ETFO & OTF Advancing Learning

 If two weeks ago was "meeting week" for me, this past week could be called conference week or PD Central. Tuesday was the Level Up Skilled Trades Fair. (Hopefully I can write about that next week.) Wednesday was the OSLA School Libraries Connect webinar. Thursday and Friday were days for the ETFO ICT Conference for Women, and on Saturday, I went to the OTF Curriculum Forum. It's traditional for me to provide a review of my learning at these conferences, so, without further ado ...

ETFO ICT Conference for Women 2025

Exploring Artificial Intelligence in Education

Thursday, November 20, 2025

9:00 a.m. = Welcome and Opening Keynote

AI, Climate Justice, and the Future of Teaching: Thoughtfully Navigating Complexity

by Maria Vamvalis

Summary: (taken from program)

Artificial intelligence is reshaping education at a breathtaking pace. Yet we need to be asking at what cost, and to whose benefit? As educators, we stand at a critical moment: AI tools promise efficiency, personalization, and new possibilities for learning, yet they are built on extractive infrastructures like data mining, energy-intensive computation, and global labour exploitation, which directly intersect with the climate crisis and systemic inequities.

This keynote will invite educators to step into a critical, courageous conversation seeking to answer: to what extent is it possible to engage with AI as ethical, justice-oriented women shaping the next generation? What pedagogical and civic responsibilities do we hold in a world where technological acceleration collides with ecological limits? 

By centering transformative thinking habits, this talk will surface tensions, open possibilities, and explore quality thinking that supports both educators and students to act toward a flourishing world.

3 Key Points:

1) Remember to ask yourself - Who benefits? What is the cost?

2) We live in accelerated times and our role as educators is to be courageous and compassionate and even resistance / refusal can be options on the spectrum.

3) The environmental impact and human toil is significant. AI is not "of the cloud"; it takes from the earth, in terms of water, minerals and displacing people on land (often data centers are placed near marginalized communities because that location will equal less protests and objections) 

4) Don't outsource what makes us human to a machine. Reading is thinking. Writing is thinking. AI is not about thinking. ChatGPT will not love us back. 

So What, Now What?

I knew about the environmental effects of AI use, but Dr. Vamvalis' remarks will remind me to be less frivolous with unnecessary AI requests. She is associated with The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2) and I should take time to review the TC2 resources I own, for it discusses thinking habits that will guard us from passive overreliance and cognitive offloading.

Media Artifacts

10:30 a.m. = Workshop 1 AND 1:00 p.m. = Workshop 2

Questioning Artificial Intelligence: Building Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Skills

by Diana Maliszewski

Summary:

How does Gen AI work? It is important to teach through and about media texts we use in school, including Large Language Models (LLMs) such as Gemini and Chat GPT and other AI tools. However, many AI tools are proprietary secrets. So, what's an educator to do? This hands-on workshop will provide participants with media literacy and gender equity perspectives. You'll explore how algorithms are trained, why AI personifications can be problematic, and ways to infuse critical thinking for all media texts, not just those labelled as "AI".

3 Key Points:

1) Teaching through media is when we use media texts to get content across and teaching about media is when we focus on the forum of the message and teach how the form works to convey messages. Educators need to do both, although they do more of the former.

2) How we visualize and conceptualize Generative AI matters, because if we anthropomorphize a program, we trust it more, treat it differently, and attribute human traits to it. When Gen AI tools use a human voice, it is often female and there are specific reasons for that choice.

3) There are several critical thinking strategies we can use when examining all media texts, such as asking questions, avoiding immediate judgement labels, interrogating all biases, and finding a healthy level of skepticism.

So What, Now What?

I ran this ninety minute workshop twice on the first day. The participants were absolutely delightful and led me to discover many more insights that I possessed before offering the session. Many kindly allowed me to take photos of their work to highlight their findings. I'll write some of the interesting commentary interspersed with the images, since they go together. Attendees had a choice at one point to either draw what they thought AI "looked like", do a search engine search for images of AI, or ask an AI tool to make an image of itself. Some of the results were fascinating.

Media Artifacts - Morning Group

(Thank you to my friend Andreia for taking this photo of me presenting! This was taken in the afternoon.)

The above image was the result of a participant refining their search to ask for an image that would suit a child. Note the "friendly helpful robot". This mirrors what I saw a while back when contributing to an AML workshop on AI portrayals.

