MYFest 2025: Browse by Theme

In this age of rapid technological evolution and shifting geopolitical landscapes, creating secure digital spaces for community engagement has never been more crucial. Let’s identify your community’s unique needs, then explore dynamic, powerful, open-source tools designed to foster safe online environments together.

This session provides an introduction to key concepts of access, accessibility, and disability. We will explore our own biases and perceptions of access and examine different models of disability that may inform individual and institutional perceptions and approaches to accessibility. There will be an opportunity to apply these concepts to design cases.

Alt tags and text provide a necessary bridge for accessibility, but who is better at making these: handcrafting humans or machine learning bots? Can we move from expanding access to building community? Join us for a playful rumble!

This session will introduce different approaches to inclusive design, exploring both benefits and deficits of different approaches. We will spend time focusing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and applying these principles to our own educational designs or examples.

Using the newly developed PGDIP in Blended and Online Learning as a case study we are exploring ways of widening access to higher education that does not only serve a neoliberal agenda by working towards radical flexiblity and participatory parity.

In this session, participants will have an opportunity to voice the uncertainties affecting how they teach, and will work in small groups to reflect on changes they may need to imagine in their teaching using the Liberating Structure Ecocycle, whose purpose is to help us adapt intentionally and prioritize what we do by making changes based on changing circumstances.

Ever wanted to make a game? Come to our AI game workshop and see where your imagination leads you.

In this session, participants will have an opportunity to voice the uncertainties affecting how they teach, and will work in small groups to reflect on changes they may need to imagine in their teaching using the Liberating Structure Ecocycle, whose purpose is to help us adapt intentionally and prioritize what we do by making changes based on changing circumstances.

Iterationism is a theory of AI and co-learning (multiple humans and AI) focused on cognitive effort. This theory transforms the idea of AI being merely ‘generative’ to reimagine its role as an archivist. This session will help participants explore and understand implications of Iterationism for co-learning design.

Session Duration: 75 minutes

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

First half of this session explores AI tools in a Cairo course for tasks like translation and analysis, aligning with learning goals and assessing student work. Discusses challenges and lessons learned, featuring interactive audience activities.
Second half of this session Introduces a reflective framework with AI feedback to enhance Arabic writing, guiding student analysis and teacher instruction. Includes interactive demos and student writing examples.

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Join us for an interactive session where we’ll play the Go Somewhere card game, a hands-on experience designed to spark dialogue around AI metaphors, personal and collective values, and actionable next steps. Through playful exploration and conversation, we’ll reflect on what the metaphors we use to describe AI reveal about our values and consider how to respond to its continued emergence in ways that are rooted in our values, responsive to context, and oriented toward equity.

It’s hard to know what to tell students about the ecological impact of generative AI when the Internet seems split between “Stop worrying” and “It’s the apocalypse.” This workshop offers a fact-based exploration of AI’s environmental costs while providing tools and activities for educators to bring this conversation into the classroom.

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

This session explores the dynamic intersection of artificial intelligence and Arabic language education. Recognizing both the transformative potential of AI in educational settings (Grassini, 2023) and the current gap in teaching multi-dialectical practices within classrooms (Masaeed, 2023), I aim to demonstrate how AI can bridge this divide.

This session will show how AI is used in Arabic language peer teaching sessions to help peer teachers (i.e. language learners) develop their own activities. It also presents learners’ perceptions of this experience. This session participants will use AI to learn/teach weather vocabulary at A1 level.

Environmental issues around AI are complex and often opaque. This session explores what is known about the impact of training and use of generative AI systems like large language models and image generation, as well as making practical suggestions for how to teach about these concerns.

Alt tags and text provide a necessary bridge for accessibility, but who is better at making these: handcrafting humans or machine learning bots? Can we move from expanding access to building community? Join us for a playful rumble!

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Learn from examples of thoughtfully designed educational AI prompts, including tools for critical thinking and writing feedback that students can use with free chatbots. We’ll identify key prompting strategies and explore libraries of student-facing prompts while sharing our own experiments and prompting wish lists.

