As teachers consider the ways that digital literacy needs are expanding because of the growth of Generative AI use among students, the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators proposes that drama and dance can provide gateways to making sense of this new world alongside students while keeping student well-being front and centre. By exploring themes related to the way Gen AI behaves and the role Gen AI takes in relation to human beings, students will build deeper understandings of the limits of AI and how important fluency is for engaging with AI in responsible, safe, and ethical ways.
Tessa Lofthouse (she/her) is an educator with experience in both elementary and secondary contexts whose practice focuses on social justice, anti-oppressive pedagogy, integrating subject areas and using the arts for liberatory education. Tessa is the current President of the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators, the writer of Western University’s revised Dramatic Arts AQ courses, has contributed to various writing projects and has presented in school boards across Ontario. In 2024, she was awarded an MEd from York University for writing a thesis about the Ontario French as a Second Language curriculum’s discourses of intercultural understanding.