Tag: Simon Fraser University

Announcement | The AI-Enabled Educator virtual PD conference

~ CWCA/ACCR

The AI-Enabled Educator virtual PD conference

October 16, 2024
9 am – 5:20 pm PST
Zoom

Laila Shaheen, Simon Fraser University

I am writing to share an announcement of a virtual Professional Development Conference focused on Generative AI: The AI-Enabled Educator. The event is on October 16, 2024, and a discounted registration rate of $180 CAD is available for the first 50 registrants, until the end of August.

This event is being coordinated by a current Simon Fraser University graduate student, who also presented at the CWCA/ACCR conference this year. 🙂

Please share widely with your networks and at your institutions as this learning event promises to be insightful and rewarding.

Full announcement and registration link follow:

On October 16th 2024 we are launching the inaugural, Canada-wide virtual Generative AI professional development conference for educators in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This event is made possible through collaboration with educators and experts from across Canadian institutions and sponsorship from the Simon Fraser University Library.

We’ve put a lot of thought into making this event truly valuable for educators in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences because they’re often the least served when it comes to AI literacy. This conference is all about empowering them with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the increasingly AI-engaged academic environment.

The goal of this event are to: 

  • Help post-secondary educators get over their fears and apprehensions regarding engaging with AI.
  • Provide the space for cross-institutional learning and strategy sharing.
  • Empower instructors to have knowledgeable conversations about AI with their students.
  • Encourage educators to engage with the AI EdTech leaders who are developing the tools their students are using.

I would appreciate it if you could share this event with your network. I think your audience would benefit from what we’ve planned, as they’re exactly who we had in mind when designing this event.

If you’d like to learn more or discuss how this event aligns with your goals, feel free to schedule a 15-minute call with me. We’re also open to suggestions for specific topics you’d like to see covered during the conference.

To encourage early registration, we are offering our first 50 registrants a discounted rate of $180 until the end of August 2024.

If you are interested in being a sponsor and enjoying group discount rates, let me know and I will share more information.

AI literacy is becoming more important than ever for educators, and I hope you’ll join me in spreading the word about this much-needed event.

Thank you so much for your support!

Laila

For more information, contact: info@highredai.com

 

Tutor’s experience: A session reflection on identity occlusion in virtual and in-person spaces

~ CWCA/ACCR

Vol. 3, No. 1 (Summer 2022)

By Mohsen Hosseinpour Moghaddam,
Graduate Writing Facilitator, Simon Fraser University

Mohsen is a PhD student in Education at Simon Fraser University. He moved to Canada from Iran in 2012. He started learning English at the age of twenty. Before that, he only knew a few words and grammar rules. He is currently working as an Graduate Writing Facilitator on the undergraduate team at the Student Learning Commons (SLC) and WriteAway. At SLC, in addition to offering individual writing consultations, he delivers general and course-integrated writing workshops across disciplines on topics ranging from argumentation to ethical use of research material in writing assignments.

“Body is never simply matter, for it is never divorced from perception and interpretation…and it is subject to examination and speculation” – Carla Peterson (2001, as cited in James Alexander, 2001, p. 108)

Mohsen Hosseinpour Moghaddam

Scene 1 (teaching in-person)
I started working as an undergraduate writing advisor at the Student Learning Commons (SLC) in the middle of the third year of my PhD program. I have been teaching workshops and having one-on-one consultations with students since then. Coming to Canada as an international student from the Middle East (Iran)[1] and being a non-native speaker/writer (NNS/W) of English made the challenges of being a writing advisor more intense. A question that has always lingered on my mind is if I am a legitimate writing advisor. I am not saying that others directly question my legitimacy and credibility as a writing advisor; this is just a feeling that I have always had with me as a NNS/W of English teaching at a Canadian university. Continue reading “Tutor’s experience: A session reflection on identity occlusion in virtual and in-person spaces” →

Academia’s ‘Among Us’: A guide to imposter syndrome

Academia's Among Us: A guide to imposter syndrome
~ CWCA/ACCR

Vol. 3 No. 7 (Summer 2022)

This post is from the 2022 CWCA/ACCR annual conference virtual poster session. – Stevie Bell and Brian Hotson, 2022 CWCA/ACCR conference co-chairs

