TMU Learning and Teaching Conference
TMU Learning & Teaching Conference
May 20, 2025
Registration is now open (external link) !
Click the link above to register for the LTC before Tuesday May 13, 2025. This single registration form also includes the option of registering for the TMU IT Conference.
2025 Learning & Teaching Conference
The Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is pleased to invite you to attend the 2025 TMU Learning & Teaching Conference.
This year’s conference will be held in-person on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
This year's theme:
Transforming Futures Through Learning and Teaching Excellence
Building on TMU’s 2025-2030 Academic Plan, this year’s conference reflects on the opportunities, disruptions and challenges of the present as we imagine future innovative, equitable and engaging possibilities for teaching excellence.
To stay informed about conference updates we encourage you to join Teachnet or follow us on X (external link)
Partnering with the TMU IT Conference
For the first time, this year the Learning and Teaching Conference is partnering with TMU’s IT Conference for an exciting back-to-back conference experience, May 20 - 22, 2025.
Registration for both the Learning and Teaching Conference, and the IT Conference is now open for all faculty and staff at TMU. This year participants can register for one, or both, conferences using a single registration form. Please complete the entire form indicating which of the conferences you hope to attend.
Registration for both conferences will remain open until Tuesday May 13, 2025 at 5.p.m.
2025 LTC Schedule at a Glance
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30 - 9:30 a.m. |
Registration & breakfast reception |
9:30 - 10:50 a.m. |
Conference Opening, Keynote from Mark Daley |
11 - 12 p.m. |
Session A - Concurrent Sessions & Special Session A |
12 - 1 p.m. |
Lunch Break & Activities |
1 - 2 p.m. |
Session B - Concurrent Sessions & Special Session B |
2 - 2:30 p.m. |
Break |
2:35 - 3:35 p.m. |
Session C - Concurrent Sessions & Special Session C |
3: 40 - 4:40 p.m. |
Session D - Concurrent Sessions & Special Session D |
4:40 p.m. - Close |
The Chang Reception, Poster Session & Service Spotlight |
.png)
Registration for both the Learning and Teaching Conference, and the IT Conference is now open for all faculty and staff at TMU. This year participants can register for one, or both, conferences using a single registration form. Please complete the entire form indicating which of the conferences you hope to attend.
Registration for both conferences will remain open until Tuesday May 13, 2025 at 5.p.m.
Mark Daley
Chief AI Officer at Western University and a Professor in the Department of Computer Science
Eight Billion Geniuses: Life in a Post-Anthropocentric Intelligence Paradigm
Mark is the Chief AI Officer at Western University and a Professor in the Department of Computer Science with cross-appointments in five other departments, The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, and The Western Institute for Neuroscience. He is also a faculty affiliate of Toronto's Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
Mark was named in the Maclean's magazine "Power List 2024" of the top 100 Canadians shaping the country and in Constellation Research's AI150, a list of top 150 top global executives leading AI transformation efforts.
In October 2024, Mark was appointed the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Scholar in Residence in Artificial Intelligence.
Mark has previously served as the Vice-President (Research) at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research(CIFAR), and Chief Digital Information Officer, Special Advisor to the President, and Associate Vice-President (Research) at Western.
Mark is the past chair of Compute Ontario and serves on a number of other boards.
Cultivating Inclusive Learning Environments
- Decolonization & Indigenous pedagogies
- Black-focused pedagogy and addressing ABR
- Inclusive design
- Student well-being
Empowering Student Voice and Agency
- Assessment strategies
- Student-centered learning activities
- Students as partners in learning and teaching
- Learning through lived experiences
Expanding Learning Beyond the Classroom
- Global learning
- Experiential learning
- Supporting International students
- Learning in community
Teaching with Technology and Navigating an Ever-Evolving Educational Landscape
- Blended learning approaches
- Leveraging GenAI in teaching
- Digital tools for student engagement
- Incorporating digital content
The Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is committed to promoting an inclusive, meaningful, and respectful environment within the TMU Learning and Teaching Conference.
We invite all conference participants, presenters, and organizers to support building an accountable community that will work actively to ensure a welcoming environment that is inclusive, respectful, and works to disrupt, challenge, and prevent discrimination, inequity, and sexual harassment. By creating an accountable space, it is our intention to honour the diversity of lived experiences held within this conference.
The Call for Proposals is now closed for 2025. Thanks to all who submitted.