Even before the disruption of GenAI tools, educational technology had already been repeatedly hailed as both a saviour and a destroyer of learning. As tools proliferate, and change accelerates, the need for approaches that help to clarify not only what a tool might do but also the implications for learning with (or without) that tool become more and more critical. This interactive and exploratory session will use one such set of questions to kick off the collective creation of questions teachers, learners and others might use to confidential approach using, or not-using, tools for learning.

In a world where the machine can do some things more effectively and efficiently, how do we now reckon with the art and science of writing? This conversation centers poetry as an invitation to brainstorm together about how to center our humanness in a increasingly automated world.

The facilitators will share personal experiences teaching both graduate and undergraduate academic writing courses and outline how they have succeeded in embracing Gen Z’s needs by providing them with future-relevant, innovative tools and techniques to use in their journey of lifelong learning and self-discovery.

We are getting ready to start MYFest25 on June 1st, which is only one more week away! So to give you a “Taste of MYFest25”, we are running a session that’s free and open, for you to learn more about what Mid-Year Festival is all about, meet others from the community, share your hopes and expectations, and ask any questions you have.

Curious Coffee offers the opportunity to connect with others you want to know better within the Equity Unbound community. Participants are randomly paired every month and arrange a 30-minute online meeting to discuss topics they are passionate about while enjoying a coffee. The initiative encourages exploration of ideas, with no obligation to meet the same partner again, unless both wish to continue the conversation.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

A group for anyone interested in establishing or maintaining a writing or journaling practice. This group is open to anyone who wants to join and will also be linked to the various writing workshops offered at MyFest25. You will see random prompts and be encouraged to share if you want, but it’s totally okay for you to use the social and community motivation to help you write or journal, without sharing. This group will be on Discord under the MYFest25 server.

In this age of rapid technological evolution and shifting geopolitical landscapes, creating secure digital spaces for community engagement has never been more crucial. Let’s identify your community’s unique needs, then explore dynamic, powerful, open-source tools designed to foster safe online environments together.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Healing circles are a means for people to come together for meaningful connection through deep listening and compassion. Through the simple act of sharing and listening, we develop deep connection to one another’s sense of humanity, and leave the session feeling like we are not alone.

This healing and compassion circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

How can we activate learning, foster a sense of community, and add elements of fun to any session? Entrance and exit tickets allow facilitators and educators to engage learners by adding the “unexpected” to the beginning and end of sessions in a structured way. Join us for an hour of trying out and co-creating opening and closing activities for educational settings.

This will be an ongoing “session”. The idea of the first session is to involve the kids in creating a community type agreement and going over ideas and get things kicked off. Of course, any of the adults who would like to help in this project are more than welcome to attend as well. Follow-up sessions of kids showing off what they are doing, perhaps a tour of their world.

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Join us for this hands-on workshop, where you will be invited to engage in identity exploration activities to gain insight into how your lived experiences with transnationality have shaped your understanding of who you are and how you engage with the world. Building on these insights, you will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative autoethnography to make simple practical plans for individual and community transformation for educational justice.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Build community, support one another, while also learning some useful facilitation strategies you can use in your classes or workshops.

Join Us in this community conversation on how to make sessions more equitable. We will use the liberating structure TRIZ to collaboratively co-create guidelines for equitable facilitation in MYFest.

Is it possible that we’re not totally perfect and that’s…okay? Let’s share our feelings around failure, reveal what fruitful possibilities our failures might afford us, and maybe discover renewed joy in our teaching and learning, a little freer from the curse of perfection.

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

A gentle, prompt-based writing workshop that encourages creative expression and connection. No experience needed, no pressure to share—just come as you are, write anyway, and leave feeling more grounded and inspired.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

Alt tags and text provide a necessary bridge for accessibility, but who is better at making these: handcrafting humans or machine learning bots? Can we move from expanding access to building community? Join us for a playful rumble!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

What can a zany, age-old, theater comedy tradition based on human nature teach us today? Come write, play, and laugh i
as we make a humorous improvised script.

