Keynote & Featured Speakers
Date TBA
Teaching to Transgress…The Algorithm: Resisting, Revising, and Reimagining Inequitable AI Systems in Education
Tiera Tanksley, University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract: Since the high-profile release of ChatGPT in 2022, the desire to leverage the power of AI to transform teaching and learning has hit a fever pitch. Believed by many as the “silver bullet” that will bring an end to educational inequality, AI technologies continue to proliferate within college classrooms and across campuses, promising to bolster academic achievement, spark student engagement and ensure campus safety all while lessening the workload of overworked and systemically underpaid faculty and staff. However, as research is beginning to show that many of the AI technologies being used in and designed for institutions of learning are rife with algorithmic biases that threaten to exacerbate – rather than remediate – educational inequity for historically marginalized students. In this presentation, I will discuss the challenges, critiques, and calls to action that currently permeate the field of education concerning AI, and highlight how an explicit focus on justice and educational equity within the design, procurement, use and teaching of AI technologies can produce transformative changes for teaching and learning. I simultaneously center the technological innovations of Black youth that participate in the Race, Abolition and Artificial Intelligence program, and in doing so showcase how we can collectively reimagine, rebuild and even refuse anti-Black AI systems within education.
Bio: Dr. Tiera Tanksley is a Senior Research Scientist whose work examines the socioemotional, mental health and academic impacts of digital and artificially intelligent technologies on Black youth. Her scholarship, which theorizes a critical race technology theory (CRTT) in education, examines anti-Blackness as the “default setting” of schools and school-based technologies. Her work simultaneously recognizes Black youth as digital activists and civic agitators, and examines the complex ways they subvert, resist, and rewrite racially biased technologies to produce more-just and joyous digital experiences for Communities of Color across the diaspora. In 2020, Dr. Tanksley founded the Race, Abolition and Artificial Intelligence summer program – a critical science and technology program that prepares young people to have more critical, agentic and algorithmically-conscious relationships with digital technologies that exist within and beyond the educational setting. In 2025, she was awarded an AI in Education research grant from the Spencer Foundation.
Date TBA
Advancing Creative Technologies Education in a Generative AI World
Matt Bower, Macquarie University, Australia
Abstract: Will generative AI lead to the advancement or demise of creative technologies education? There are a range of ways that design tasks involving technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, multimedia, robotics, 3D fabrication technologies and so on can be used to advance the creativity of students. At the same time, the power of generative AI to produce creative outputs based on simple natural language prompts is increasing exponentially. This begs the question, is it still important to develop student creativity using technology? In this keynote, Professor Bower will unpack current research and state-of-the-art relating to creative technologies education alongside research and innovations relating to AI and learning. Based on this research and the evolving technological landscape, he will challenge the audience to contemplate whether and why developing creativity is or is not important, and the implications of the for teaching creativity using technology. Concluding reflections will posit the purpose of education and the role of teachers in an increasingly AI world.
Bio: Matt Bower is a Professor of Educational Technology in the School of Education at Macquarie University. His work focuses on how generative Artificial Intelligence and other contemporary technologies can be used to improve learning outcomes and foster creativity. He has published over one hundred peer-reviewed research papers and is ranked in the top 1% of most cited educational researchers in the world according to Elsevier-Stanford Top Scientists list. Matt was Chair of the Australian Technologies Teacher Educators Network from 2019-2024 and has won multiple national and international awards for his research and teaching. He is also heavily engaged with government, industry and policymaking, for instance, through his work with the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and contributions to the Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools.
Thursday, March 26
Education in the AI Era
Jennie Magiera, Global Head of Education Impact, Google, US
Abstract: This talk will offer insights into the deliberate, responsible, and impactful integration of AI into teacher preparation programs and the broader work of educators. Jennie will explore how attendees can leverage AI to equip future and practicing educators with essential skills for a technologically advanced educational landscape, covering topics from future workforce considerations to the nuances of AI literacy.
Bio: Jennie Magiera is the Global Head of Education Impact at Google, the Corwin bestselling author of Courageous Edventures and the founder of the non-profit organization, Our Voice Alliance, whose mission is to elevate marginalized voices and perspectives to improve equity & empathy in education. She also serves on the board of Saga Education. Previously, she was the Chief Program Officer for an edtech company, the Chief Innovation Officer for the Des Plaines School District, the Digital Learning Coordinator for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, and a Chicago Public Schools teacher. Jennie uses her classroom experiences to inform her work supporting educators to create new and better opportunities for their students. She believes that despite the many challenges facing schools today, every classroom can be a place for “edventures”: student-centered, passion-based experiential learning.
Jennie is also passionate about reimagining professional learning to facilitate more relevant teacher support. She has served on the Technical Working Group for the US Department of Education’s National Educational Technology Plan, helped develop the Dynamic Learning Project, and co-founded various conference concepts such as PLAYDATE and Teachers for Tomorrow. She has been recognized for her work as an Obama White House Champion for Change, Chicago Public Schools Innovator of the Year, TEDx Speaker, Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction, ISTE Impact Award Winner, SheRunsIt Working Mothers of the Year, and featured on various programs such as NBC’s Education Nation, C-SPAN’s Reimagining Education and NPR.
Jennie shares her experiences taking risks in the classroom and helping others to feel comfortable doing the same in her book, Courageous Edventures. You can follow her on Twitter at @MsMagiera and learn more about her work and her book at bit.ly/edventuresbook.
Jennie is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and has earned a BA in psychology and history from Columbia University and a MS from University of Illinois at Chicago in Mathematics Education.
Friday, March 27
Empowerment, Connection, and Support: Powerful Leadership for Navigating Seismic Change in Technology and Teacher Education
Jason Trumble, SITE President-Elect, University of Central Arkansas, US
Abstract: We are in a time when seismic shifts seem to happen day-by-day and moment-by-moment. In this final keynote at SITE 2026, we will explore how SITE can lead during this time of change by leveraging our organizational strengths to impact future teachers and future generations of learners. Jason will propose that empowerment, connection, and support serve as the foundation of our collective power as we tackle the grand challenges of this moment. By navigating profound change and demonstrating powerful leadership, SITE has the opportunity to solidify our relevance and amplify our influence.
Bio: Dr. Jason Trumble is an Associate Professor of Education and Interim Associate Dean at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the President-Elect of SITE and has served in various SITE leadership positions for over a decade. Dr. Trumble’s research examines the connections between teaching and technology, with a focus on STEM development, teacher education, assessment practices, and emerging technologies. He is an ISTE Certified Educator and has published a variety of works, including the co-edited volume Exploring New Horizons: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Teacher Education.
