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FREE Contact North webinars

FREE Contact North webinars exploring how higher education is shifting in an age of rapid disruption and AI and what educators and institutions can do next, with practical, human-centred strategies.

The Age of Disruption: Reimagining the Work of Faculty and Instructors in an Age of Rapid Change

Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Register here: https://teachonline.ca/webinars/age-of-disruption-reimagining-work-of-faculty-and-instructors-age-of-rapid-change/Links to an external site.

 Higher education is being reshaped by financial pressures, AI disruption, eroding trust, and governance challenges. This session examines why “business as usual” (and symbolic change) won’t work and how faculty can reclaim agency and help build what comes next.

Key takeaways:

    • Understand why today’s disruption is structural, not temporary
    • Distinguish “digital layering” from real pedagogical transformation
    • Identify how faculty can initiate meaningful change within existing structures

Host: Stephen Murgatroyd, Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associate

2) Rethinking Assessment in the Age of AI: Transforming Evaluation Practices with Human-Centred Approaches

 Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026

Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Register here: https://teachonline.ca/webinars/rethinking-assessment-ai-transforming-evaluation-practices-human-centred-approaches/Links to an external site.

As AI reshapes how students approach tasks, feedback, and learning strategies, assessment needs to evolve. This webinar offers practical approaches to redesign evaluation for authenticity, transparency, equity, and resilience.

Key takeaways:

    • Recognize how AI is changing learner behaviour and assessment expectations
    • Apply strategies for more authentic, equitable, and AI-resilient assessment
    • Explore concrete examples of assessment innovation across sectors

Host: Redwan Siddiqui, Professor (Humber Polytechnic); Instructor (Wilfrid Laurier University)

3) The Augmented Knowledge Worker in Higher Education

 Date: Thursday, May 20, 2026

Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Register here: https://teachonline.ca/webinars/augmented-knowledge-worker-in-higher-education/Links to an external site.

Move beyond tools to a work redesign lens: this session presents a framework (with real institutional examples) for how AI can augment teaching, research, and academic operations, responsibly and at scale.

Key takeaways:

    • Learn a practical framework for “augmentation” across academic roles
    • See examples of how institutions are embedding AI into core work
    • Consider how to design effective human–AI teamwork responsibly

Host: Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong, Professor, Seneca Polytechnic

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Free Webinar!

1. Why Universal AI Rules Don’t Work: How to Build Responsive AI Policies with Your Students

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Register here!

Students are already using AI and want to do so ethically and transparently. In this webinar, Dr. Lydia Cao (OISE, University of Toronto) shows how to co-create responsive AI policies that adapt to different contexts and learners.

Key Topics:

      • Context matters: aligning AI use with subject and learning goals
      • Scaffolding for different age groups and developmental stages
      • Building open dialogue around values and academic integrity
      • Designing adaptable, evolving classroom policies

2. What AI Is Doing to Student Thinking and What Educators Can Do About It

Date: Monday, November 3, 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Register here!

Generative AI rewards efficiency but may reduce curiosity and deep inquiry. Dr. Victoria Livingstone (Johns Hopkins University) and Jeppe Klitgaard Stricker (Aalborg University, Denmark) discuss how to preserve creativity and critical thinking in the AI age.

Key Takeaways:

      • Why ambiguity and uncertainty drive real learning
      • From asking questions to writing prompts and how to push back
      • Teaching strategies that foster reflection and inquiry
      • How AI challenges traditional assessment and evaluation

3. Transform Learning for Every Student: Using AI to Make Open Education Resources More Accessible and Personalized

Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Register here!

AI can make Open Education Resources (OER) more dynamic, personalized, and inclusive. Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd (Contact North | Contact Nord) shares how to leverage AI to enhance quality, access, and engagement.

Key Takeaways:

    • Turn static materials into adaptive, interactive learning tools
    • Personalize lessons for diverse learner needs
    • Improve accessibility through translation and assistive tech
    • Maintain quality and trust through ethical, transparent AI use

We hope you’ll join these timely discussions on how AI can transform teaching and learning — ethically and creatively.

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iiQM – Ways of Knowing – Al Ethics and Qualitative Research

This Panel Discussion is part of the pre-WCQR2026 program. The 10th World Conference on Qualitative Research (WCQR2026) will be held from 20 to 22 January 2026 at the Complutense University of Madrid – Faculty of Education, Spain, and from 02 to 05 February 2026 Online.

The employment of “Artificial Intelligence” (AI), especially Large Language Models (LLMs), in qualitative inquiry is the subject of much current discussion and debate. These concerns often focus on the ethics of deploying AI in qualitative research (e.g. Christou 2023; Marshall & Naff 2024). Less attention has been paid to 1) qualitative approaches to studying generative AI and its ethical implications in social practices, organizations, and relationships, and 2) how studying AI might (re-)shape the assumptions, approaches, and ethics of qualitative inquiry.

Our conversation will be animated by the following questions:

    • How are you deploying qualitative research to study the ethics and values that are embedded in and shaped by AI/LLMs?
    • What does your research help us understand about the ethics of AI?
    • What are the implications of your research for studying “the human,” as qualitative research aims to do?
    • And how does studying AI-human relations (re-)shape how you think about ethics and values in the conduct of qualitative research?