Not as many people attempted the drawing task, but those that did came up with cool visuals.

The "hey AI, draw yourself" task was very interesting. A request in Microsoft CoPilot resulted in an image labelled ChatGPT, complete with logo; the participant wondered why one platform would so obviously reference another AI tool. Many results used the colour blue. Many had faces or human body parts. 

Some people were keen to try to understand how algorithms learn by making their own. They discovered that algorithms prefer larger data sets and the results were not always accurate. 

This person asked AI to draw a picture of herself. As you can see by the result, the "default Internet user" seems to be a white man.

This participant used some of the words from our "Four Corners" activity and asked a Generative AI program to visualize "AI as a threat" and "AI as an opportunity". How significant is it that the threatening AI is a male figure? The feminized opportunity AI image inspired a phrase some of began to joke about for the rest of the conference - "golden breasts" (or "shiny bra", if you don't want to mention the "private parts"). 

Media Artifacts - Afternoon Group

This participant attempted to see if the algorithm could detect colour. It had difficulties with red vs orange vs yellow. 

Another participant had it distinguish between cats and dogs. She then used her own face and the algorithm claimed she was a cat (with 68% confidence).

The learner who attempted the first colour test tried it with yellow vs blue, with greater success. However, the blue Canadian $5 bill was interpreted as being yellow.

Again, the number of humanoid interpretations of AI were astounding.

2:45 p.m. = Wrap Up

ETFO AI Policy Documents

by Julie Millan

Summary:

Julie Millan, the ETFO Coordinator of Professional Learning and Curriculum, shared with us four new policy statement documents that were established at the August 2025 ETFO AGM. The group had time to peruse the document and annotate it.

3 Key Points

1) The humans in the room make all the difference in education and these humans should be consulted when AI policies are developed. We need guidelines and in the grey areas, we must ask.

2) Be very intentional with your language; do not dismiss all your professional training by saying that AI does it for you. 

3) The Ministry of Education mandated PD on AI but never provided any resources, so many boards just focused on cybersecurity and privacy and didn't really deal with AI.

So What? Now What?

A participant shared that Bill 149 was passed, which states that organizations must be transparent if they use AI as part of their hiring practices. That was new knowledge. I am definitely going to share the ETFO AI policy statements with my staff members at school.

Media Artifacts

Some of the presenters from the conference

Friday, November 21, 2025

9:00 a.m. = Keynote that was not a Keynote

Table Talk: Let’s Chat AI

by Tina Zita

Summary (taken from program):

Building on our  expertise and our learning from the first day of the conference, we will kick off day two engaging in small, guided, group conversations focused on AI, our practice, and our critical lens as educators. This will be a time for us to explore questions, consolidate our understanding about AI in our professional practice, and ground ourselves for the great day of learning ahead. 

We will consider questions such as: What might safe and effective AI experiences look like, sound like, feel like in our learning spaces? How can AI complement the very human process of teaching, not replace it? How can AI support diverse learners? How might it create barriers or reinforce inequalities? When do we embrace the tools and when do we step back?

3 Key Points:

1) Questioning AI does not equal being "anti-AI".

2) Use an AI acknowledgement slide to clearing explain and identify where you get stuff and how you used AI, so you can model the process.

3) Using AI is not binary. We must work through the nuances. AI is there even if we don't like/want/need it. Since it is not just a matter of yes or no, it's up to us to create boundaries

So What? Now What?

I love, LOVE Tina Zita. She is so intentional, and good at what she teaches and how she teaches. She loves design and it shows in the care she takes with creating slides, handouts, and even learning provocations at our tables. Everyone was so engaged with opening the gatchipon balls to get to the discussion prompts inside. If it was possible to grow down instead of up, I would want to be a student in her school so I'd get to learn from and near her. My next step is to go to Ikea to buy those sign holders for the learning provocations. (ETA = I went on Sunday and bought them!)

Media Artifacts

10:30 a.m. = Workshop 3

AI for Equity: Differentiated Instruction & Inclusive Learning for Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs)

by Mariana Spena

Summary (taken from program):

This interactive workshop explores how artificial intelligence can support differentiated, identity-affirming learning for multilingual language learners. With attention to women’s perspectives and equity in education, participants will engage with practical strategies for scaffolding language development, promoting equitable access to curriculum, and fostering culturally responsive pedagogy. AI tools will be highlighted as a way to support MLL students, particularly female learners who may have had limited or no prior schooling, by helping to close academic and literacy gaps and creating more inclusive pathways to success.

