Overview

Ontario Tech University’s Mitch & Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education and the Centre for Digital Innovation in Education (CDIE) are pleased to host the Digital Innovation in Education Conference 2025. The conference is for professors, teachers, board innovators, librarians, administrators, and keen education students who want to share and learn about pedagogical innovation, structural innovation, digital innovation, and teaching for innovation. Over two days, participants will have the opportunity to actively learn through:

• Round table discussions,
  
• Research presentations and demonstrations, and
  
• Poster presentations.
  

Dates

• Friday, April 04, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST)
  • Evening Speaker: TBA, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m
• Saturday, April 05, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST)

Cost

• Advance registration (March 07, 2025), $250
• Full registration, $325
• Student, $50
• Presenter, $175

Note: A registration link will be shared soon.

Benefits

• Both in-person and online opportunities
• Event attendees receive a certificate of participation
• Access to select presenter articles and resources through the Journal of Digital Life & Learning

Key Areas of Focus

Our presenters and workshop guides will share their insight into a wide range of topics, with each aligning with the following themes:

• Pedagogical Innovation: Such as inquiry, play, discovery, making, and design thinking. Or innovation in experiential, project-based, and problem-finding/solving types of learning.
• Structural Innovation: Such as learning spaces reimagined, makerspaces, living labs, and experimental classrooms. Or, hyFlex, blended/hybrid, and virtual labs experiences.
• Digital Innovation: Such as artificial Intelligence, augmented/virtual/mixed realities, wearables/ biometrics, and smart devices (Internet of Things), and assistive technologies.
• Teaching for Innovation: Such as developing innovation skills and mindsets in Kindergarten to adult education—including teacher education and the creation of module/online resources.

Nora Young

The Coming AI Revolution: Opportunity, Ethics, and Understanding in our Machine Learning Future

Recent explosive developments in Generative AI promise a new era of human-machine collaboration, and spark fears of AI-generated misinformation, and job loss. But Gen AI is just the most high-profile example of massive growth in data-driven machine learning. In this talk, Nora lays out the leading trends in the field and explores the opportunities AI presents for educators and society as a whole—provided we can address the political, creative, and ethical challenges it raises.

• Bio: Nora Young is an informed and ideal guide for anyone looking to understand—and plan for—the ever-changing, high-tech landscape and its social impacts. For 17 seasons, she was the host of CBC’s award-winning national radio show and podcast Spark, which explored technology and culture, and is the author of The Virtual Self. Her work with CBC now focuses on disinformation and the rapidly evolving AI landscape. As a keynote speaker, Young demystifies technology and explores how it’s shaping and impacting our lives and the larger world around us. Young was the founding host of CBC Radio’s Definitely Not the Opera, where she often discussed topics related to new media and technology. Her work has been featured in print, online, television, and as a committed hobby podcaster. She currently sits on the board of Farm Radio International, which supports rural broadcasters making interactive radio programs.

• Themes: Digital Innovation
• Audience & Subject: General Audience

Dr. Peter Lewis

Learning and Researching with Artificial Intelligence: Engaging Critically as Individuals and Society

In this talk, I will cover 'the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' of today's AI tools and discuss some advice for educators and society at large in navigating the AI landscape and deciding if and how to use AI in a formal learning environment. I will share examples of the latest generation of AI tools and their potential use within educational and research contexts. I will also cover some promising accessible use cases, advice for effective use, and some gotchas. Together, we will explore how we might want to think critically about using AI tools and how they might work based on practical insight and recent research.

• Bio: Dr. Peter Lewis holds a Canada Research Chair in 'Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence' at Ontario Tech University, where he is an Associate Professor and leads the Trustworthy AI Lab. He is also Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies, for the Faculty of Business and Information Technology. His research explores and advances the trustworthiness, self-awareness, social intelligence, and accessibility of AI systems. Drawing on extensive experience applying AI commercially, he is interested in where AI meets society, and how that relationship can work well. He holds leadership roles in various international research communities, including being Associate Editor of IEEE Technology & Society Magazine.

• Areas of Expertise: Artificial intelligence Big Data Computers Information technology Robotics Technology

• Themes: Digital Innovation, Teaching for Innovation
• Audience & Subject: General Audience

If you are interested in becoming a presenter, please complete the following form by February 16, 2025: Call for Presenters Form