Sessions and Workshops
Upcoming GenAI Workshops
Stay tuned for upcoming Winter 2026 programming!
We are currently planning our Winter 2026 sessions and workshops. New programming will be announced in December 2025.
Cogniti Virtual Tutor Programming
The University of Toronto is piloting Cogniti, a generative AI chatbot integrated directly within Quercus. Unlike general-purpose tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, Cogniti is tailored to your specific course content and designed to support student learning by responding to course-related questions.
Instructors participating in the University of Toronto’s AI Virtual Tutor initiative have access to dedicated sessions throughout December 2025:
- Introduction to Cogniti: Overview of features, capabilities, and integration
- Developing a System Prompt for Cogniti: Crafting effective instructions to guide the chatbot’s responses
- Including Your Own Resources in Cogniti: Uploading and managing course materials
For more details on how to participate, visit the AI Virtual Tutors page.
GenAI Reading Group
Connect with U of T faculty and staff exploring generative AI’s impact on teaching and learning through our monthly GenAI Reading Group. These sessions provide an opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussions about current research and perspectives on AI in higher education.
This reading group is part of the broader CTSI GenAI in Teaching and Learning Commons, a Microsoft Teams online community where you can share insights, access resources, and discuss current approaches and challenges related to generative AI in education.
Our reading group continues with its sixth session on Thursday, December 4, 12:00–1:00 pm ET (online). We will read “How University Students Work on Assessment Tasks with Generative Artificial Intelligence: Matters of Judgement” (Walton et al., 2025)
How To Participate
- Option 1: Register on EVE as a non-channel member, or
- Option 2: Join the Teams channel (Open Microsoft Teams → “Join or create a team” → “Join a team with a code” → Enter code: 5uztctq), then sign up directly in the channel
Previous Topics
- June: “Talk is Cheap: Why Structural Assessment Changes are Needed For a Time of GenAI” (Corbin, Dawson, & Liu, 2025)
- July: “Cut the Bullshit: Why GenAI Systems are Neither Collaborators nor Tutors” (Flenady & Sparrow, 2025)
- August: “The Memory Paradox: Why Our Brains Need Knowledge in an Age of AI” (Oakley et al., 2025)
- September: “The Wicked Problem of AI and Assessment” (Corbin et al., 2025)
- October: “Decremental Research in the GenAI era: Rethinking What Learning Means When Machines Do the Work” (Panadero & Broadbent, 2026)
GenAI Dialogue Series
Stay tuned for upcoming sessions!
Building on discussions from the GenAI Reading Group, this series grounds itself in practice-based learning and scholarship that values iterative, “work in progress” approaches – whether integrating AI into teaching or designing assessments that limit its use. These sessions translate insights from the literature into practice, inviting open dialogue on what’s working, what’s uncertain, and what we’re considering next.
Format (30 minutes):
- A faculty or staff member provides a short initial framing with a current insight or practice related to GenAI
- Open discussion and collaborative reflection on participants’ experiences
- Optional resource and artifact sharing throughout the session’s chat log
Past GenAI Workshops
These previous sessions provide insights into assessment design, AI literacy development, and practical strategies for integrating generative AI into teaching practice.
From Panic to Possibility: Rethinking and Redesigning Assignments in the Wake of Generative AI
As an instructor, it is hard to read about the impact of generative AI on teaching and learning in higher education and not wonder how we are going to respond, especially when we are told that many of our students are already using it. This workshop will help move you from panic mode to problem-solving: in consultation with workshop leaders and faculty peers, you will get a chance to rethink and redesign one of your assignments with a focus on learning objectives, possibilities, and constraints in our new context.
View recording (December 11,2023)
Download Slides (December 11 2023)
Approaching Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative AI
As part of CTSI’s Tune into Teaching Series, this collaborative workshop invites educators to reflect on their perspectives, questions, and approaches to academic integrity in the age of generative AI. First, we will discuss university guidelines on using detection tools, the procedure for addressing concerns of students’ unauthorized use of generative AI, and strategies to prohibit and prevent its use. Second, we will critically examine frameworks for incorporating generative AI into assessments, collaboratively exploring how instructors can design evaluations that foster knowledge and skill development, enhance AI literacy, and promote ethical decision-making. Third, we will discuss the disciplinary implications and challenges of integrating generative AI into assessments while promoting academic integrity.
Designing for Powerful Learning in the Age of GenAI Part 1: Rethinking Learning Outcomes in the Age of Generative AI
The rapid advancement of generative AI is poised to fundamentally transform the landscape of education and the future of work. As AI systems demonstrate increasing capabilities in knowledge synthesis, creative problem-solving, and efficient task completion, university instructors may wish to consider critically examining and adapting their course outcomes to better prepare students for a world where human-AI collaboration is becoming increasingly prevalent.
In this forward-thinking workshop, we will explore the potentially profound implications of generative AI on the evolution of human expertise, and how this may impact educational priorities. Through interactive discussions and thought-provoking exercises, instructors will be challenged to envision the future of their respective disciplines and professions in light of these technological advancements. We will collectively reimagine course-level learning outcomes, emphasizing the knowledge and skills that will empower students to thrive in an AI-connected world. By embedding AI literacy into course design, students will be encouraged to use generative AI tools responsibly, in the classroom and beyond.