Through case studies, hands-on exploration, and collaborative planning, educators will leave with ready-to-use ideas, an inclusive task design checklist for reviewing AI-generated lessons or activities, and a plan to apply AI in ways that promote equity, accessibility, cultural relevance, and gender inclusivity.

3 Key Points:

1) Help prepare MLL students for speaking with sentence stems or ready statements that they can use instead of saying "IDK". Build accountability by calling on everyone at the beginning of the school year because knowing that they must give a response makes them prepare orally. Establishing routines reduce the anxiety (or as Krashen calls it, the "affective filter"). Her slide deck can be found at bit.ly/ETFOICT2025

2) Look at your MLL strengths. Tell them that being multilingual is a superpower. They have rich lived experiences and unrealized potential, so don't focus on the things they can't do, even if they've never been to school before. Try to have them experience confidence right away. There's nothing in the curriculum that says that they must write in English the parts of a plant - you can have them point to a picture of a leaf, stem, and root, or write it in their home language and have AI translate it for you. If you name a task, and make it sound like a game even when it isn't, they will be excited to participate.

3) Generative AI can help educators create leveled texts instantly, provide translations, picture dictionaries, sentence frames, appropriate scaffolds based on their STEP levels, use the Storybook feature in Gemini to create a text and have it read to them in their home language (e.g. a story of New France read orally in Pashto).

So What? Now What?

Crafting things deliberately so they can support meaning-making is so important. (It comes back again to lesson design - the "about" the media text that is a lesson experience.) Mariana did this so clearly, from including simple visuals, to colour coding words, to the signs and timers she used in her presentation. You can tell that I took away more than just three key points from her presentation; it was that good. I sent the URL to my fellow ESL teacher and I am going to try generating a text for one of my MLL students for Grade 5 Social Studies (even though I don't teach her that subject).

Media Artifacts

1:00 p.m. = Workshop 4

AI and Imagery in the Classroom: Creation, Critique, and Curriculum

by Francine Schwartz

Summary (taken from program):

In an age of deepfakes and AI-generated visuals, how can educators help students critically engage with imagery? This interactive workshop explores why imagery matters in teaching and how AI tools are changing the way we create, interpret, and verify visual content. 

Participants will learn how to spot AI-generated images, compare them with primary source visuals, and examine the implications of image accuracy and authenticity. Through hands-on activities, educators will create, analyze, and integrate AI imagery into lessons, with a focus on critical thinking, media literacy, and the examination of issues such as gender equality in visual representation.

3 Key Points:

1) We need to create images with intention, because using AI takes a great deal of energy and resources

2) Great discussions can be had with students by using examples such as the ones found at elearn.eb.com/real-vs-ai-images

3) Dr. Joy Buslamwini has established the Algorithmic Justice League to combat the bias in these AI tools.

So What? Now What?

One of the participants (who was in my session the day before) mentioned that when she was at the train station waiting to get to this conference, she spoke with a cybersecurity person who told her that she should use polite language when interacting with the AI tool and she will get better results. She tried it out at the conference and it was true! So, my next step is to ensure I say please or thank you when using AI!

Media Artifacts

OCT Curriculum Forum Fall 2025

Saturday, November 22, 2025

9:00 a.m. = Overview of 2024-2025 GenAI in Education Curriculum Forum Conversations

by Moses Velasco

Summary:

Moses Velasco, the the OTF Director of Curriculum and Assessment, explained some of the most recent research related to Generative AI as well as last year's OTF efforts related to professional learning.

3 Key Points

1) Teacher Generative AI Literacies have these four components: a) Foundational Knowledge (what AI is, how it works, applications), b) Practical Skills (when to use Gen AI, AI fluency), c) Critical Evaluation (credibility, relevance, bias), and d) Awareness of Safety and Responsibility

2) OTF surveyed the subject association representatives last year and this year about Gen AI concerns and needs. Not too much has changed related to concerns (student overreliance was top of the list) but there has been a lot of action with OTF to address these issues (such as last year's Symposium, which focused on AI).