You are cordially invited to join this co-exploration of the critical connection between wellness and justice!

Please join us for another co-facilitated book circle on the book “Burnout from Humans.” As part of this book circle, we will explore the depth of the book and it’s implications over a series of sessions together, where we will move beyond simply consuming the ideas with our heads, to connecting them to our heart and hands in experiential ways.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Join us for an hour of supporting each other’s writing… quietly… where we will kick off with 5 minutes of inspiration, give everyone about 50 minutes to work on what is important to them right now, and have 5 minutes to celebrate what we’ve accomplished today. This group is dedicated to anyone who is working on a writing project of any kind: you can work on a peer-reviewed paper, grant application, syllabus, even a really tricky email, even your creative work, a poem you want to capture, lyrics for your next song 🙂

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

In a world where the machine can do some things more effectively and efficiently, how do we now reckon with the art and science of writing? This conversation centers poetry as an invitation to brainstorm together about how to center our humanness in a increasingly automated world.

The facilitators will share personal experiences teaching both graduate and undergraduate academic writing courses and outline how they have succeeded in embracing Gen Z’s needs by providing them with future-relevant, innovative tools and techniques to use in their journey of lifelong learning and self-discovery.

Please join us for a traditional book club discussion of the book “Hospicing Modernity.” Over the course of the summer, participants are invited to read the book “Hospicing Modernity” by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, for our book discussion meeting where we will discuss and explore the ideas in community with other readers.

Join us in a conversation that focuses on mindfulness practices for creative inspiration.

For anyone working on a current writing project. Join us for peer review conversations and some mentor insights and feedback from small writing cohorts.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Reimagine annotation as a critical and civic literacy that can inscribe public memory, struggles for justice, and social change. Based on Remi Kalir’s book “Re/Marks on Power,” this session features both a book talk and an annotation jam demonstrating how groups of annotators make public re/marks of resistance and creativity. Critically question how annotation has and can be composed as you mark both your books and public discourses.
Session Duration: 90 minutes

Join us for this hands-on workshop, where you will be invited to engage in identity exploration activities to gain insight into how your lived experiences with transnationality have shaped your understanding of who you are and how you engage with the world. Building on these insights, you will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative autoethnography to make simple practical plans for individual and community transformation for educational justice.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

This workshop will invite participants to examine the concepts of identity, power, privilege intersectionality, and bias and how these impact educational environments and interactions. Participants will have opportunities to engage in supported self and collective reflections on these concepts and how they impact their personal teaching practices and contexts. The session will end with a discussion on approaches to navigating power imbalances in course design and delivery.

Join Us in this community conversation on how to make sessions more equitable. We will use the liberating structure TRIZ to collaboratively co-create guidelines for equitable facilitation in MYFest.

Is it possible that we’re not totally perfect and that’s…okay? Let’s share our feelings around failure, reveal what fruitful possibilities our failures might afford us, and maybe discover renewed joy in our teaching and learning, a little freer from the curse of perfection.

You know where you want to get to, but it feels like you’re treading water in a system designed to keep you or your students down. This session will focus on how we can use the iceberg model from systems thinking to identify the structures and mental models that get in the way of imagining equitable and sustainable futures. We’ll also look at how we can use leverage to shift the icebergs we face into new paradigms and imagine new possibilities.

This session provides an introduction to key concepts of access, accessibility, and disability. We will explore our own biases and perceptions of access and examine different models of disability that may inform individual and institutional perceptions and approaches to accessibility. There will be an opportunity to apply these concepts to design cases.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Environmental issues around AI are complex and often opaque. This session explores what is known about the impact of training and use of generative AI systems like large language models and image generation, as well as making practical suggestions for how to teach about these concerns.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

This session will introduce different approaches to inclusive design, exploring both benefits and deficits of different approaches. We will spend time focusing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and applying these principles to our own educational designs or examples.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

What can a zany, age-old, theater comedy tradition based on human nature teach us today? Come write, play, and laugh i
as we make a humorous improvised script.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

Please join us for a traditional book club discussion of the book “Hospicing Modernity.” Over the course of the summer, participants are invited to read the book “Hospicing Modernity” by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, for our book discussion meeting where we will discuss and explore the ideas in community with other readers.

