APRIL

Supporting Exceptional Learners–Part 2
Presenter Kalpana Makan

Join us for Part 2 of this hands-on workshop, as we come together online to examine approaches for effectively supporting exceptional learners. The webinar will help us explore practical strategies to foster inclusive and supportive classrooms for students with diverse needs. Participants will engage with scenarios and share best practices that enhance student engagement. Like Part 1, this webinar will incorporate strategies for accommodating and modifying learning to meet individual needs. You do not need to have attended Part 1 of the workshop to benefit from Part 2.

Saturday, April 5
10:00 a.m.—11:30 p.m
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AI Literacy and Fluency–Responsible Engagement with Generative AI
Presenter Heidi Siwak

Are you a teacher curious about how to engage your students meaningfully and responsibly with generative artificial intelligence? AI models like ChatGPT are touted to enhance student learning. However, a growing number of teachers understand that there are concerns with AI student use emerging from biases in AI training data, privacy, and environmental impacts. I-Think, an education charity developed at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has engaged over 3,000 students in their I-Think AI Challenge program. By engaging students in this program, I-Think has gleaned some insights into the AI literacy and fluency that teachers and students need so that AI use is ethical and human-centered. In this webinar we will discuss what AI literacy and fluency are, and how teachers could develop these skills for themselves and their students. Don’t miss out on this important and timely discussion.

Tuesday, April 8
4:00 p.m.—5:30 p.m
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PRESENTERS

Kalpana Makan

Kalpana is a highly experienced educator with over thirty years of expertise in the public education system. Throughout her extensive career, she has excelled in various roles, including classroom teacher, specialist teacher, Vice Principal, and Senior Staff at a teacher’s union. Kalpana has consistently demonstrated unwavering dedication to promoting initiatives focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA). She has shared her expertise at universities, professional conferences, school boards, unions, and not-for profit organizations. She highlights the tangible benefits it brings to individuals and organizations striving for a more equitable future, emphasizing how EDIA principles can transform organizations and broader communities. Kalpana currently serves as a board member on the Asian Canadian Educators Network (ACENet) and provides consulting services in the education sector.

Heidi Siwak

Heidi is an experienced Ontario educator and now Teacher Coach at I-Think, an education charity originating at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, which is focused on helping children and youth become optimistic and confident problem solvers. She leads I-Think’s work in Artificial Intelligence and is the architect of I-Think’s Artificial Intelligence Challenge Kit for students in Grade 6-12, where students engage in deep critical thinking about AI and use an empathy-based problem-solving process to imagine how AI might enhance the lives and possibilities of all students. Heidi believes that student and teacher voices need to be front and center as AI tools are developed for education. She regularly shares the learning of I-Think regarding what students want from AI (and the people who make it) from the over 3,000 students who have participated to date in the AI Challenge.

Heidi is passionately committed to helping students, teachers, and school leaders develop essential skills to explore the main issues facing society and education systems in the development and application of AI. She is committed to responsible and ethical AI in education and exercising leadership skills to empower students and educators to navigate the multidisciplinary and practical reality of responsible AI and human rights.