Dr. Kris Alexander

Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Director of the Red Bull Gaming Hub

Start with the Human: How Game Design Principles Create Digital Learning Experiences That Stick

Video games are the most successful learning systems ever designed, not because of their technology, but because they are built around how humans actually pay attention, stay motivated, process information across multiple channels, recover from failure, and transfer skills to new contexts. In this keynote, Dr. Kris Alexander draws on the blueprint hidden inside games (and the AI tools that now extend it) to show how we can design digital learning that prioritizes human needs first. Drawing on practical examples from large-scale courses, health and training simulations, and AI-enhanced pedagogy, the talk offers concrete approaches for centering the learner experience, embedding human values (flexibility, authenticity, choice, connection, relevance), and structuring learning so that knowledge transfers to real workplace contexts. The goal is simple: digital futures that feel human by design.

Carley McDougall

Owner at Wavelength Strategic Consulting and Leadership Coaching

Human by Design, Step by Step

Technology and innovation, including AI, are reshaping the work faculty, staff, and leaders do every day, often faster than anyone can fully keep up with. Designing digital futures that genuinely work for learners means designing for the humans doing the work too: the confidence to try, the room to adapt, and the willingness to lead without all the answers.

Carley opens with a human-centred case for taking the next small step instead of waiting for the perfect plan, especially when resources are tight and the ground keeps shifting. She’ll then sit down with Robert Luke for a fireside conversation on what human by design really looks like across Ontario’s postsecondary sector, followed by audience Q&A.

Dr. Nidhi Sachdeva

Chair, researchED Canada

Lights On: Human by Design Starts with the Science of Learning

John Sweller, creator of cognitive load theory, said, “Without an understanding of the human cognitive architecture, instruction is blind.” Yet amid the pace of digital transformation, it is easy to lose sight of how humans actually learn. As online learning, eLearning, and AI-powered tools reshape postsecondary education, we often design around what technology makes possible without giving adequate consideration to what learners need to understand, remember, and apply new knowledge.

This keynote takes TESS’s Human by Design theme at its word: if we are serious about designing digital futures that work for learners, design must begin with the human doing the learning, not the tool doing the delivering. Drawing on research from the science of learning, the session explores how attention, prior knowledge, working memory, practice, and feedback shape learning, and how these insights can inform the design of more effective digital experiences. It will also examine why even innovative instructional designs sometimes fail to produce the deep, lasting learning they are intended to support.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how human cognitive architecture should inform instructional design, how cognitive overload can enter the learning process, and how practical, evidence-informed principles can be used to create learning experiences that promote understanding, retention, and transfer. We must ensure that how people actually learn remains central to the design process, so that the learning experiences we create are genuinely human by design.