This session will give you the opportunity to learn about some narrative and voice-centred approaches to research and scholarship in education. You will write your own story and try out some different approaches to discover what a researcher might learn from your story.

In this session, we’ll look at haiku as a mindful writing practice, along with other short-form poetry. Then we will write some poems together. All ages welcome!

Carrying on a MYFest tradition, this is our 4th year of Readers Theater, and this time the focus will be on plays based on African dilemma tales. No special preparation is required; all you need to bring is your voice and your curiosity. All ages are welcome!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Reimagine annotation as a critical and civic literacy that can inscribe public memory, struggles for justice, and social change. Based on Remi Kalir’s book “Re/Marks on Power,” this session features both a book talk and an annotation jam demonstrating how groups of annotators make public re/marks of resistance and creativity. Critically question how annotation has and can be composed as you mark both your books and public discourses.
Session Duration: 90 minutes

Join us for this hands-on workshop, where you will be invited to engage in identity exploration activities to gain insight into how your lived experiences with transnationality have shaped your understanding of who you are and how you engage with the world. Building on these insights, you will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative autoethnography to make simple practical plans for individual and community transformation for educational justice.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

This workshop will invite participants to examine the concepts of identity, power, privilege intersectionality, and bias and how these impact educational environments and interactions. Participants will have opportunities to engage in supported self and collective reflections on these concepts and how they impact their personal teaching practices and contexts. The session will end with a discussion on approaches to navigating power imbalances in course design and delivery.

Join Us in this community conversation on how to make sessions more equitable. We will use the liberating structure TRIZ to collaboratively co-create guidelines for equitable facilitation in MYFest.

Is it possible that we’re not totally perfect and that’s…okay? Let’s share our feelings around failure, reveal what fruitful possibilities our failures might afford us, and maybe discover renewed joy in our teaching and learning, a little freer from the curse of perfection.

You know where you want to get to, but it feels like you’re treading water in a system designed to keep you or your students down. This session will focus on how we can use the iceberg model from systems thinking to identify the structures and mental models that get in the way of imagining equitable and sustainable futures. We’ll also look at how we can use leverage to shift the icebergs we face into new paradigms and imagine new possibilities.

This session provides an introduction to key concepts of access, accessibility, and disability. We will explore our own biases and perceptions of access and examine different models of disability that may inform individual and institutional perceptions and approaches to accessibility. There will be an opportunity to apply these concepts to design cases.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Environmental issues around AI are complex and often opaque. This session explores what is known about the impact of training and use of generative AI systems like large language models and image generation, as well as making practical suggestions for how to teach about these concerns.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

This session will introduce different approaches to inclusive design, exploring both benefits and deficits of different approaches. We will spend time focusing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and applying these principles to our own educational designs or examples.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

What can a zany, age-old, theater comedy tradition based on human nature teach us today? Come write, play, and laugh i
as we make a humorous improvised script.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Using the newly developed PGDIP in Blended and Online Learning as a case study we are exploring ways of widening access to higher education that does not only serve a neoliberal agenda by working towards radical flexiblity and participatory parity.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

Please join us for a traditional book club discussion of the book “Hospicing Modernity.” Over the course of the summer, participants are invited to read the book “Hospicing Modernity” by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, for our book discussion meeting where we will discuss and explore the ideas in community with other readers.