Thanks to all those who submitted a proposal for the 2025 Learning and Teaching Conference for presentations relevant to the conference theme of Transforming Futures Through Learning and Teaching Excellence.
We welcomed presentations from faculty, contract lecturers, academic assistants and staff that consider and assess forces shaping the classroom, including technology-enhanced learning, world events, sustainability, community and economic dynamics, and evolving labour force demands.
Successful proposals will be decided based on their applicability to the overall theme of the conference, as well as their relation to this year’s pathways:
- Expanding Learning Beyond the Classroom
- Empowering Student Voice and Agency
- Teaching with Technology and Navigating an Ever-Evolving Educational Landscape
- Cultivating Inclusive Learning Environments
Submission categories include concurrent sessions, and poster presentations.
Applicants will be contacted over email in the coming weeks.
Review Process
All submissions will be reviewed and evaluated according to the criteria outlined in the call for proposals.
Please note that the programming committee may accept a submission with the stipulation that it move to a different format (for example, from a concurrent session to a poster session). In such cases, submitters will be offered the opportunity to either accept or reject this option.
Past conferences
That’s a wrap! Thank you and save the date
On behalf of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, we would like to express our gratitude to those who contributed to the enormous success of the 2024 TMU Learning and Teaching Conference.
Mark your calendars! The 2025 TMU Learning and Teaching Conference will take place on May 20, 2025.
Thank you to our presenters for their dedication and expertise, and for contributing to a culture of continuous professional learning and growth. Their insights made for an engaging and enlightening experience for all attendees, and have further enriched the TMU community.
A special acknowledgement goes to our dedicated volunteers who worked behind the scenes to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience.
Thank you once again for making the conference possible. We look forward to seeing you at upcoming events as we continue to advance excellence in teaching and learning together!
To stay updated on the latest Teaching Centre news and events subscribe to Teachnet or follow us on X (external link) .
Dr. Rena Mendelson (MS, DSc, RD), at the School of Nutrition, discusses the origins of the CELT Teaching & Learning Conference and its importance to TMU's teaching community.
Conference Highlights
Technology and Teaching in an Age of Disruption: May 16, 2024
This year's Learning & Teaching Conference brought together the teaching community at TMU to share knowledge and experience related to technology-enhanced teaching and to discuss the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for teaching and learning.
Presenters, panelists and participants asked big questions about how we might navigate through a rapidly changing teaching and learning landscape, experimenting with bold new approaches to pedagogy, leveraging the wealth of digital learning tools at our disposal, and making the most of our campus learning spaces to provide high-quality experiences for every student while mitigating the challenges that technologies like artificial intelligence introduce.
The day-long in-person event welcomed:
65 speakers
39 volunteers, moderators, and tech checkers
300+ attendees (faculty, contract lecturers, staff, graduate students, and alumni)
Curated programming included:
Keynote by Dr. Bonnie Stewart
Five special sessions
Interactive social activities including new fun & games room
A sensory-friendly quiet room
Lunch and reception (sponsored by the Chang School)
The team working behind-the-scenes included:
The conference planning committee, composed of members from the six resource areas in the Teaching Centre
Volunteers, moderators, and tech support (staff, graduate students, and career boost students)
OVPA, FMD, Media Services, the Chang School, TMU Eats, TorontoMet Today, TMUsician and Amy Desjarlais, Lead Facilitator, Indigenous Initiatives
Participant feedback:
“Conference was well-organized. Good selection of sessions to choose from. Keep the format similar -seemed to be very effective.”
“Bonnie Stewart was an amazing choice and exactly what was needed to foreground the day.”
“Congratulations to the incredible organization team behind the successful conference! Thank you and see you next year!”
“This is my favourite conference about andragogy in N. America. Always exceeds expectations!”
“Overall, the conference sessions were very informative, especially keynote and plenary.”
“The event was very well organized and the speakers were great!”
Thank you
On behalf of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, we would like to express our gratitude to those who took part and made valuable contributions to the 2023 TMU Learning and Teaching Conference.
We truly appreciate the time and effort our presenters dedicated to sharing their knowledge with the TMU community, and we hope that all attendees, whether joining online or in-person, had a fulfilling experience. We would also like to extend our thanks to the dedicated volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make this event possible.
Thank you once again, and we look forward to seeing you at future events!
