CESBA

CESBA - 25 Years: Some Reflections

It has been a few years since I’ve last presented, in person. to CESBA.? For those of you that don’t know, CESBA is the Continuing Education School Board Administrators organization and they put on an amazing event.

I presented twice: once on Sector Day, and again on Workshop Day.? On sector day, I took participants in the ESL sector through some Generative AI updates and tools, with a few practical demos (Google NotebookLM, Brisk.Teaching, ChatGPT 4o).? I managed to show a live version of each tool, with just a few minor hiccups (hey - it’s not a tech demo without something veering slightly off the rails!).

Keynote: David Chalk

The Keynote Speaker on Day 2 was David Chalk (https://lnkd.in/gfBf475f ).? If you don’t know him, find him on LinkedIn and follow him; his story needs to be heard. He’s blazing trails in AI and bringing light to his message about neurodivergent learners.? As I write this, he’s on a flight to Stanford, where he will be presenting to some of the greatest minds in AI research at Stanford HAI.? (I waited in line after his talk to suggest that maybe he needed a sidekick on his journey, and I would be more than happy to tag along.? But, I didn’t get the chance.? He was just way too popular and the other educators and admin had more pressing concerns to discuss with him.)

I did another version of my “Pardon Me, Your AI is Showing.”? While I really wanted to present a look at HOW we got to where we are today, I had misread how much time I had (by about 40 minutes), so I ended up having to jump to the end of my slides.? To anyone who attended, my apologies and I will include the LINK to those slides here, as well as via email to anyone who wants them.

Going forward, I would really like to offer a three-part workshop series; one about the background (including potential, two about the tools themselves and three a hands-on practical let’s giver’ session. That way I could streamline the audience; those that have a sense of the GenAI can jump right into one of the next sessions.

I was also able to attend a few other sessions; they were all fantastic but I wanted to give a special shout out to Summer Burton’s Improv session. I found myself nodding enthusiastically as she outlined the BENEFITS that improv has on developing creativity, confidence, resilience, flexibility, and more. It was my favourite session.? The audience took part in a demo that stoked our creative embers.??And got me thinking more about squirrels.

Overall, the two days flew by quickly. It was great to connect in person, and while I admit to feeling a bit out of place (they are mostly administrators, i.e. vice-principals, principals, coordinators, etc), I was always made to feel welcome.

Thanks CESBA!