Jess Mitchell
Toronto, ON, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-2170
(citizen Canada and USA) https://jesshmitchell.com
EDUCATION
PhD, Department of Architecture & Design, SMARTlab, May 2025 expected
Thomas Jefferson University
Thesis: Pedagogy of One: Engaging the ‘missing middle’ with an inclusive design approach
An applied ethic demonstrated as a pedagogical approach aimed at elevating student voices and creating an environment for transformational learning.
Committee: Kihong Ku (Chair), Lizbeth Goodman, Chris Pastore, Bonnie Stewart
Master of Arts, Philosophy, May 1999
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Full fellowship. Modern Ethics, Social + Political Philosophy.
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, May 1997
Tulane University
Minor Political Science + Sociology
SCHOLARLY INTERESTS
Ethics; Pedagogy; Inclusive Design; Community; Diversity; Equity; Inclusion; and Accessibility
UNIVERSITY TEACHING
OCAD University, School of Graduate Studies, Toronto, ON
Adjunct Professor in Inclusive Design (MDes) programme
The Difference 2022–present
Building an inclusive design practice. Developing a pedagogical practice that blends Philosophy, Psychology, Design, Disability Studies, Sociology, Education, etc. Focusing class topics on design for inclusion through diversity and equity. Maintaining an emphasis on ethics.
Inclusive Art, Design & Community 2024
Explore communities that form, grow, change, and end over history. Examine controversies in Art and Museum practices. Learn how to conduct co-design and critique it. Form a community of practice.
University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Instructor, Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum, and Instruction
Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments (asynchronous) 2021–2024
Distributed + Online Learning Open Ed, Open Data, Open Tech, Open Pedagogy 2024
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
Instructor, Faculty of Design
Diversity and Inclusivity in Design Introductory undergraduate elective course. 2019–2022
Duke University, Durham, NC
Adjunct Professor, John Hope Franklin Center for Information Science + Studies (ISS)
ISS Interdisciplinary certificate. Capstone project-based course. Structured course as a start-up organization where students planned and built a project: a digital game 2005
ISS SketchUp 3D tour of campus for Freshmen. 2006
ISS Digital sign design and posting service. 2007
ISS The online campus map. 2008
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), MN
Lecturer, Department of Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophy 1997
Logic 1998
Political Philosophy 1999
Ethics 1999
STUDENT SUPERVISION
OCAD University MDes students 2015–present
SPARC Fellow Mentor 2019
Ontario High School Coop Students 2016–2018
Google Summer of Code 2017–2018
(mentee won Google Women Tech Maker Scholarship award in Asia/Pacific)
PUBLICATIONS
Mitchell, J., Lo, L., Scheuhammer, J., Treviranus, J., Spence, R. (2024). Framework for Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education. eCampus Ontario. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/item-details/#/3e12459e-1d24-4f1b-b12a-a00cd6dfd25c?k=ai%20in%20education&itemTypes=6&itemTypes=12&sortCol=2&increasePopularSearch=true
Mitchell, J. (November 2023). A Novel Inclusive Design Framework for Contributing to an Inclusive, Open Pedagogy. In M. Nix (Ed.), AMPS Proceedings Series 36.2: Teaching beyond the curriculum: A focus on pedagogy 2023 (pp. 57-63). AMPS (Architecture Media Politics Society). https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Amps-Proceedings_Series_36.2.pdf
Mitchell, J. (2023). What is Co-design? Design for All Institute of India Journal, 18(7), 9-17.
Killam, L., Chumbley, L., Kohonen, S., Stauffer , J., & Mitchell, J. (2023). Co-Creation During a Course: A Critical Reflection on Opportunities for Co-Learning. The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Journal, 3(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2023.3.1.43
Killam, L., & Mitchell, J. (2022, April). A Critical Examination of Learner-Educator Co-Creation Within a Course. In The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Conference.
Learning to be Human Together. Published February 28, 2022. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/onhumanlearn/
Mitchell, J. (2022, January 7). An attempt to disrupt education – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-6c743efb2df0
Mitchell, J. (2021, December 24). An Attempt to Disrupt Education (part 2) – Age of Awareness – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-part-2-7a6261fbd81c
Mitchell, J. (2021, December 24). An attempt to disrupt education – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-cc44e64bce7
Mitchell, J. (2021, December 8). The damage we do: assessment – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-damage-we-do-assessment-ff7c1e3fae88
Mitchell, J. (2020). “Chapter 31: The Tyranny of “Clear” Thinking.” Open At the Margins. https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/
Mitchell, J. (2021, December 7). The Ethical Edges: What is Our Tolerance for Failure? Who are we Comfortable Leaving Behind? Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-ethical-edges-what-is-our-tolerance-for-failure-who-are-we-comfortable-leaving-behind-9214d380772a
Mitchell, J., and J. Treviranus. (2017) “Chapter 4 – Inclusive Design in Ecosystems A2 – Vimarlund, Vivian.” E-Health Two-Sided Markets. Academic Press, 43–61. Web.