To stay informed about our latest news and events, we encourage you to join Teachnet or follow us on Twitter (external link)
Conference Highlights
Reimagining Teaching: May 17 - 18, 2023
The annual event brought together the teaching community at TMU to build on what we’ve learned over the past few years about creating accessible, inclusive, and engaging learning environments, and we’ll ask big questions about how we might reimagine our teaching practices moving forward: experimenting with bold new approaches to pedagogy; leveraging the wealth of digital learning tools at our disposal; and making the most of our campus learning spaces to provide high-quality experiences for every student.
The two-day event (held virtually and in-person) welcomed:
50 speakers
30+ volunteers, moderators, and tech checkers
250+ attendees (faculty, contract lecturers, staff, graduate students, and alumni)
Curated programming included:
Keynotes by Maria Crabtree & Dr. George Sefa Dei
Nine special sessions
Interactive social activities
A sensory-friendly quiet room
An in-person lunch and reception (sponsored by the Chang School)
The team working behind-the-scenes included:
The conference planning committee, composed of members from the six resource areas in the Teaching Centre
Volunteers, moderators, and tech support (staff, graduate students, and career boost students)
FMD, Media Services, the Chang School, TMU Eats, TorontoMet Today, and TMU Superstars
.jpg)
Conference Portal
Our team created a custom portal to enhance the experience of participants attending the conference, whether they were joining virtually or in-person.
Registrants
Attendees were provided with the flexibility to participate in the conference either virtually on day 1, in-person on day 2, or attend both days.
Of our registrants:
29% planned to attended virtually
11% planned to attended in-person
60% planned to attended both
Participant feedback:
"I had a great time at LTC2023! I attended a session in every available time-slot, and I enjoyed every presentation. The sessions were well-moderated, and the themes were thought out. I never felt rushed by the timing of the day. The poster session and reception to close was wonderful as well."
Attending the in-person day of the conference was a shock in the best way possible. I was blown away by the level of organization (I was greeted at the door when entering ENG!), the attention to detail (e.g., the signage in the lobby on upcoming sessions), and the support staff (e.g., the tech support in every session room). I was also shocked by the investment in the conference: the floral displays, the incredible lunch, and the drinks and hors d'oeuvres to end the day. I know conferences are about dissemination of knowledge and not food per se, but it always brightens the experience! My only suggestion would be to provide larger boards for poster presenters to attach their work. Otherwise, an absolutely fantastic conference!
It was such a fulfilling day to be able to get to know so many people from across campus that I never would have had the opportunity to interact with otherwise. Everyone on the volunteer team this year was so kind, supportive, and resourceful. I have experience working at other events like this and I have never been treated with the respect, care, and kindness that I was treated with on the day of this conference. This is such a wonderful team of organizers and everyone should be incredibly proud of themselves. I really have to say that the way we were prepared and treated is SO instrumental to the functioning of a successful conference. We had both the tools and the support necessary to get the job done not only successfully but exceptionally!
Emerging and Imagining: Futures for Learning and Teaching - May 19, 2022
The past two years were marked by disruption. The challenges we faced have also revealed myriad opportunities to move past the status quo and transform learning and teaching.
As we look forward to the next chapter for our institution, we invited our community to imagine the possible futures that can emerge for a student experience grounded in our values.
The one-day hybrid event welcomed:
1 keynote speaker
68 presentations
500+ attendees
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti provided the keynote address with an overview of her work Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Art/Research Collective (GTDF) of which she is a founding member, based at UBC. She showcased educational tools that build our collective capacity and stamina to hold space for difficult conversations about wicked social and global challenges without feeling immobilized or demanding immediate quick fixes. Wicked challenges are characterized by hyper-complexity, uncertainty and interlocked problems with no possibility for easy solutions.
Watch a recording of Dr. Andreotti’s Keynote address (external link, opens in new window) , or download the slides (external link)
Participant feedback
This diversity in participation demonstrated that accessibility efforts put forth by the Teaching Centre were well-used by presenters and attendees alike.
Of our participants:
65% attended online
25% attended in-person
10% attended both
“The Keynote was outstanding. I really would love to be able to work with some of her ideas with students. It really is what they need right now.
“This was the first HyFlex conference I've attended and also the first in-person event I've attended in over 2 years. I really thought the day-of organization was fantastic. You had a great number of volunteers/moderators and it seemed you thought of everything. Truly impressive - well done!!”
“I know the effort put in to make this happen must have been great indeed, and it really made for a seamless experience of community in all our modes (whether virtual or in-person).”
“Thank you - the virtual option to attend was fantastic, and I hope can be retained at future meetings. The two formats really made it accessible for everyone to participate….Congratulations to the team!”