September 30th, 2025 | Online (Free)

09:00 AM (UTC-06:00 – Calgary, Edmonton, Denver, Albuquerque, El Paso…)
11:00 AM (UTC-04:00 – New York, Washington, Miami, Toronto, Montreal…)
04:00 PM (UTC+01:00 – Lisbon, London, Dublin…)
05:00 PM (UTC+02:00 – Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw…)
11:00 PM (UTC+08:00 – Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Manila, Perth…)

How to register: Zoom site

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NETWORKED LEARNING CONFERENCE CONSORTIUM The NLC2026

Call for Papers

    • Full Papers & Symposia: Deadline is 10 October 2025
    • Workshops & Round Table Proposals: Deadline is 21 November 2025

We invite submissions that engage critically and creatively with the field of networked learning and address one or more of the following conference themes:

    • Equity, inclusion, and digital transformation in networked learning (e.g., accessibility, digital divide, inclusive technologies, equitable access to learning resources, transformative digital practices, teaching across borders)
    • Policy and AI in networked learning (e.g., AI governance, policy frameworks for AI in education, ethical AI implementation, regulatory considerations, AI-driven educational reforms)
    • Future of teaching and value-based AI supported networked learning (e.g., innovative pedagogies, Human-centered AI, values-driven AI applications, ethical AI integration in education)
    • Ethical and responsible innovation and research (e.g., privacy, surveillance, inclusion, criticality, equity and social justice, relational pedagogies, eco pedagogies)
    • Spaces, places and modalities for networked learning (e.g., online, blended, hybrid, boundless), design, implementation and evaluation of networked learning. Networked learning in formal, non-formal and informal contexts of learning and development across the lifespan (e.g., early childhood, school, higher education, professional development, community learning, large-scale and small-scale open courses)
    • Theory and theorisation advancing the field of networked learning
      Philosophies, theories, methodologies, and research designs for networked learning (e.g., postdigitality, posthumanism, phenomenography, phenomenology, social network analysis, socio-material approaches)

Conference site: www.networkedlearning.aau.dk/nlc-2026

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Contact North: Online Learning News

The latest version of the newsletter is out:

From AI’s disruptive force in classrooms to fresh strategies, tools and global resources, this issue explores where higher education is headed. It captures the tension — and opportunity — between imagining futures and making them work today.

September 10, 2025

 

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FREE webinar!

 From Policy to Practice: How to Make AI Work for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Generative AI is reshaping higher education, creating both opportunities and challenges. This webinar, led by Dr. Sidney Shapiro (University of Lethbridge), explores how institutions can integrate AI responsibly while maintaining academic integrity and equity.

Key Topics:

  • A governance model clarifying roles and responsibilities across institution, department, and course levels
  • Policy and disclosure norms for AI use by students, instructors, and staff
  • Assessment strategies that promote learning and reduce misuse without relying on AI detectors
  • An equity and risk checklist to guide pilots and scale-ups
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Career progression for academics focused on SoTL

Friday 3 October, 13:00 – 14:05, online

As SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) continues to grow in importance within higher education, understanding how it is evaluated and recognised in academic promotion pathways becomes increasingly crucial. This event will be an opportunity to gain deeper insights into the evolving expectations and potential challenges associated with career progression in the field.

This session will explore common questions and concerns around how teaching-focused academics are perceived by promotion panels, what evidence is considered impactful, and how to effectively document and present contributions to teaching and learning, scholarship research and academic leadership.

Register here: [Link]

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Check out GO-GN

The Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) is a network of PhD candidates around the world whose research projects include a focus on open education (i.e. OER, OEP, MOOC). These doctoral researchers are at the core of the network; around them, over two hundred experts, supervisors, mentors and interested parties connect to form a community of practice.

The aims of the GO-GN are to:

  • raise the profile of research into open education,
  • offer support for those conducting PhD research in this area,
  • promote equity and inclusion in the field of open education research, and
  • develop openness as a process of research.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://go-gn.net/

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The 21st International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS2025)

The 21st International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS2025) (https://iis-international.org/its2025-generative-systems) is a globally  recognized venue for presenting cutting-edge academic and research advancements in intelligent educational technologies. The conference covers a broad range of topics, including intelligent and adaptive learning systems; the application of artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, and natural language processing in educational contexts; and the use of these technologies to enhance games, virtual reality environments and cognitive robots for education.

The conference offers free online participation! This means you can listen to cutting- edge research and discuss with top researchers in the areas of artificial intelligence and educational technologies for free.

Registration

Register now at: https://iis-international.org/registration-its2025/
Registration deadline: May 30, 2025
Please note that registration is mandatory for participation in the conference. We encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible!

Conference Details & Schedule

The conference will take place from June 3 – 6 in Greece and online.

The full schedule is available at: https://iis-international.org/registration-its2025/ Please note that all scheduled times are listed in local Greece time (GMT +3).

As an online participant, you are welcome to attend mixed sessions (including live-streamed onsite and online presentations) and fully online sessions. And of course, attendance is flexible –you can choose the sessions that are of interest for you and that work with your time zone.