels to Khan Academy tutorials, microlearning has tremendous appeal. As a result, it continues to be a popular trend and a buzzword in the field of teaching and learning. Unfortunately, the term has been used broadly and inconsistently across the academic literature, causing confusion for both scholars and educators. Yet, there is something valuable about a well-designed microlesson that we need to identify and understand, especially within formal higher education.

In this interactive workshop, I will propose a new term called MicroLearning – the capitalized “Learning" emphasizes that the microlesson is designed with certain evidence-based principles in mind. We will explore evidence-informed MicroLearning design principles, learn from various concrete examples and spend time applying these principles to practice.

This session will introduce faculty to the Virtual Reality experience of Bodyswaps. This tool was developed by behavioral scientists and learning designers to transform behavior through applied skills practice and self-reflection. Bodyswaps empowers students with hands-on practice in communication, interviews, presentations, leadership, and teamwork.The immersive simulations offer true-to-life scenarios, allowing learners to step into various roles and perspectives, honing their abilities in practical, real-world contexts.

Check out the 25+ simulations and learning experiences: https://bodyswaps.co/library

During this session, faculty will have an opportunity to use Bodyswaps with a VR headset.

with Danielle Harder [MAD] & Dr. Kayla Murphy [FPIC]

Founders Drive is a unique work-integrated learning project that has provided an opportunity for students from several programs in the Faculty of Media, Art and Design to develop their skills inside a start-up podcast. This season's focus on Indigenous entrepreneurship challenged them to enhance their cultural learning and relationship building skills. Find out how faculty supported and mentored this student-led project to provide a transformational learning experience.

with Catie Sahadath [Library]

Have you ever wondered who owns the intellectual property rights for the outputs of generative AI tools like ChatGPT? This session will explore the Canadian copyright implications of using generative AI to produce new works. Attendees will learn how this applies to the classroom, and how we can ensure that we are mitigating copyright compliance risks when using generative AI in teaching, learning, and research.

with Dr. Lynne Kennette [LS], Morgan Chapman [LS] & Amanda Cappon [SCS]

If you’ve been using the PASS system (developed by CTL), then you’re already familiar with intelligent agents, but you can do so much more with them than these alerts to students. You can send students a personalized email when they first log into your course; or when they haven’t logged in for a while. You can let them know you noticed they did well on a test; or provide them with some ideas on how to do better next time. Automatically send an academic alert to struggling students and loop in their student advisor. These touch-points can be so beneficial to establishing and maintaining relationships and rapport with each individual students. Course awards (badges and certificates) can also help with this: you can tell students ahead of time which ones are available to earn or hide them so that students don’t know which of their actions will release a badge: asking a question in the discussion board, completing an optional/extra credit activity, introducing themselves on the discussion board, earning a certain grade in the course, etc! In this workshop, we’ll show you how we use them and walk you through how to set them up so that you (and your students) can benefit from these engaging tools!