Past Conferences

Panel Discussion: Augmentation in the Age of AI

2019 | DeepMind Montreal, District 3, Ubisoft, Reimagine AI | Augmentation in the Age of AI

Bio

Panel Discussion Topic

Emerging technologies in this new era of artificial intelligence (AI) forecast untold capacities for human endeavor and the transformation of our world. The augmentation of learning, research, work and virtually all domains of human activity present challenges and opportunities, yet to be discovered. The multidisciplinary expert panel assembled for the SALTISE conference will highlight and discuss some of these activities and implications: from impacts of AI on knowledge creation and policy to prospects for deeper learning and the design of new environments that better support formal and informal instruction.

• Doina Precup, Research Team Lead of Google’s DeepMind Montreal
• Sydney Swaine-Simon, Co-Founder of District 3
• Olivier Palmieri, Game Director at Ubisoft
• David Usher, Founder of Reimagine AI

Doina Precup, Research Team Lead of Google’s DeepMind Montreal

Doina Precup splits her time between McGill University, where she co-directs the Reasoning and Learning Lab in the School of Computer Science, and DeepMind Montreal, where she has led the research team since its formation in October 2017. Her research interests are in the areas of reinforcement learning, deep learning, time series analysis, and diverse applications of machine learning in health care, automated control, and other fields. She became a senior member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in 2015, Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning in 2016, Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in 2017, and received a Canada CIFAR AI (CCAI) Chair in 2018. Dr. Precup is also involved in activities supporting the organization of Mila and the wider Montreal and Quebec AI ecosystem.

 

Syndey Swaine-Simon, Co-Founder of District 3

Sydney is a Montreal native with an innate drive to grow the local innovation ecosystem. In 2012 Sydney became one of the co-founders of District 3, one of Quebec’s largest innovation centers. Having got a taste for innovation and technology, Sydney went on to co-found NeuroTechX, a non-profit organization which has built the largest network of neurotechnology enthusiasts. For fun, Sydney is a core member of the DEF CON Biohacking Village, as well as is a mentor for the Mozilla Open Leadership Program.

 

For Olivier Palmieri and David Usher biographies, please visit the Honorary Members page

Alyssa Wise

2019 | New York University (NYU) | The Analytic Future of Science Education

Bio

Presentation Abstract

Learning Analytics is a critical emerging technology that applies data science methods to the distinct characteristics, needs, and concerns of educational contexts to better understand and facilitate learning. Science Education is particularly well-positioned to take advantage of analytic advances as data collection, analysis and interpretation are core skills for development in scientific domains. But what does the future of analytic-supported science education look like and what benefits can it bring? Drawing on diverse examples from NYU’s Learning Analytics Research Network (LEARN) and beyond, Dr. Wise will illustrate how impactful analytics effectively integrate well-designed data collection, robust computation, and meaningful pedagogical questions to generate actionable insights into teaching and learning. The talk will conclude with an overview of social, technical and institutional factors necessary for building a successful learning analytics initiative.

Olivier Palmieri

2019 | Ubisoft | Extending Reality, Extending Learning

Bio

Olivier Palmieri is a Game Director at Ubisoft, where he has worked as Creative Director, Game Director, and Level Design Director, and advanced International Design Trainer for the Ubisoft Design Academy. He is the creator of Eagle Flight, the first virtual reality game released by Ubisoft and winner of the 2017 D.I.C.E. Award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement. Olivier is the Director of L’Atelier XR Ubisoft, an applied innovation zone that develops projects using Extended Reality technologies (Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Realities) in collaboration with Concordia University. Olivier believes strongly in the power of extended reality environments as experiential learning tools and is excited to imagine the possibilities of XR learning environments.

SALTISE Conference Keynote – Monday June 3rd, 2019 at 2pm

Simulcast link:  https://saltise.ca/live

Or: https://www.facebook.com/SALTISE/videos/371470363493578/

Or:  https://www.saltise.ca/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=301options

Simulcast info for SALTISE 2019 classrooms

Paul Denny

2018 | University of Auckland, New Zealand | Practicing with peers: student-generated questions as a learning activity

Bio

Dr. Paul Denny is an associate professor in Computer Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

His research interests include developing and evaluating technologies for supporting collaborative learning, particularly involving student-generated resources, and exploring ways to motivate students to engage within online learning environments. One of his developments, PeerWise, is an award-winning, freely available web-based tool that instructors can use to support collaborative student learning across a wide range of disciplines.