3) OTF will continue to work, especially with the help of the Steering Committee, in shaping the Winter and Spring Curriculum Forum meetings and the Faculties of Education Symposium that occurs simultaneously with the Winter 2026 Curriculum Forum.

So What? Now What?

OTF was looking for two new members for the steering committee, since the terms were up for two of the members. After some conversation, AML president Neil Andersen nominated me for one of the positions.

Media Artifacts:

9:30 a.m. = Intersections of Learning, Pedagogy and AI

by Santiago Rincón-Gallardo

Summary:

This researcher, author, and scholar gave a talk with elements from his book, Liberating Learning.

3 Key Points:

1) Santiago no longer believes we can change the system as it is too entrenched; instead, he feels we need to create fraction or tension in the system that lets cracks in where life can flourish. Keep in mine the four core purposes of education: to have learners a) know themselves, b) think by themselves, c) take care of themselves and others, and d) better themselves and the world. Schooling has always been an imperfect way to achieve these aims because school is more about learning to be taught (aka compliance) and less about learning to learn.

2) Santiago mentioned Margaret Whitley, who suggests that right now, we are in times of collapse, because of the increased divisions (in-fighting), the rise of celebrity culture, and the elites seizing most of the power, wealth, and resources. In times like this, it is easy to give up but this is the time to do the work and keep the human spirit alive.

3) Instead of training our students to be third-class machines (who will be outperformed easily by AI if our focus remains on recalling and regurgitating information), we should work on making better humans. The 4 Key Human Attributes in the Age of AI are a) Discernment, b) Compassion / Empathy, c) Imagination, and d) Curiosity. With the pedagogical core (triangle) of the knowledge, the educator, and the learner, this goal is within our reach, especially the more the student becomes the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the student (for then, the learning is more powerful). Liberating learning involves side by side, rather than top-down, work.

So What? Now What?

Neil Andersen (who sat next to me during this talk) said that Santiago's words were very reassuring, because it made him feel like his pedagogical practices were on the right track, and I had to agree. I told both of the groups at the sessions I ran at the ETFO conference that they taught me just as much as I taught them (and one person actually told me that something I had shared at a workshop more than ten years ago was something she still used in her practice today!).

Media Artifacts:

11:00 a.m. = Small Group Discussions about Teacher GenAI Literacy

Summary:

This was an opportunity to discuss what Santiago said, as well as to consider issues of Generative AI in our Subject Associations.

So What? Now What?

This was the perfect time for Neil and I to begin work on tweaking the questions for the Canadian version of a three-country research study that we hope to contribute to in 2026. Since the research is about student use of AI, it fit well with the focus.

12:45 p.m. = Steering Committee Elections

Summary:

After a delicious lunch, the three nominees gave their speeches and the members voted on who would fill the open positions.

So What? Now What?

The two newest OTF Steering Committee members are Tessa Lofthouse (president of CODE - Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators) and Diana Maliszewski (co-vice president of AML - Association for Media Literacy). Yep - I was elected! My next steps will be to connect with Moses and the other members of the steering committee (Peter Beens and James Steeves) to plan the Winter 2026 Curriculum Forum.

1:00 p.m. = Association Networking / Consolidation of Learning / Collaboration and Exploration

Summary:

The afternoon was devoted to providing time (what a gift!) to have meaningful conversations with other subject association heads to make plans, solve problems, and connect with others. Nathalie Rudner, the dynamic Executive Director of STAO had a list of potential topics we were able to discuss.

So What? Now What?

There are a lot of threads to follow up on after this afternoon! For instance, Tessa (CODE) and I (AML) should co-write a piece on the cultural significance of dance (aka why you can't teach hip hop moves out of context, or why copying YouTube videos isn't good dance pedagogy). Wendy (OSLA) and I (AML) will probably write a piece to appear in Canadian School Libraries Journal (CSLJ) about how sharing lists, even lists of vanished organizations, is important to maintain so that when things disappear / become extinct, they aren't lost from public awareness. Brian (ELAN) and I (AML) will work on sharing the great monographs that his group received funding for to help support the Language curriculum. Annette (OMLTA) will look into seeing if AML can have an exhibitor booth at their upcoming conference. I know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I intend to try to get to at least some of these projects. I apologize to Carol Arcus (one of our AML executive board members) who had asked us to inquire with other subject associations about web support. If you are part of a subject association and can tell us about who helps maintain your site, please reach out to AML because we are on a search!