This session will give you the opportunity to learn about some narrative and voice-centred approaches to research and scholarship in education. You will write your own story and try out some different approaches to discover what a researcher might learn from your story.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

In this session, participants will have an opportunity to voice the uncertainties affecting how they teach, and will work in small groups to reflect on changes they may need to imagine in their teaching using the Liberating Structure Ecocycle, whose purpose is to help us adapt intentionally and prioritize what we do by making changes based on changing circumstances.

This interactive workshop explores how poetry can support reflection, wellbeing, and connection in higher education. Open to all staff and students, it offers practical ways to use poetry – from haiku to free verse – to express lived experience and build a sense of belonging.

Ever wanted to make a game? Come to our AI game workshop and see where your imagination leads you.

This experiential workshop explores how to use imagination intentionally by balancing the brain’s creative and task-oriented networks. Learn how to design for engagement, structure, and flow—where real learning happens.
Session Duration: 2 hours

In this session, participants will have an opportunity to voice the uncertainties affecting how they teach, and will work in small groups to reflect on changes they may need to imagine in their teaching using the Liberating Structure Ecocycle, whose purpose is to help us adapt intentionally and prioritize what we do by making changes based on changing circumstances.

Iterationism is a theory of AI and co-learning (multiple humans and AI) focused on cognitive effort. This theory transforms the idea of AI being merely ‘generative’ to reimagine its role as an archivist. This session will help participants explore and understand implications of Iterationism for co-learning design.

Session Duration: 75 minutes

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

How can we activate learning, foster a sense of community, and add elements of fun to any session? Entrance and exit tickets allow facilitators and educators to engage learners by adding the “unexpected” to the beginning and end of sessions in a structured way. Join us for an hour of trying out and co-creating opening and closing activities for educational settings.

A relaxed workshop fostering discovery and imagination through the sharing of online resources. No technical skills needed—just explore the resources, brainstorm possible uses, and leave with intriguing ideas for teaching and learning contexts.

First half of this session explores AI tools in a Cairo course for tasks like translation and analysis, aligning with learning goals and assessing student work. Discusses challenges and lessons learned, featuring interactive audience activities.
Second half of this session Introduces a reflective framework with AI feedback to enhance Arabic writing, guiding student analysis and teacher instruction. Includes interactive demos and student writing examples.

This will be an ongoing “session”. The idea of the first session is to involve the kids in creating a community type agreement and going over ideas and get things kicked off. Of course, any of the adults who would like to help in this project are more than welcome to attend as well. Follow-up sessions of kids showing off what they are doing, perhaps a tour of their world.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Is it possible that we’re not totally perfect and that’s…okay? Let’s share our feelings around failure, reveal what fruitful possibilities our failures might afford us, and maybe discover renewed joy in our teaching and learning, a little freer from the curse of perfection.

You know where you want to get to, but it feels like you’re treading water in a system designed to keep you or your students down. This session will focus on how we can use the iceberg model from systems thinking to identify the structures and mental models that get in the way of imagining equitable and sustainable futures. We’ll also look at how we can use leverage to shift the icebergs we face into new paradigms and imagine new possibilities.

This hands-on workshop invites participants to create new lyrics for cover versions of songs, fostering creativity and musical exploration. Whether or not you see yourself as a creative individual, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy artistic expression and collaboration in a studio-like atmosphere.

What do student-staff relationships look like that bring out the best in all involved? What can facilitate not just academic learning, but personal growth and the development of skills necessary for current and future societies? What are the promises of higher education that we wish to offer future generations? Join us to explore these questions through sharing your own experiences and hopes, considering near-future fictions, and together, imagining how we might build better relationships within the academy.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

This session explores the dynamic intersection of artificial intelligence and Arabic language education. Recognizing both the transformative potential of AI in educational settings (Grassini, 2023) and the current gap in teaching multi-dialectical practices within classrooms (Masaeed, 2023), I aim to demonstrate how AI can bridge this divide.

This session will show how AI is used in Arabic language peer teaching sessions to help peer teachers (i.e. language learners) develop their own activities. It also presents learners’ perceptions of this experience. This session participants will use AI to learn/teach weather vocabulary at A1 level.