The tools that he has developed have had a wide impact, being used by more than half a million students in 80 countries and helping to form a global community of educational researchers, more than 80 of whom have published their research as a result.  To support this community, he has delivered more than 60 invited talks and workshops, focusing on both the practical use of technology in the classroom and approaches for evaluation.  He has been recognized for contributions to teaching both nationally and internationally, receiving New Zealand’s National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award (2009), the Australasian Association for Engineering Education Award for Innovation in Curricula, Learning and Teaching (2009) and the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia Teaching Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching (2010).  He has strong connections with Canada, having visited Toronto in late 2017 as an Association of Commonwealth Universities Titular Fellow (the 2017 Jacky McAleer Memorial Fellowship).

Richard M. Felder

2018 | North Carolina State University | Understanding and Minimizing Student and Faculty Resistance to Learner-Centered Teaching

Bio

Richard M. Felder, Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7905
Email: rmfelder@mindspring.com
Website: www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching

B.Ch.E., City College of New York;  Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University

Dr. Felder joined the N.C. State University faculty in 1969. He is a co-author of the book Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, which has been used as the introductory chemical engineering text by roughly 90% of all chemical engineering departments in the United States and many abroad, and he has authored or co-authored over 300 papers on chemical process engineering and engineering education. He has won numerous awards for his teaching, research, and publications, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Warren K. Lewis Award for Contributions to Chemical Engineering Education, the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education (first recipient), and the American Society for Engineering Education Lifetime Achievement Award in Engineering Education (first recipient). For a bibliography of Professor Felder’s papers and reprints of his columns and some articles, access his website at www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching.

* * *

Rebecca Brent
President, Education Designs, Inc.
101 Lochside Drive
Cary, North Carolina 27518
Email: rbrent@mindspring.com
Twitter: @RebeccaBrent

B.A., Millsaps College;   M.Ed., Mississippi State University;   Ed.D., Auburn University

Dr. Brent is President of Education Designs, Inc., a consulting firm in Cary, North Carolina. She has more than 35 years of experience in education and specializes in staff development in engineering and the sciences, teacher preparation, and evaluation of educational programs at both precollege and college levels. She holds a Certificate in Evaluation Practice from the Evaluators’ Institute at George Washington University. She has authored or coauthored roughly 65 papers on effective teaching and faculty and teaching staff development. Prior to entering private consulting, she was an Associate Professor of Education at East Carolina University where she won an outstanding teacher award. In 2014, Dr. Brent was named a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education.

* * *

Drs. Brent and Felder are coauthors of Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide (Jossey-Bass, 2016). Separately and together, they have presented over 450 workshops on effective teaching, course design, mentoring and supporting new faculty members, and faculty development, on campuses around the world. They co-directed the American Society for Engineering Education National Effective Teaching Institute from 1991 to 2015. Visit their Facebook page.

Susan McKenney

2017 | University of Twente | Teacher learning in design-centric partnerships

Bio

Prof. Dr. Susan McKenney co-leads ELAN¹, the teacher education program within the Faculty of Behavioral and Management Sciences² at the University of Twente³. Additionally, she holds appointments in the Department of Instructional Technology⁴, at the same university, and in the Learning Sciences & Policy⁵ Group at the University of Pittsburgh⁶.

Her research focuses on understanding and facilitating the interplay between curriculum development and teacher professional development, and often emphasizes the supportive role of technology in these processes. As such, she also studies processes of design that can be applied in the fi eld of education, and synergetic research-practice interactions. Susan is committed to exploring how educational research can serve the development of scientific understanding while also developing sustainable solutions to real problems in educational practice. Since design-based (implementation) research lends itself to these dual aims, her writing and teaching often provide ideas about how to conduct this exciting form of inquiry. In addition to authoring numerous articles, she co-edited the book, Educational Design Research⁷ and, together with Tom Reeves, wrote the book, Conducting Educational Design Research⁸.

She has previously served as executive chair of the International Society for Design and Development in Education⁹. http://www.educationaldesignresearch.org

1 www.utwente.nl/nl/bms/elan/
2 www.utwente.nl/en/bms/
3 www.utwente.nl/en/
4 www.utwente.nl/en/bms/ist/
5 www.education.pitt.edu/AcademicDepartments/LearningSciencesPolicy.aspx
6 www.pitt.edu/
7 www.amazon.com/Educational-Design-Research-Jan-Akker/dp/0415396352/
8 www.amazon.com/Conducting-Educational-Design-Research-McKenney/dp/0415618045/
9 http://www.isdde.org/isdde/index.htm

Georg Rieger

2017 | University of British Columbia | Examinations that support learning – How two-stage assessment became common practice at the University of British Columbia

