LIVE STREAM: November 18–20, 2026 | 8:30 AM–4:00 PM (Saskatoon, SK)
Please adjust your start time according to your specific time zone.
ON-DEMAND ACCESS: Recorded footage and course content, including certificate, videos and quiz, will be available until January 4, 2027. Please allow 3–10 business days for footage to be processed.
Extensions cannot be granted under any circumstances.
Day One — November 18, 2026
Navigating the Digital Future: AI, Wellbeing, and Human Connection
Presented by Lisa Porter, DCP, CCC, CCS
Artificial intelligence, social media, smartphones, and other digital technologies are transforming how people learn, communicate, work, form relationships, and seek support. For educators, clinicians, therapists, and allied health professionals, these changes present both exciting opportunities and complex challenges. Understanding how to respond effectively has become an essential professional competency.
This workshop explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital wellness, education, and mental health. Drawing on current research, real-world examples, and hands-on demonstrations, participants will examine how emerging technologies are reshaping learning, wellbeing, communication, and professional practice across educational and clinical settings.
Participants will explore practical applications of AI that can enhance accessibility, support individualized learning and intervention, streamline administrative tasks, and foster creativity and engagement. At the same time, the workshop will examine the broader impacts of technology on mental health and human development, including concerns related to attention, anxiety, social comparison, sleep, emotional regulation, online relationships, and digital dependency.
Key areas of focus:
- Practical applications of AI in educational and clinical settings
- Digital wellness, mental health, and human development
- AI companionship and changing help-seeking behaviours
- Academic integrity in the age of generative AI
- Privacy, data security, and ethical considerations
- Maintaining professional judgment and meaningful human connection
The workshop will also address emerging issues that are increasingly relevant to educators and clinicians, including AI companionship, changing help-seeking behaviours, academic integrity in the age of generative AI, privacy and data security, and the ethical implications of integrating AI into educational and therapeutic environments. Participants will critically examine both the promises and limitations of these technologies while considering how to maintain professional judgment, ethical practice, and meaningful human connection.
A balanced approach to technology
Rather than framing technology as something to embrace uncritically or resist entirely, this workshop encourages a balanced and thoughtful approach. Participants will explore strategies for helping children, adolescents, and adults engage with digital technologies in healthy, purposeful, and responsible ways while leveraging the benefits these tools can offer.
Through case studies, discussion, and practical applications, attendees will leave with concrete strategies, useful resources, and a deeper understanding of how AI and digital technologies are shaping the future of education, mental health, and human connection.
Day Two — November 19, 2026
Complex Kids, Simple Solutions: Tips for Managing Dysregulated Students
Presented by Jenny Demark, Ph.D., C. Psych.
Students with chronic self-regulation difficulties are some of the most complicated, challenging, and rewarding to work with. Complex Kids, Simple Solutions is an evidence-based framework that is guided by developmental psychology and the science of learning. It is not easy. But it is simple. And it’s based on three fundamental ideas: Prepare, Teach, and Motivate.
Whether the student has a diagnosis of ADHD, ASD, DMDD, ODD, or is just giving teachers a good run for their money, there are solutions. This workshop will explain how three fundamental ideas apply to almost any situation teachers may encounter, from the mundane to the meltdown, and how they are especially useful when working with dysregulated kids.
Three fundamental strategies:
- Prepare: Plan ahead, be strategic, pick the right battles, and set the stage for success.
- Teach: Identify and directly teach the skills students are lacking.
- Motivate: Use effective motivation strategies to strengthen skills and decrease unwanted behaviours.
Prepare
Prepare yourself and prepare your student. Plan ahead and be strategic. Pick the right battles upfront. Set the stage for success. One of the single best proactive strategies available to teachers is to spend Quality Time building and maintaining a strong connection with their student.
The second fundamental is to directly Teach students the skills they are lacking. Shifting away from a “bad behaviour” paradigm, this approach refocuses teachers to understand misbehaviour in terms of missing skills. Many challenges arise because a child does not have a specific skill, be it co-operation, accepting being told no, or waiting their turn.
Finally, the third fundamental is to Motivate. Motivation can be used to improve skills such as using manners, remaining in their seat, and co-operating with requests. It can also be used to decrease unwanted behaviours such as tantrums and defiance. Spoiler alert: this approach promotes the use of rewards over punishments to motivate children.
Day Three — November 20, 2026
The ADHD Toolkit: Strategies for Learning, Behaviour and Self-Regulation at Home, School, and Beyond
Presented by Tracy Whittaker-Taggart, M.A.
This engaging and practical workshop provides educators, clinicians, and caregivers with a deeper understanding of ADHD and the tools needed to support children and youth effectively. Participants will examine the neuroscience of ADHD, executive functioning, motivation, and emotional regulation before exploring practical strategies that promote success in classrooms, homes, and therapeutic settings.
Key areas of focus:
- Understanding the neuroscience of ADHD
- Executive functioning and its impact on everyday life
- Motivation and engagement
- Emotional regulation and self-regulation
- Strategies for improving attention, organization, and behaviour
- Supporting greater engagement and independence
Practical strategies you can use immediately
Designed to bridge research and practice, participants will leave with an extensive toolkit of realistic, evidence-informed strategies that can be applied immediately to improve attention, organization, behaviour, engagement, and independence.