This lively session will start with a brief panel conversation exploring how assessment design can actively support student self-regulation. We will consider practical ways to rethink (1) assessment task design, to (2) enhance assessment briefs, and to (3) make feedback more usable for learning. You will be invited to share your reflections, challenges, and examples via an interactive wall. Come ready to think critically and collaboratively about how to make assessment truly work for learners.

In this session, we’ll look at haiku as a mindful writing practice, along with other short-form poetry. Then we will write some poems together. All ages welcome!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

Alt tags and text provide a necessary bridge for accessibility, but who is better at making these: handcrafting humans or machine learning bots? Can we move from expanding access to building community? Join us for a playful rumble!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

What can a zany, age-old, theater comedy tradition based on human nature teach us today? Come write, play, and laugh i
as we make a humorous improvised script.

You are cordially invited to join this co-exploration of the critical connection between wellness and justice!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

In a world where the machine can do some things more effectively and efficiently, how do we now reckon with the art and science of writing? This conversation centers poetry as an invitation to brainstorm together about how to center our humanness in a increasingly automated world.

The facilitators will share personal experiences teaching both graduate and undergraduate academic writing courses and outline how they have succeeded in embracing Gen Z’s needs by providing them with future-relevant, innovative tools and techniques to use in their journey of lifelong learning and self-discovery.

This session will give you the opportunity to learn about some narrative and voice-centred approaches to research and scholarship in education. You will write your own story and try out some different approaches to discover what a researcher might learn from your story.

Carrying on a MYFest tradition, this is our 4th year of Readers Theater, and this time the focus will be on plays based on African dilemma tales. No special preparation is required; all you need to bring is your voice and your curiosity. All ages are welcome!

Join us in a conversation that focuses on mindfulness practices for creative inspiration.

Unlock the power of creative thinking to improve your teaching. In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore practical strategies—like SCAMPER, cross-fertilization, and reversing relationships—to reimagine and enhance their lessons in a collaborative, supportive space.

In this interactive workshop we will explore the notion of learning sanctuary and imagine ways to engender such space within our courses.

Curious Coffee offers the opportunity to connect with others you want to know better within the Equity Unbound community. Participants are randomly paired every month and arrange a 30-minute online meeting to discuss topics they are passionate about while enjoying a coffee. The initiative encourages exploration of ideas, with no obligation to meet the same partner again, unless both wish to continue the conversation.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

A group for anyone interested in establishing or maintaining a writing or journaling practice. This group is open to anyone who wants to join and will also be linked to the various writing workshops offered at MyFest25. You will see random prompts and be encouraged to share if you want, but it’s totally okay for you to use the social and community motivation to help you write or journal, without sharing. This group will be on Discord under the MYFest25 server.

This interactive workshop explores how poetry can support reflection, wellbeing, and connection in higher education. Open to all staff and students, it offers practical ways to use poetry – from haiku to free verse – to express lived experience and build a sense of belonging.

Ever wanted to make a game? Come to our AI game workshop and see where your imagination leads you.

This hands-on workshop explores how analogue games – from card-based activities to board games – can support learning, reflection, and connection in higher education. Ideal for those curious about using or designing low-tech, playful approaches to teaching and research.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Healing circles are a means for people to come together for meaningful connection through deep listening and compassion. Through the simple act of sharing and listening, we develop deep connection to one another’s sense of humanity, and leave the session feeling like we are not alone.

This healing and compassion circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Stop crying! Don’t be angry!
Do you fall among the many who say these common statements?
Join me in Wisdom of Emotions Workshop to discover how harmful the above statements are, how you need to sit with your emotion, learn simple techniques to manage everyday waves of emotions.

How can we activate learning, foster a sense of community, and add elements of fun to any session? Entrance and exit tickets allow facilitators and educators to engage learners by adding the “unexpected” to the beginning and end of sessions in a structured way. Join us for an hour of trying out and co-creating opening and closing activities for educational settings.

