TESS 2023: Registration is now closed.
Reconnect with your colleagues at Ontario’s favourite technology and education conference. Enjoy 20+ presentations, a special networking reception, and participate in a shared experience with professionals passionate about the future of education.
The Technology and Education Seminar and Showcase (TESS) Conference has been eCampusOntario’s annual flagship event since 2015. This year’s theme – Supporting the Digitally Empowered Learner – explores how technology can open new doors to the knowledge and skills learners need to achieve the future they imagine.
Join Us at TESS 2023
Pre-Conference Webinar with Maha Bali
October 25, 2023
In-person Conference & Livestream
November 1 & 2, 2023
Pre-Conference – October 25, 2023
Maha Bali
American University in Cairo
Keynote Speaker
Nurturing Learner Empowerment with Intentional Equity, Care and Compassion.
How do we best support our diverse learners in order to empower them in the digital world? This interactive session will explore the roles of intentional equity, care and compassion in our approach to building communities and ecosystems that nurture learners in their chosen journeys.
Maha Bali
American University in Cairo
Maha Bali is Professor of Practice at the Center for Learning and Teaching at the American University in Cairo. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Sheffield, UK. She is co-founder of virtuallyconnecting.org (a grassroots movement that challenges academic gatekeeping at conferences) and co-facilitator of Equity Unbound an equity-focused, open, connected intercultural learning curriculum, which has also branched into academic community activities Continuity with Care, Socially Just Academia, a collaboration with OneHE: Community-building Resources and MYFest , an innovative 3-month professional learning journey. She writes and speaks frequently about social justice, critical pedagogy, and open and online education. She blogs regularly at http://blog.mahabali.me and tweets @bali_maha
Further links :
For Maha’s list of peer-reviewed publications, see here.
For Maha’s list of keynotes and invited talks, see here.
In-Person Conference – November 1 & 2, 2023
Date:
November 1 and 2, 2023
Location:
Globe and Mail Centre, Toronto
TESS 2023 will feature an immersive in-person experience. This year’s conference will be a ticketed event with equity-based discounts for eCampusOntario member institutions, faculty, and students. Limited tickets available. Registration closed.
In-person conference includes:
Live Panel Discussions
Sector leaders and experts share an insightful discussion on new technology in education.
20+ sessions
Robust catalogue of 20+ sessions showcasing recent trends, future technology, and solutions to succeed in the hybrid postsecondary environment.
Lunch social and networking reception
Reconnect with postsecondary professionals at a post-event networking reception and enjoy two lunch socials. Join a live social experience that inspires collaboration and celebrates our work as a collective.
Featured Presenters
Dr. Bonnie Stewart
Associate Professor, Online Pedagogy & Workplace Learning, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor
Keynote Speaker
Preserving the participatory: Digital empowerment in an age of AI
This keynote will explore the emerging and shifting landscape of digital education in the era of artificial intelligence. The keynote emphasizes the critical importance of preserving participatory learning experiences as a counterpoint to automated outputs, and underscores the role of educators as facilitators of meaningful engagement in digitally augmented learning environments. It highlights strategies to foster collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, acknowledging how AI can be of service to educators while challenging the hype of tech determinism and AI enclosure.
The keynote calls upon educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to consider participatory pedagogy a key tool in ensuring that participatory learning remains at the core of educational transformation in the digital age. By prioritizing digital engagement that contributes to the construct of knowledge abundance and a knowledge commons, the talk outlines strategies for trying to preserve human agency and inquiry in the contemporary learning process.
Dr. Bonnie Stewart
Associate Professor, Online Pedagogy & Workplace Learning, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor
Dr. Bonnie Stewart is an educator and social media researcher interested in the implications of digital networks for institutions and society. Associate Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning at the University of Windsor, Bonnie has an extensive background in digital and participatory education. As an early MOOC researcher and ethnographer of academic Twitter, Bonnie has explored the shifting landscape of digital platforms and practices for more than a decade. Bonnie’s research currently examines educators’ data literacies across an increasingly extractive environment, and emphasizes participatory paths to creating belonging in digital spaces.
Bonnie is a career educator and a certified K-12 teacher who has taught on all three coasts of Canada, and facilitated around the world. For the past two decades, Bonnie’s work has been grounded in Canadian higher education while extending to keynotes and workshops across North America, and in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Bonnie is consistently curious about what it means to know, to learn, and to be a citizen in our current information ecosystem, and takes joy in raising provocations and possibilities with students and professional peers.
