As higher education continues to evolve, TMU's 2025 Learning and Teaching Conference will address the challenges of teaching in the face of world events, dynamic social and economic forces, shifting student expectations and a fundamental questioning about the place of higher education.
This year's conference, organized by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, is themed Transforming Futures Through Learning and Teaching Excellence. The annual event brings together educators, staff and students to share ideas about the future of higher education.
The conference builds on TMU's 2025-2030 Academic Plan. It will look at current opportunities and challenges while exploring new possibilities for teaching.
For the first time, the conference will partner with TMU's IT Conference for an exciting back-to-back conference experience from May 20 to 22.
In addition to the keynote presentation, the conference will host over 15 concurrent sessions on topics including celebrating Black-focused pedagogies, transforming access to education and leveraging GenAI in teaching.
A keynote grounded in transformation
Mark Daley, chief AI officer at Western University, will give the keynote address.
As a computational neuroscientist, Daley thinks deeply about both human and machine intelligence. In conversation ahead of the event, he shared a preview of what's to come.
"We are entering an era that is going to be profoundly different than what has come before," he said. "Intelligence is no longer exclusive to humans. With enough compute power applied the right way, we've shown that machines can also know' things. That shakes the foundations of how we've historically defined ourselves."
In a world where AI can generate research papers and students might have AI tutors with endless knowledge, Daley believes universities must adapt-not with fear, but with purpose.
"We're not disappearing," he said. "But our mission is changing. Research and teaching as we know it will be disrupted, and institutions that centre student connection and community will have a distinct advantage."
Rather than making small changes like simply adding chatbots to courses Daley urges institutions to rethink their basic models. He sees a future where universities focus on their human strengths: conversation, mentorship and meaning.
"Students will still want a space to grow up and meet others, to talk to wise adults and explore ideas. That doesn't go away," he said. "But prestige tied solely to research output? That model is going to be less successful in the decades ahead."
Daley is excited about "precision education," where students can personalize their learning while still enjoying the human aspects of university life, from dialogue to debate to discovery.
And when it comes to integrating AI into teaching, his advice is straightforward: "Ask your students what they want. They're already fluent in this technology. They know what's useful and what's not."
The Learning and Teaching Conference on May 20, 2025, will include a full day of panels, presentations and workshops.
It supports TMU's ongoing commitment to advancing priorities in the university's new academic plan, including teaching excellence, inclusive learning, and curriculum innovation.
For Daley, the moment is ripe with possibility.
"If we make good decisions now, we can build something that increases human flourishing," he said. "This isn't science fiction anymore. It's here and it's exciting."
Registration for both conferences closes Tuesday, May 13 at 5 p.m.
To see the full conference programs, visit the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching website and the IT Conference website.