Clark, C., Mitchell, J., Shahi, S., Stolarick, K., Trevinarus, J., Vanderheiden, G., & Vimarlund, V. (2017). “Use Model for a User Centred Design in Multidisciplinary Teams.” Studies in health technology and informatics, 242, (pp. 1063-1066).
Shahi, S., J Mitchell, D Ayotte. D103.1 Foundational Design for Prosperity4All. Prosperity4All EU project, FP7-610510, 2016.
Mitchell, J., K Stolarick, S Shahi, V Vimarlund. D404. 1 Prosperity4All prosperity indicators, data analytics and usage metrics design and modelling tools. Prosperity4All EU project, FP7-610510, 2016.
Cheetham, A., Ayotte, D., Hung, J., Vass, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J. & Treviranus, J. (2014) Accessible Metadata Generation. Springer International Publishing, 101-110.
Treviranus, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., & Vanderheiden, G. C. (2014). “Prosperity4All–Designing a Multi-Stakeholder Network for Economic Inclusion.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and Accessibility Practice (pp. 453-461). Springer International Publishing.
Treviranus, J., Mitchell, J., Clark, C., & Roberts, V. (2014). “An Introduction to the FLOE Project.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Universal Access to Information and Knowledge (pp. 454-465). Springer International Publishing.
Schwerdtfeger, R., Vanderheiden, G. C., Treviranus, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., Petrides, L., & Brennan, M. (2014). “PGA: Preferences for Global Access.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and Accessibility Practice (pp. 325-336). Springer International Publishing.
Cheetham, A., Ayotte, D., Hung, J., Vass, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., & Treviranus, J. (2014). “Accessible Metadata Generation.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Universal Access to Information and Knowledge (pp. 101-110). Springer International Publishing.
EDITOR and REVIEWER
Case, A., & Day, A. (2018). Designing with sound: Fundamentals for products and services. O’Reilly Media.
Ontario Digital Service Digital Inclusion Research Fund project reviewer 2017
INVITED PRESENTATIONS (SELECTED)
Keynotes
Open Oregon 2022
Designing Education for Equity: Moving Beyond Inclusion 101
e-Campus TESS panel creator and moderator 2022
Normal it Wasn’t: What could it look like to have equitable access to education?
CACUSS workshop pre-conference 2021
ProDev event Canada Life, online 2020
Moving beyond Talking and Planning to Doing.
Toronto Metropolitan U, Toronto 2019
eLearning in Libraries Symposium
Michigan Community College Association OER meeting; Delta College, MI 2019
Open Education in the Mitten
Louisiana LOUIS Users Conference (LUC); Baton Rouge, LA 2019
Achieving the Dream coaching event; Louisville, KY 2019
Open Textbook Network Summer Institute, 2019
Inclusive Design in Education.
Creative Mornings, Toronto, 2019
Inclusive.
Digital Pedagogy Lab, Toronto 2019
How Do You Practice.
Brock University Open Education Week, St. Catharines 2019
The Revolution is Now.
ATI New Hampshire, Manchester, NH, 2019
Curiosity, Stream of Consciousness, Critical Thinking, and Communities of Practice.
Gilbert + Tobin, Sydney, Australia 2018
This New Thing: Inclusive Design: Leadership and Inclusive Design in a Changing Time.
OpenEd Niagara, NY 2018
Tolerance for Failure: Open Education and its Ethical Edges.
Sunnybrook healthcare conference 2018
Nothing is Neutral: Inclusive Design Thinking, Healthcare Outcomes, and the
Best Way to Open a Door.
Ted Rogers School of Management 2018
Diversity and Inclusion in Corporate Leadership
What You Measure is What You Value.
