This was the 10th annual University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching, and it had the highest attendance for an in-person offering of the conference. The theme this year was “From Disruption to Connection Digital Transformation in Postsecondary Education” and that turned out to capture a lot of attention and engagement across UCalgary and our broader community.
As I shared with the TI:
I’m still pretty overwhelmed by the conference experience. By the numbers, this was the biggest in-person offering in the 10 years of this conference. The numbers don’t capture just how great this year’s conference was, though!
This was 3 solid days of intense community relationship building and sharing, with a level of thoughtfulness and engagement that is extremely rare. This conference is always amazing, and this year was somehow amazing-er. There was something special in the energy across all 3 days, across every single session and in the conversations that took place throughout the TI and Mac Hall.
I’ve lost count of how many people came up to me to share their gratitude to the TI for bringing this community together, and for fostering such an incredible opportunity to learn from each other. And how absolutely impressed everyone was with the quality of the event itself - this was the result of many many (MANY) hours of hard work by people across the entire TI and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to the conference.
This was my first time serving as co-chair for the conference, and it was a blast. Beyond helping set the theme and plan for the conference, I got to work with keynote presenters and panelists to support them in sharing their wisdom with our community, and that was rich with opportunities for me to learn from so many people.
preconference
A modern educational atrium or gallery space featuring wooden ceiling elements, colorful artwork displays, and a long bench seating arrangement facing a presentation screen about digital transformation in postsecondary education.
Photo by D'Arcy Norman
The first keynote was given by Dr. Dwayne Donald and Anahi Palomec McKenna, from the University of Alberta, in a talk titled “On the emergence of meaning: knowledge experiments that honour relational renewal.” Starting a conference on Digital Transformation by talking about Indigenous pedagogies and knowledge was the perfect way to frame the rest of the 3 days. Dwayne and Anahi shared their perspectives, mostly resonating around the distinctions between “knowledge” and “wisdom.” Dwayne talked about Nêhiyaw - people of 4 - and the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of learning are connected through location and place. They talked about the importance of paradigmatic provocations, and that “If I want you to understand differently, I need to teach differently.”
full house
A man with glasses and a beard takes a selfie in a crowded auditorium or conference hall filled with seated attendees. The venue features warm lighting, wooden ceiling beams, and appears to be a formal gathering or event.
Photo by D'Arcy Norman
After the keynote, Natasha and I facilitated a session titled “Collectively Charting a Path Through Digital Transformation.” It was designed to give an opportunity for participants to share how they’re already experiencing digital transformation and to identify what we should all be paying closer attention to and how we should be responding. I’ll write a separate blog post about that session…
On day 2, the keynote was given by Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, in a talk titled “Postplagiarism: Ethical, Equitable, and Inclusive Learning Futures.” Sarah’s work on postplagiarism is outstanding, and her stories and examples of approaching students with dignity and support rather than adversarialism and distrust sparked many conversations throughout the rest of the conference.
sarah eaton keynote
A large conference or convention center filled with attendees seated at round tables, with a speaker standing at a podium on stage and industrial brick architecture with steel beam ceiling visible overhead.
Photo by D'Arcy Norman
We ended day 2 with a film screening - Elyse Bouvier’s deeply moving film “Unfolding Faith.” About the film:
In this nuanced and timely short film, Elyse Bouvier explores how her decision to give up her faith redefined both her identity and her relationships with her parents. In raw yet empathic conversations with her devout mother and her father, a former pastor turned atheist, she touches on themes of emotional connection, intellectual pursuit and mixed-faith families.
Which at first blush doesn’t seem to connect to “Digital Transformation” - except that digital transformation is really about the human-ness of sitting with discomfort, of holding opposing ideas and feelings, and how these shape relationships. This was a perfect film to screen at the conference, and we had a great discussion afterward.
On day 3, the keynote was given by Anne-Marie Scott: “Technology is the Easy Part: Enabling digital transformation.” And, wow, what an incredible call to action. What an incredible entangled collection of calls to action. Anne-Marie shared concrete examples of how collaboration and sharing has fostered local development and agency, and how the Commonwealth (literally the machinery of historical colonialism (my words, not hers)) is now an important part of enabling education around the world. Her examples of how “large project funding is easy but small funding is hard” and of leveraging institutional resources to enable small-scale innovation will inform important aspects of our work. And, her recognition that teaching and learning is built upon all roles at a university, not just faculty members, and how the staff that enable teaching are essential in the process, was timely and needed. It also prompted some reflection of my own, given how in recent writing I’ve somehow glossed over the importance of all roles (despite, you know, cough, leading a team of staff members who support instructors across the university…). Which connects to Dwayne’s keynote and the role of Paradigmatic Provocations…
anne marie keynote
A speaker presents at a conference podium while gesturing expressively, with a large blue screen behind displaying scientific formulas and an illustrated robot, alongside a colorful conference banner.
Photo by D'Arcy Norman
And, moderating the final panel session: “Voices From the Field: Digital Transformation in Practice” was such a great experience. We invited 4 incredible people (Dr. Emily Marasco, Dr. Soroush Sabbaghan, Kris Hans, and Nipa Chakravarti) to share their experience, starting with a brief 5 minute talk followed by a quick Mentimeter question. After the talks, we switched to a Q&A discussion that was maybe some of the richest and deepest thinking I’ve heard about what these kinds of transformations actually mean in the context of teaching learning. I’ll write a separate post with more about that session as well.
Panel prep
A large theatre with a bajillion seats, with 5 chairs in an arc on stage.
Photo by D'Arcy Norman
Co-chairing this year’s conference will be one of the highlights of my year, probably of my career. I’m feeling renewed and excited about the connections, conversations, relationships, and ideas that formed because the conference brought incredibly thoughtful and passionate people together for 3 days and gave them space to be together physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.