KEYNOTE SPEAKERS SPONSOR INFO DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE ACCOMMODATION TRANSPORTATION ONLINE COMMUNITY KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
Jennifer Jenson is an assistant professor of pedagogy and technology in the Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include gender and technology, cultural studies of technology, and the design and development of educational computer-gaming applications. Her recent publications include 'Women@work: listening to gendered relations of power in teachers' talk about new technologies' (with C. Brushwood Rose) in Gender and Education, and 'Girl talk: gender, equity and identity discourse in a school-based computer culture' (with S. de Castell and M. Bryson) in Women's Studies International Forum.
Jennifer’s latest research includes investigating computer-based educational resources as great tools for teaching and learning. A major shortcoming is they are not usually designed by educators for use in teaching. She believes the development of computer-based educational resources by technology specialists alone has been a significant barrier to making those resources student-friendly.
Jennifer Jenson has built a studio dedicated to research, design and development of play-based multimedia learning environments and tools. The studio, operating in partnership with the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies at York, is housed in York's new $88-million Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) building, the most technologically advanced teaching facility in Ontario.
Both Contagion and Ludus Vitae, co-developed with Suzanne de Castell, an active proponent of incorporating "play" into learning experiences at Simon Fraser University, build on entertainment-oriented computer games to provide educators with strong models for the design of educationally rich play-based learning activities. Their 2002 paper, "Serious Play: Challenges of Educational Game Design", is available on Jenson's Web site.
Tom Keenan will present the Leading Learning keynote talk on Monday May 7th 2007 at Deerhurst Convention Centre. Tom brings extensive experience with technology for education, health and communication and will inspire delegates to make new connections.Tom was educated at Columbia University, receiving BA, MSc, MA and EdD degrees, and did additional study at Harvard University. He was involved with computers at a young age and helped develop some of the earliest timesharing systems. He also took up broadcasting, working as a news reporter in New York and Washington.
Tom has parallel careers as a u professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design and a journalist/broadcaster. He has written TV and radio documentaries and hosted programs in both media. His 1984 radio series, Crimes of the Future, won the Canadian Science Writer's Association award. He writes on Men's Health for the Canwest Global newspapers and on technology for the Busienss Edge News Magazine. Tom has been honoured with a Teaching Excellence Award, Educator of the Year (Phi Delta Kappa, Calgary, 1995), Outstanding Contribution to Alberta Science and Technology (ASTECH Foundation, 1996) and Professional Achievement Award (CIPS, 1998).
At the University of Calgary, he teach es courses in Computer Systems and Smart Communities. He serves on the ICT Council of Canada, the NSERC Michael Smith Award Selection Committee, and on several private and public boards.
Parallel Worlds: Inspiring Learners in a World of Ubiquitous Information
They "meet up" on Facebook or Nexopia. We go to the coffee room. We read the newspaper. They "Digg" their news, or get it from Reddit, YouTube, or somebody's blog. We say "seeing is believing." They know it's not. Can the worlds of today's educator, and the people we're supposed to teach, actually converge? Absolutely!
For over two decades Dr. Tom Keenan has mentored Canada's best and brightest as director of the Shad Valley Calgary program. In this provocative talk, he'll explain the key skills we need to work effectively with a generation that has all the facts at their fingertips, and why they need us more than ever.
Dr. Heather Lotherington
Literacy, language and technology: New narratives and new educational possibilities
At Joyce Public School (JPS) in Toronto, we are engaged in collaborative school-university research to observe, create, understand and document contemporary multiliteracies. Our research is motivated by the challenges faced by urban children who are acquiring literacy in an era of complex digitally-mediated, glocalized communication. The project aims broadly to teach literacy through narratives, to make literacy resources more linguistically and culturally inclusive, and to create pedagogical processes for teaching contemporary multiliteracies. This presentation discusses and illustrates how children are retelling traditional stories using digital media to include their cultural and linguistic worlds.
Dr. Heather Lotherington is Associate Professor of Multilingual Education at York University where she has taught in the Faculty of Education and in the Graduate Program in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics since 1999. She is currently directing a collaborative study on emergent multiliteracies in the elementary school focusing on the construction of postmodern, digital narratives. Her collaborating teachers at Joyce Public School in Toronto have recently won the National Technology Award for Eastern and Central Canada from the Learning Partnership for innovative work that includes this research project. Her research focus on multiliteracies has invited considerable media attention. She was featured on TVO’s Big Ideas, and has been interviewed on a variety of television, and radio programs, and for a number of major Canadian newspapers.