Ontario Museums Association: Inclusive Museum Leadership Symposium 2018
Co-presented with Mark Campbell, PhD,
Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity: questioning, reflecting, disrupting;
Podcasts & Interviews:
Gettin’ Air with Terry Greene by voiced Radio 2018, ’19, ‘21
Ask the Flipped Learning Network 2019
Open Ed Rising: How Can OER Be More Inclusive? 2019
CC Humans of the Commons 2018
EdSurge 2018
Quantization: Episode Two, Gender 2016
WORKSHOPS, CONSULTING, and FACILITATION:
Macalester College, 2023
Open Pedagogy consultation including Keynote and open workshop with faculty
Google, lululemon, IKEA 2021–2023
Workshops and consulting on Inclusive Design and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
CACUSS workshop pre-conference, 2021
University of Alaska, Fairbanks 2020
Faculty seminar in making distance education inclusive and accessible during COVID-19
Centennial College workshop; 2019
Inclusive Design
OpenStax Workshop days Presentation, Houston; 2019
Open Textbook Network 2018
Inclusive Design in Education https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NVsebgx70
Centre for Inclusive Design, Sydney, Australia 2018
Week-long training for team
Royal Ontario Museum 2018
Staff Inclusion workshop
Ontario Public Service 5x workshops with various Departments 2018
BC Campus 2018
Inclusive design Webinar Series https://video.bccampus.ca/media/Inclusive+Design+Webinar+Series+Part+1A+Inclusive+Design/0_vo0at97w
Mozilla 2018
Diversity and Inclusion for Communities and Contributors: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Diversity_and_Inclusion_for_Communities_and_Contributors/DI_Call_09_04_2018
Rebus 2017
Accessibility in Open Textbooks; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n_iXNWPZKk&t=2676s
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC), OCAD University; 2008–current
formerly the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto
Senior Manager Research + Design
Lead education: executive, conduct workshops, perform long-term consultations, and facilitate groups in inclusion, innovation, and diversity (across education, government, industry, and non-profit partners). Manage multi-year projects with budgets from $300,000 – $10 million. Manage community, open-source projects: Fluid Project, Infusion, Floe Project, Inclusive Design Institute, and more. Write grant proposals, research reports, policies, and standards.
Office of Information Technology, Duke University 2004–2008
Senior Project Manager
Directed innovative and strategic projects centrally. Catalyzed groups of technologists and faculty to discover, plan, build, implement, and support high-impact projects while managing a $1 million budget. Built infrastructure, planned, purchased, and worked with vendors to support the Duke Digital Initiative, including iPods in the classroom, HD cameras, podcasts, and blogs.
Led the creation of Apple’s iTunes U. Created 1st year movie-making event called Froshlife.
Brought together technical and non-technical groups around the University and the Durham community to achieve collaborative, innovative technology solutions while changing University policy and culture along the way. Created partnership with Youth Document Durham, a program of the Duke Center for Documentary Studies.
Geekcorps, Accra, Ghana, West Africa 2003–2004
Volunteer Consultant
Built the Ghana Internet Exchange Point, a L-2 switching device that allows local traffic in Ghana to bypass expensive international bandwidth and stay local, saving the ISPs and NSPs money and building a national “web.”
Established the Ghana Internet Exchange Association (GIXA) and then built membership to over 20 ISPs and NSPs.
Built collaborations among Ghana’s private and public sectors, telecommunications regulator, government ministry, and international aid agencies.
Procured $100,000 worth of equipment and resources as donations from Cisco, Intel, Motorola, Siemens, and community members. The project included a 60-meter mast, 360˚ wireless antennae, switch, wiring, switch closet, air conditioner, backup power, monitoring plan, policies for members, etc.
Secured a location for the exchange at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT – at no cost, and in perpetuity.
Wrote a strategy with the Government of Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Communications and Technology for the highly politicized transition of the country code top-level domain, ccTLD, to a non-profit group of stakeholders who broadly represented Internet interests in Ghana.
Worked to stabilize and develop the Ghana Internet Service Provider Association (GISPA). Grew association membership and helped members work together toward common interests.
Helped GISPA develop a common voice on policy and lobbying issues, resulting in the monopoly Telco lowering prices for and reselling connections to the SAT-3/WASC fibre.
SERVICE
Event Coordination:
Guerrilla Education! A Very Hands-On Open Education Week Event OCAD 2019
DEEP conference co-coordinator https://deep.idrc.ocadu.ca/ 2014–2019
Membership:
Founding Board Member of Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA). Equity Member 2019–current
AACU (American Association of Colleges and Universities) Institute on Open Educational Resources Faculty Advisor 2022–2024
Rebus Ink scholarly research and publishing group Advisory Board Member 2019–2022
THUNDER Indigifest Volunteer 2021