EvolvED: GBC’s annual conference, sponsored by our Teaching and Learning Exchange (TLX).
Date: Tuesday, April 30th, 2024
Location: Daniels Waterfront - 3 Lower Jarvis Street and online via Zoom
The Annual EvolvED Teaching and Learning Conference, sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Exchange (TLX), is a chance to highlight and celebrate the teaching innovation and excellence that happens every day at GBC. This one-day conference, on Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, at the Daniel’s Building (Waterfront Campus) and online via Zoom, will include a keynote address by Dr. Rhonda McEwen, concurrent sessions led by GBC faculty, panel presentations, lunch, and a reception at the end of the day. In-person participants will have an opportunity to join online sessions. Likewise, some of the in-person elements will be live-streamed online.
The last few years have been a time of great disruption and rapid change in higher education, highlighting opportunities for creativity and underscoring the need for human connection. This year's conference theme “Catalysts. Creativity. Connection” focuses on a series of questions: How can we use disruption as a catalyst for transformation? What opportunities for creativity might this spark, and how do we conceive of creativity in the age of Generative AI? And – among the many technological changes and other disruptive forces surrounding us – how do we hold the value of human connection at the core of education?
Conference sessions will explore the latest technology, tools and research related to teaching and learning, including interactive sessions and conversations related to the changing landscape of higher education.
Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen
Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen is the 14th President and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto; Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition; a Professor of Emerging Media & Communication at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology; and has graduate faculty appointments at the: Department of Computer Science; Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology; and Faculty of Information - University of Toronto.
As a Chevening Scholar, Dr. McEwen graduated from City, University of London, England with a MBA in Information Technology Management (high honours). She also earned a MSc in Telecommunications ( summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado Boulder; and a PhD in Information from the University of Toronto. A world renowned researcher in human-machine communication, Dr. McEwen combines applied and behavioral science approaches with communication studies theory to examine the social and cognitive effects of technologies. Her pioneering approach to communication research employs experimental techniques, eye tracking, observations, sensor data, and interviews to investigate emerging technology used by children and adults, including those diagnosed with communication and learning disorders.
Dr. McEwen has worked with and researched digital communications media for over 20 years, both in companies providing services, and in management consulting to those companies. Dr. McEwen’s research has appeared in CBC 60 Minutes, Nine 9 News Australia, CBC Radio, the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. She has over 47 publications, including the co-edited Sage Handbook of Human-Machine Communiication (2023), and articles in Human-Robot Interaction Companion; Information, Communication & Society; Computers and Education; New Media and Society; and information science journals.
Learning and Creativity in the Age of Generative AI: Insights from Theory, Teaching… and TikTok
In this presentation, Dr. Ioana Literat, an expert on digital participation and online creativity, will address the impact of generative AI on processes of learning and creativity. This intersection will be illuminated in three ways, based on three very different kinds of insights: theory (Dr. Literat’s theoretical work on the evolving nature of creativity in the digital age), teaching (the pedagogical implications of AI in higher education, including for classroom policies, assignment design, and assessment), and research (drawing from Dr. Literat’s current research on the discourse around AI and education on young people’s favorite social media platform, TikTok).
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ioana Literat
Dr. Ioana Literat is Associate Professor in the Communication, Media & Learning Technologies Design program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she also co-directs the Media and Social Change Lab. Her research examines youth online participation, with a particular focus on the intersection of civic and creative practices in online contexts. She is a frequent contributor on technology-related topics in the press, including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, The Atlantic, CNN and Wired.