A relaxed workshop fostering discovery and imagination through the sharing of online resources. No technical skills needed—just explore the resources, brainstorm possible uses, and leave with intriguing ideas for teaching and learning contexts.

Join us for this hands-on workshop, where you will be invited to engage in identity exploration activities to gain insight into how your lived experiences with transnationality have shaped your understanding of who you are and how you engage with the world. Building on these insights, you will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative autoethnography to make simple practical plans for individual and community transformation for educational justice.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Is it possible that we’re not totally perfect and that’s…okay? Let’s share our feelings around failure, reveal what fruitful possibilities our failures might afford us, and maybe discover renewed joy in our teaching and learning, a little freer from the curse of perfection.

This hands-on workshop invites participants to create new lyrics for cover versions of songs, fostering creativity and musical exploration. Whether or not you see yourself as a creative individual, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy artistic expression and collaboration in a studio-like atmosphere.

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

A gentle, prompt-based writing workshop that encourages creative expression and connection. No experience needed, no pressure to share—just come as you are, write anyway, and leave feeling more grounded and inspired.

In this session, we’ll look at haiku as a mindful writing practice, along with other short-form poetry. Then we will write some poems together. All ages welcome!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

The DS106 Daily Create is a daily challenge involving 15-20 minutes of creative digital art making and storytelling. Participants will try a few Daily Creates and explore how to incorporate brief creative activities and daily challenges into teaching and learning.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

Alt tags and text provide a necessary bridge for accessibility, but who is better at making these: handcrafting humans or machine learning bots? Can we move from expanding access to building community? Join us for a playful rumble!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

What can a zany, age-old, theater comedy tradition based on human nature teach us today? Come write, play, and laugh i
as we make a humorous improvised script.

You are cordially invited to join this co-exploration of the critical connection between wellness and justice!

In the “Joy Centered Pedagogy” Book Circle, we will be exploring the depth of the ideas from the book in community with other participants. Unlike a traditional book club, the purpose is read deeper, and spend time connecting with the ideas, with each other, and with our work in experiential and engaging ways. Space will be made for introspection, play, laughter, debate, conflict, reflection, and so much more.

This book circle requires separate registration through the google form linked inside. Please note that there is a limited number of participants that could join, so please sign up if you plan to participate.

Religion, politics, climate change, migration, injustice, algorithms and more; in the modern world there are many forces that push us towards polarized viewpoints. In this two-part series we will explore what works and what doesn’t in trying to work effectively and ethically with people holding opposing viewpoints. We’ll draw on intercultural theory (a little), conflict resolution (a little) and even practice navigating differences without fear or anger.

In a world where the machine can do some things more effectively and efficiently, how do we now reckon with the art and science of writing? This conversation centers poetry as an invitation to brainstorm together about how to center our humanness in a increasingly automated world.

The 60 minutes workshop will give participating educators a peak into my classroom Mental Health practices as an educator who teaches engineering students courses of Soft Skills. The workshop is a blend of knowledge sharing, perspective shifting and introducing and practicing practical strategies that any educator can introduce in their classroom, and help their students talk about, but also cater for their mental health.

This session will give you the opportunity to learn about body mapping and how it can help us to purposefully reflect on our own wellbeing. You will draw and annotate your own individual map as you reflect on a series of questions.

Carrying on a MYFest tradition, this is our 4th year of Readers Theater, and this time the focus will be on plays based on African dilemma tales. No special preparation is required; all you need to bring is your voice and your curiosity. All ages are welcome!

Join us in a conversation that focuses on mindfulness practices for creative inspiration.

This session confronts the moral injuries educators experience when grading regimes, rankings, and surface-level equity rhetoric eclipse genuine justice and transformation. We will learn to name these wounds and ignite moral imagination so we can help co-create liberatory campus cultures that cultivate deep, meaningful, and sustainable learning.

In this interactive workshop we will explore the notion of learning sanctuary and imagine ways to engender such space within our courses.