Designing for Powerful Learning in the Age of GenAI Part 3: Designing Meaningful Learning Activities with Generative AI
As the third and final installment of this series, this workshop will explore how generative AI tools may be leveraged to offer new avenues for fostering meaningful learning and engagement. Inspired by James Lang’s “small teaching” approach, participants will examine actionable, incremental ways to create and modify learning activities, with the goal of cultivating critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Participants will consider how and when to incorporate generative AI into learning activities, so that AI literacy skill-building is introduced slowly and progressively, in alignment with comfort levels and learning goals. In addition, the session will explore ways to speak with students about generative AI capabilities, limitations, and risks, so that they have a clear understanding of what responsible AI use looks like in practice.
Throughout the workshop, participants will engage in hands-on exercises and explore disciplinary examples of integrating generative AI into classroom interactions. Instructors will consider the extent to which generative AI use in learning activities may support course-level learning outcomes, leading students to foster meaningful connections between the course content and their own lives.
View recording #1 (January 16, 2025)
View recording #2 (January 16, 2025)
View session slides (January 16, 2025)
Creative and Critical Thinking with Generative AI
Generative AI tools have the potential to be used as metacognitive partners, promoting deeper levels of divergent thinking, reflection, and analysis. In this online workshop, we will explore the implications of generative artificial intelligence on creative and critical thinking. The aim is to provide an overview of creative and critical thinking models that could be applied in your teaching and learning practice while exploring and critically evaluating how generative AI could enhance, extend, empower or hinder student creative and critical thinking.
Critically Engaging with AI Literacy in Teaching and Learning
As AI tools become increasingly prevalent in teaching and learning, it is crucial for educators to understand how to guide students in critically assessing and responsibly using these technologies. Join us for an engaging and insightful webinar focusing on the importance of developing AI literacy in a learning community, for both instructors and students.
This webinar is ideal for those in the U of T teaching and learning community across all disciplines who are interested in enhancing their own AI literacy skills and integrating AI literacy thoughtfully into their teaching practices.
Past GenAI Works in Progress Series
This CTSI/DLI series fosters open institutional conversation about generative AI in teaching and learning, creating space for experimentation, sharing, and problem-solving. These one-hour presentations allow presenters to share current questions, ideas, and works in progress with peers. Since we’re all still navigating GenAI, these sessions focus on exploring questions and challenges rather than showcasing definitive answers or best practices.
GenAI Works in Progress: Promoting Students’ GenAI Literacy through GenAI-Incorporated Assignments in Education Courses
This session aims to introduce how to design assignments that incorporate generative AI (GenAI) to promote students’ GenAI literacy—specifically, the effective, appropriate, and critical use of GenAI for teaching and learning. The session will share authentic example assignments from four courses within the education and language-teaching programs at UTM, where students critically engaged with GenAI technologies and developed and evaluated GenAI-incorporated tasks. Participants will explore best practices for integrating GenAI into their own curricula while gaining practical skills in using readily available GenAI technologies.
GenAI Works in Progress: Using Generative AI for Creative and Inclusive Assessments
In this cross-disciplinary panel, CTSI and 3 instructors from across the U of T teaching and learning community explore the integration of a variety of generative AI tools in the design and delivery of creative assessments. Drawing on their experiences and reflections, join us in a discussion that centres equity, diversity, and inclusion, and draws insights on how these advanced technologies can enhance pedagogical practices and foster welcoming learning environments.
View recording (November 21, 2024)
View session slides (November 21, 2024)
GenAI Works in Progress: Embracing Experimentation with Generative AI in Teaching and Learning
Join us for an engaging and interdisciplinary panel discussion focused on the theme of experimentation and fostering supportive environments for learning. Working with new, challenging material can invoke anxiety in students, hindering their ability to engage critically with material. As educators, we often face the dual challenge of embracing innovative technologies while managing the anxiety that accompanies their adoption in the learning process. This workshop aims to shift the narrative from anxiety to curiosity, encouraging students to foster a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation.
GenAI Works in Progress: Redefining Engagement - GenAI-Enabled Assessments in Higher Education
An insightful panel discussion that delves into the innovative use of Generative AI (GenAI) tools that showcase how these technologies can enhance student engagement, foster collaboration, and redefine traditional notions of learning and critical thinking.
Hear from instructors from Economics, Immunology and Molecular Genetics who have experimented with the integration of GenAI in the design of assignments, to support skill development and to enhance collaborative group work.
View recording (March 5, 2025)
View sessions slides (March 5, 2025)
GenAI Works in Progress: Generative AI in Action - Scaffolded Approaches in Health Sciences and STEM
Join us for an engaging panel discussion as part of our “Generative AI Works in Progress” series, showcasing innovative applications of generative AI in teaching and learning. This session will feature three U of T instructors from the Health Sciences and STEM disciplines who have successfully integrated generative AI into their curricula using scaffolded approaches.
View recording (April 1, 2025)
View session slides (April 1, 2025)
GenAI Works In Progress: Anatomy Unplugged - The Development and Impact of Our Chatbot for Supporting Active Learning
This session will take a behind the scenes look at the development of an anatomy course chatbot for occupational therapy students, focusing on how the AI tool has shaped the development of an educational research project. Using a podcast format, we will share the pearls and pitfalls of the undertaking and implementing a custom chatbot, highlighting its impact on student engagement and access to achieving course learning outcomes. In our discussion, participants will discover how to navigate this new technology, even with limited experience. The goal the session is to pique participant interest and enthusiasm in using chatbots to support active student learning.