Let's Talk About GenAI: The FASTER Principles

In this session, participants will be provided with a summary of Let’s Talk About GenAI, FASTER conversations.  These were a series of webinars, hosted on tutela.ca, that provided the opportunity for adult language and settlement instructors across Canada to explore implications of generative GenAI tools through the lens of the Government of Canada’s ethical framework FASTER Principles. These involve considering Fair, Accountable, Secure, Transparent, Educated and Relevant principle., Each webinar session offered a safe and shared space to move beyond hype-driven fears toward thoughtful, practical understanding of how GenAI intersects with everyday instructional duties. Each FASTER workshop began with a short overview of the FASTER Principles and what each concept means in the context of language instruction. A relevant GenAI technical issue was clarified to enrich each conversation. These included how hallucinations happen, GenAI creates content, security can be enhanced with good practices. Participants then engaged in guided small group conversations, where they shared their current experiences, questions and concerns about using GenAI tools in lesson planning, assessment and materials creation. Through peer discussion exchanges, teachers considered issues including security, bias, accountability, safety, ethics and more.  The focus of the workshops was to build a shared understanding of the responsibilities of educators including ethical, pedagogical and professional considerations.  The facilitators of this session will share reflections and FASTER resources for the participants consideration with the possibility of the materials being repurposed and facilitated in Canadian LINC and ESL centres.