By Ashley Kyne, Simon Fraser University

“Am I good enough?” “Do I belong here?” Have these questions ever plagued your mind? Well, you are not alone. Undergraduate students, graduate students, post-docs, and even your professors (yes, they can feel this way too!) are haunted by feelings of inadequacy. However, how did this syndrome come to be? Imposter syndrome is a feeling of self-doubt or incompetence. Despite your accomplishments, imposter syndrome can be described as that little voice in your head that makes you question your self-worth. Imposter syndrome can be attributed to a pattern that causes academics to doubt their success, feel like a fraud, and perceive themselves as failures. So, if you doubt yourself, even when you are doing everything right, are you sentenced to feeling like an imposter forever? No. There are a few things you can do when you feel like imposter syndrome is creeping up behind you. Namely, turning off “negative self-talk TV,” embracing criticism, avoiding comparison, asking for help, and being kind to yourself. Continue reading “Academia’s ‘Among Us’: A guide to imposter syndrome” →

Principles of Inclusive & Antiracist Writing

~ CWCA/ACCR

Vol. 3 No. 8 (Summer 2022)

This post is from the 2022 CWCA/ACCR annual conference virtual poster session. – Stevie Bell and Brian Hotson, 2022 CWCA/ACCR conference co-chairs

By Julia Lane, Simon Fraser University

If you want to write in an inclusive and antiracist way, you have to pay attention to the perspectives, peoples, and groups that might be excluded and even harmed through your writing, even if unintentionally.

  1. Question Assumptions. Part of the power of inclusive and antiracist writing is that it prompts us to shine a light on our assumptions–even ones we’ve never noticed before.
  2. Choose words thoughtfully & carefully. As you question assumptions, you bring new attention to the words you use. Words have power and no two words mean precisely the same thing!
  3. Revise critically. Like all writing, inclusive and antiracist writing benefits from revisions! Seek feedback from those whose experiences differ from yours.
  4. Learn from feedback. When you get critical feedback treat it as a chance to learn and grow. Mistakes are not an excuse to give up or back away from the work.

Continue reading “Principles of Inclusive & Antiracist Writing” →

There will be no switch flipping in my future: A look at post-COVID writing centres

Photo of a light switch
~ Canadian Writing Centres Association

Vol 2., No. 7 (Spring 2021)
Julia Lane, Phd, Writing Services Coordinator, Student Learning Commons

Early in the pandemic, Kate Elliott, a Graduate Writing Facilitator with the SFU Student Learning Commons, wrote Maintaining Social Cohesion in a Time of Social Distancing, a blog post which she generously allowed me to contribute to. The post was about the opportunities that this moment of seeming isolation presents to get creative about supporting connectivity through virtual means.

Here I am over a year later reflecting once again on Kate’s incredible ability to focus on connectivity in the time of social/physical distancing within a week of everything shutting down the first time. We have been told to maintain distance from one another to keep each other safe, but that doesn’t mean that we can safely forego the social. It is clear that Kate’s emphasis on the ongoing need for social connection remains central. Throughout this past year, writing centres have been challenged to re-consider and re-imagine our roles in our wider institutions and to get creative with opportunities to support human connection—remotely—while we all experience ongoing crisis. Continue reading “There will be no switch flipping in my future: A look at post-COVID writing centres” →

Announcement || Procrastination Avoidance Week, March 8-14, 2021

~ Canadian Writing Centres Association

Julia Lane is Writing Services Coordinator at Simon Fraser University

We’d like to invite you to join in the pan-Canadian, collaborative, cross-institutional Procrastination Avoidance Week from March 8-14 2021, coinciding with National Procrastination Week.

Our concept is that we will host a week of shared programming and virtual support, with themes for each day. Our small committee including me and Ruth Silverman of Simon Fraser University, as well as Sandra Smith from the University of the Fraser Valley, have fleshed out this idea and produced this Google Doc that for everyone to participate. Please fill in the google doc by February 16th at midnight Pacific Time if your institution would like to join in the fun. Details are provided below about what we are looking for institutions to contribute. We hope that many institutions from across the country will participate. Continue reading “Announcement || Procrastination Avoidance Week, March 8-14, 2021” →

BCWCA “Director’s Day Out”: Meaningful Collaboration Online

Screenshot of collaborative Padlet.
~ CWCA/ACCR

Vol. 2, No. 1 (Winter 2021)

While the pivot to a remote environment has created significant disconnection and isolation, it has also opened unexpected and creative possibilities for collaboration. Our boundaries are no longer so firmly institutional or geographical.

Previously, our British Columbia Writing Centres Association’s (BCWCA) “Director’s Day Out” events were planned and hosted by one institution, and often at what was deemed to be a more central geographical location. 2020’s virtual event was necessitated by pandemic restrictions and made possible by our increased familiarity with collaborative writing tools. Continue reading “BCWCA “Director’s Day Out”: Meaningful Collaboration Online” →