Hon. Jill Dunlop,
Minister of Colleges and Universities
Jill Dunlop has been the member of provincial parliament for Simcoe North since 2018. Born and raised in the Town of Coldwater in Simcoe North, Jill witnessed the importance of community and small local businesses early on as her grandparents owned and operated Dunlop Plumbing, and her parents were actively engaged community members.
Prior to being elected, Jill attended Western University, and later joined the faculty of Georgian College. She is also the mother of three postsecondary aged daughters, all giving her unique insights into the world of higher education. In 2019, Jill was appointed Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues in the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. In 2021, she was appointed Minister of Colleges and Universities, and was re-appointed to the post in June 2022.
David Wai,
Deputy Minister of Colleges and Universities
David Wai became Deputy Minister of Colleges and Universities in June 2023. He was previously the Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, a role he began in October 2021.
David has held a number of executive positions in the Ontario Public Service, including the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, Social, Education and Children’s Policy at Cabinet Office where he supported the Health and Social Policy Cabinet Committee as well as the Central Coordination Table. As the Assistant Deputy Minister of Financial Services Policy at the Ministry of Finance (MOF), he led the creation and launch of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario and led regulatory policy in financial services sectors such as capital markets and insurance. He has also held senior positions in economic development, trade and pensions. He is passionate about building a more diverse and inclusive workplace and led the MOF Inclusion Committee during his time at MOF.
Prior to joining the OPS, David worked in the capital markets industry with Fiera Capital and RBC and in management consulting with Deloitte. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) and holds degrees in Engineering Physics and Economics.
Dr. Chris McGrath,
TESS 2023 Host
Dr. Chris McGrath brings over 20 years of leadership experience in postsecondary education to his unshakeable focus on advancing Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (I-EDI). He is the Principal and Founder of the Koru Coaching + Education Group — a team of coaches, educators and consultants working with leaders and organizations to do better for communities that deserve nothing but the best.
As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. McGrath’s academic interests broadly explore how individuals and organizations perform leadership to advance the public good. In particular, his work interrogates intersecting discourses of educational quality and equity, and how they influence how organizations shape strategy, program and accountability in the interest of social and economic change. With a deep commitment to widening access to education and employment, his scholarship explores the authenticity of social justice leadership and its role in interrupting how privilege influences thinking and action. Further, he is interested in how the intersection of personal morals and professional ethics shapes how leaders exercise power and influence to shape social and structural change in public organizations.
Dr. McGrath has worked in senior roles in public and private postsecondary institutions in Canada and the US, and teaches graduate courses in education at Royal Roads University and York University. He holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Western University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Vermont, and a bachelor’s degree in French studies from the University of Waterloo. Dr. McGrath has served on the boards of national and local non-profit organizations, including those striving to improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth, people living with HIV/AIDS, and youth experiencing mental illness.
Stephen Hurley
VoicEd Radio, Podcasting live on site
Stephen Hurley is the founder and chief catalyst at voicEd Radio Canada a 24/7 Internet-based broadcasting/podcasting community that works hard to connect current research, practice and policy in education. Combining a life-long love of radio and an intense 30-year career in public education, Hurley is passionate about finding ways to enliven the public square with vibrant conversations about learning, teaching, schools and education in its broadest sense.
Dr. Nicole Johnson
Dr. Nicole Johnson is the Executive Director of the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association, where she leads annual, longitudinal research studies exploring pan-Canadian trends related to digital learning at postsecondary institutions. Her primary research interests include tracking macro-level trends in digital learning at the postsecondary level, defining and operationalizing key terms associated with digital learning, investigating faculty experiences with technology, exploring the future of higher education, and better understanding how adults learn informally in digital contexts.
Elder Whabagoon
Elder Whabagoon is an Ojibwe elder and sits with the Loon Clan. She is a current member of Obishikokkang First Nation while having resided in Toronto for 45 years. She is a Keeper of Sacred Pipes, speaker, land defender and water protector.
Conference Tracks
Sessions will focus on four guiding questions that are vital to co-creating a hybrid future:
Experiential Learning
What unique opportunities can emerging technologies and learning practices provide for experiential and work-integrated learning that more effectively empower learners to achieve their goals faster?
The Lifelong Learner
How can technology-enabled learning provide lifelong learners and newcomers with better access to reskilling and upskilling opportunities?
Transformative Technology
With the continual emergence of transformative technologies (ChatGPT, Web 3.0), how can learner-centered pedagogies help turn disruption into learner advantage?
The Digital Balance
Recent experience has provided educators with a better understanding of the challenges learners face with virtual learning. How can these lessons help us understand the ways teachers and technology can better support human-centered learning to enable learner success?
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