Dr. Ron Owston is Professor of Education, founding director of the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, and former Associate Dean of Field Development at York University. He is internationally known for his work on analysing the contribution of the Web to education. His recent projects include the evaluation of Web-based learning at the post secondary level, the application of online learning to teacher development as part of the Telelearning Network of Centres of Excellence, the Second International Technology in Education Study, Module 2 (SITES-M2) that examined innovative pedagogical practices using technology in schools in 29 countries, the Teacher eLearning Project in Mathematics and Science sponsored by The Learning Partnership, the domain leader for methodology and tools research on simulations and games in the SAGE for Learning research network www.sageforlearning.ca, the lead researcher for the ABEL program’s project Learning Connections www.learningconnections.on.ca , and the external evaluator for Health Canada’s online courses in epidemiology for health care professionals. His website is at http://www.edu.yorku.ca/~rowston
Teachers, technology, and students: Teaching outside of the triangle
Students in our schools today, who do not know a world without digital technology, are different from previous generations of students in the ways that they learn, share, work, communicate, and socialize. And as new technologies become available they are quick to embrace, adapt, or reject them. This poses a significant challenge for teachers who typically are not as comfortable with technology as their students are. In this talk, Dr. Owston will argue that we need to think beyond conventional approaches to teaching and learning with technology if we are to engage and motivate students now in our classrooms. He will discuss the implications of this for teacher professional development, curriculum, and educational policy.
Todd Cunningham is working on his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Toronto and has is M.A. from the same program. He has his B.Sc (Honours) in Psychology through Trent University where he was the Assistive Technology Tutor. He has also worked as the Assistive Technologist for the Learning Disabilities Research Program (LDRP) at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He has presented numerous workshops all over Canada to parents, students, and educational professionals on topics including learning disabilities and assistive technology. Workshops and presentations have included additional qualification courses through OISE/UT, Queens University, and York University; presentations for the Learning Disabilities Association of Peterborough; University of Toronto; and the Hospital for Sick Children. He has also guest lectured at several universities. He has also presented at conferences including SSSR, Paediatric Update at the Hospital for Sick Children, the BYTES conference, and Destination Success. He has also been the Keynote speaker at several educational and research conferences including From Research into Practice, NOEL, and the Ontario Ministry of Education conferences ‘Tools for Learning”.
Learning Differently
Following the life experience of an individual with a learning disability from grade one through university to the work-place this presentation will share the learning connections supported by assistive technology. The power of Assistive Technology in the regular classroom to aid a student with a learning disability will be told from first-hand experience. A range of assistive technologies will be demonstrated to show how these can be used to allow a learner to utilize their natural strengths to overcome their weaknesses.
Overcoming barriers presented by Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology is continuing to develop as a tool that can be used by parents and educators to help students with learning disabilities circumvent areas of weakness and access the regular curriculum. Technology is no miracle cure and like any tool for a job, the right tool is needed and one must understand how to use the tool effectively. From working with students, parents, and educators, and as a user of the technology, the presenter has seen and faced many of the barriers that exist around the use of Assistive Technology; including selecting the wrong technology, cost, stigma, poor implementation, lack of training, negative perceptions, and lack of access. This workshop will describe three important aspects to overcoming challenges. First, the selection of the right technology to meet the needs of a student by identify weaknesses and building on their strengths. This includes developing an understanding that there are a range of programs that can circumvent a weakness and it is not necessarily the most expensive one. As well, not all assistive technology tools are appropriate for all students. Students have different learning profiles. There is a range of assistive technology available and that will be presented. Second, when training the student to use the technology a curriculum/academic context is important so the students can see the fit between the technology and the academic tasks. This can help the student understand how to integrate the technology with school activities and provide context for the appropriate learning strategies. Third, the normalizing of assistive technology as tools for learning will be addressed in helping prevent the development of social and learning stigma. In this interactive session participants will be provided with time to ask questions, present observations and problems that they may have experienced in the field.
As Director of the Academic Sector, Mike Parkhill is responsible for Microsoft Canada’s educational activities and initiatives across Canada. With responsibility for K-12, Colleges and Universities, Mike heads a team of education specialists dedicated to meeting the unique and diverse needs of customers. One of the key factors in the team’s success has been their ability to strike the right balance between Corporate Social Responsibility and their role to provide effective market solutions. Never satisfied by the status quo, Mike Parkhill, Director of the Academic Sector for Microsoft Canada Co. views himself as a change agent for certain Canadian societal issues. Mike has participated in initiatives addressing the situation of homelessness in Canada, releasing Inuktitut versions of Windows and Office so the Inuit peoples can function in their mother tongue, committing to safety on the internet and helping to share best practices and visions for improved learning outcomes through the use of technology. Mike realizes there is much to do to engage child learners in an effort to stay in school, involving the evangalising of the development of learning games. He has keynoted many learning events including Riding the Wave, BC Ed Online and Alberta Online Consortium. Please join in the discussion around becoming a change agent within the learning community of Saskatchewan. This talk proves to be both thought provoking and entertaining as Mike uses many examples from across Canada around children s learning styles for the 21st Century.