Bio

Dr. Rieger is a tenure-track Instructor in Physics & Astronomy in Vantage College at the University of British Columbia. He is also a long-time member of the Carl Wieman Science Education
Initiative (since 2009)and served as the CWSEI department director for Physics & Astronomy from 2011 to 2015. He received a Dipl. Phys. (diploma) from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany in 1990 and a Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in physics also from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum in 1993. After spending many years in experimental physics, he become increasingly interested in teaching and learning and finally switched to full-time teaching and physics education research in 2012. Dr. Rieger mostly teaches large first-year introductory physics courses and he is particularly interested in active learning methods to engage all students in such large classes. He uses a worksheet-based approach and small-group work, supported by clicker questions that he describes in a CWSEI video1. The active learning approach in class is matched by using two-stage exams, where part two of the exam is written collaboratively in small groups. The two-stage format and its implementation in large physics courses is described in two of his publications.2,3 Georg is also actively engaged in blended learning where he explores the use of an edX edge (edge.edx.org) platform to support student learning outside of class. In his latest project he uses animated worked examples on edX to support conceptual understanding and problem-solving in an introductory physics course. Before joining the University of British Columbia in 2001, he did research as a post-doctoral fellow in Caen, France and at the University of Alberta.

1 http://blogs.ubc.ca/wpvc/intro-physics-active-class/
2 G. W. Rieger and C. E. Heiner, “Examinations that support collaborative learning: The students’ perspective.” J. Coll. Scie. Teach 43 (4) 41-47 (2014).
3 Carl E. Wieman, Georg W. Rieger, and Cynthia E. Heiner, “Physics exams that promote collaborative learning”, The Phys. Teach. 52, 51 (2014).

Katerine Bielaczyc

2016 | Clark University | Learning from our own designs: Generating knowledge from practical implementations

Bio

Dr. Bielaczyc is an Associate Professor of Education and the Director of the Jacob Hiatt Center for Urban Education at Clark University.  She received a B.Sc. Honours in computer science from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and a Master’s and Ph.D. in education from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Bielaczyc’s research involves collaborating with students, teachers, and school communities to investigate new approaches to teaching and learning.  Her work focuses on developing means for supporting participants in working together as a knowledge building community to create knowledge regarding personal, pedagogical, and systemic transformation. Before joining Clark, she was Deputy Head of the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, Assistant Professor at Harvard University jointly in Teacher Education and Technology in Education, a Senior Scientist at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, and Director of the Learning Communities Research Group at Boston College.  Dr. Bielaczyc has also collaborated on educational projects in Europe and South America.

http://www2.clarku.edu/education/hiatt-center-urban-education/

Stephen Downes

2016 | The Final Frontier: Space

Bio

Stephen Downes is a specialist in online learning technology and new media. Through a 25 year career in the field Downes has developed and deployed a series of progressively more innovative technologies, beginning with multi-user domains (MUDs) in the 1990s, open online communities in the 2000s, and personal learning environments in the 2010s. Downes is perhaps best known for his daily newsletter, OLDaily, which is distributed by web, email and RSS to thousands of subscribers around the world, and as the originator of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), is a leading voice in online and networked learning, has authored learning management and content syndication software. He is known as a leading proponent of connectivism, a theory describing how people know and learn using network processes. Hence he has also published in the areas of logic and reasoning, 21st century skills, and critical literacies.

Downes is also recognized as a leading voice in the open education movement, having developed early work in learning objects to a world-leading advocacy of open educational resources and free learning. Downes is widely recognized for his deep, passionate and articulate exposition of a range of insights melding theories of education and philosophy, new media and computer technology. He has published hundreds of articles online and in print and has presented around the world to academic conferences in dozens of countries on five continents.

Mary Pat Wenderoth

2015 | The Future of Evidence-based Teaching

Bio

Recognized for her teaching excellence, Dr. Mary Pat Wenderoth is a winner of the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award (2001) and member of the University of Washington Teaching Academy. Dr. Wenderoth has been involved with broad dissemination of best teaching practices, through her involvement with the National Academies Scientific Teaching Alliance (NASTA) and co-founding of the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER).

Dr. Wenderoth is the author and co-author of several important publications about evidence-based teaching in STEM disciplines, including notably a meta-analysis published in PNAS last spring that demonstrates that active learning versus lecturing in undergraduate courses significantly reduces failure rates and increases exam scores (Freeman et al., 2014).
Nobel Laureate and educational reform advocate, Carl Wieman, writing about this research states: “This meta-analysis makes a powerful case that any college or university that is teaching its STEM courses by traditional lectures is providing an inferior education to its students”. (Weiman, 2014).

References:

1. Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafora, N., Jordta, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS, 111(23):8410 – 15.
2. Wieman, C. E. (2014). Large-scale comparison of science teaching methods sends clear message. PNAS, 111(23): 8319–20.

Footnote:

PNAS refers to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in the United States