Jess Mitchell
Toronto, ON, Canada
(dual citizen Canada and USA)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-2170
Research & Practice Interests:
Ethics > Pedagogy > Communities > Inclusive Design > Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Education:
Thomas Jefferson University
PhD Candidate, ABD, Department of Architecture & Design, SMARTlab.
Pedagogy of One: Designing an Inclusive Pedagogy That Prioritizes Individual Voice
A pedagogical approach aimed at elevating student voices and creating an environment for transformational learning.
2023-expected May 2025
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Master of Arts, Department of Philosophy.
Full fellowship. Modern Ethics, Social + Political Philosophy.
1997-1999
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.
Bachelor of Arts, Department of Philosophy,
Minor Political Science + Sociology
1993-1997
Academic Positions
OCAD University, School of Graduate Studies, Toronto, ON
Adjunct Professor in Inclusive Design (MDes) programme
2020-current
Courses
- The Difference: developing 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
- 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
2021-current
Courses
- Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments
- Distributed and Online Learning
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
Instructor, Faculty of Design
2019-2022
Courses
- Diversity and Inclusivity in Design
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Adjunct Professor, John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies
2005-2008
Courses
- Information Science + Information Studies (ISIS) interdisciplinary certificate. Capstone project-based course
- Structured course as a start-up organization where students planned and built a project.
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), MN, USA
Lecturer, Department of Philosophy
1997-1999
Courses
- Introduction to Philosophy,
- Logic,
- Political Philosophy,
- Ethics.
Student Supervision:
- OCAD University MDes students
2015 – present
- SPARC Fellow Mentor
2019
- Ontario High School Coop Students
2016, 2017, 2018
- Google Summer of Code (mentee won Google Women Tech Maker Scholarship award in Asia/Pacific)
2017-2018
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/2024/07/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, Jess. “Chapter 31: The Tyranny of “Clear” Thinking.” Open At the Margins. Published 2020. Consulted November 24, 2020. https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/
- Mitchell, J., and J. Treviranus. “Chapter 4 – Inclusive Design in Ecosystems A2 – Vimarlund, Vivian.” E-Health Two-Sided Markets. Academic Press, 2017. 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.
Self-Published Works:
- Can Trust be Built Online? A Journey Toward Creating Brave Spaces., Medium, January 25, 2023
- What is Co-Design?, Medium; August 16, 2021
- An Attempt to Disrupt Education (3 parts), Medium; March 16, 2021
- Binaries, boxes, the grid, and sorting—an exploration through habit, form, function, art, and philosophy, Medium; November 18, 2019
- ‘Open’ and ‘Inclusive’: what the heck are they?, Medium; July 3, 2019
- ‘Open’ and ‘Inclusive’: how we get both wrong, Medium; July 2, 2019
- Inclusive: What is it?, Medium; April 17, 2019.
- What will it look like and feel like to do Inclusive Design? To address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Medium; March 4, 2019.
- The Damage We Do: Assessment, Age of Awareness Medium; Feb 26, 2019.
- The Ethical Edges: What is Our Tolerance for Failure? Who are we Comfortable Leaving Behind?, Medium; Age of Awareness; Feb 7, 2019.
- Why This? Why Now?, Medium; Feb 5, 2019.
- The Tyranny of “Clear” Thinking, Age of Awareness Medium; Feb 5, 2019.
Editor & Reviewer:
- Designing with Sound, O’Reilly http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920051923.do (2018)
- Ontario Digital Service Digital Inclusion Research Fund project reviewer (2017)
Presentations:
Selected Keynotes:
- Open Oregon Keynote: Designing Education for Equity: Moving Beyond Inclusion 101, December 12, 2022.
- Experiences of Change in Teaching and Learning; McMaster University Innovations in Education Conference
December 9, 2022.
- Normal it Wasn’t: What could it look like to have equitable access to education? e-Campus TESS panel creator and moderator,
November 2022.
November 2022.
- CACUSS workshop pre-conference,
June 2021.
- Centennial College “Assessment Days”
April 2021.
- Moving beyond Talking and Planning to Doing. ProDev event Canada Life, online, October 30, 2020.
- eLearning in Libraries Symposium, 2019, Toronto Metropolitan U, Toronto; November 2019.
- Open Education in the Mitten: Michigan Community College Association OER meeting; Delta College, Bay City, Michigan;
October 2019.
- Louisiana LOUIS Users Conference (LUC); Baton Rouge, LA;
October 2019.
- Achieving the Dream coaching event; Louisville, KY;
October 2019.
- Inclusive Design in Education. Open Textbook Network Summer Institute,
July 25, 2019
- Cambrian College Inclusive Design. Sudbury,
May 2, 2019
- Inclusive. Creative Mornings, Toronto,
April 12, 2019
- How Do You Practice. Digital Pedagogy Lab Toronto, Toronto,
March 20, 2019
- The Revolution is Now. Brock University Open Education Week, St. Catharines
March 7, 2019
- Inclusive Design: Tools, technologies, and strategies. Centennial College, Scarborough
February 25, 2019
- Inclusive | Design |Education. Star Symposium,
February 8, 2019
- Inaugural meeting of #a11yHAM (Hamilton Accessibility MeetUp) Mohawk College, Hamilton,
January 24, 2019
- Curiosity, Stream of Consciousness, Critical Thinking, and Communities of Practice. ATI New Hampshire, Manchester, NH,
January 18, 2019
- The Ethical Edges We Build; University of Guelph Library speaker series,
November 30, 2018
- This New Thing: Inclusive Design: Leadership and Inclusive Design in a Changing Time. Gilbert + Tobin, Sydney, Australia,
November 7, 2018
- Tolerance for Failure: Open Education and its Ethical Edges. OpenEd Niagara, NY, October 10, 2018
- Nothing is Neutral: Inclusive Design Thinking, Healthcare Outcomes, and the Best Way to Open a Door. Sunnybrook healthcare conference,
June 20, 2018
- What You Measure is What You Value. Ted Rogers School of Management: Diversity and Inclusion in Corporate Leadership, Toronto,
June 12, 2018
- Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity: questioning, reflecting, disrupting; co-presented with Mark Campbell, PhD, Ontario Museums Association: Inclusive Museum Leadership Symposium; Toronto
March 23, 2018
Podcasts & Interviews:
- Gettin’ Air with Terry Greene by voiced Radio: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/gettin-air-with-terry-greene/id1357212504?mt=2
2018, 2019, and 2021
- Ken Bauer Ask the Flipped Learning Network: https://podcasts.flippedlearning.org/askthefln/podcast/episode-029-jess-mitchell/ May 22, 2019
- Deepak, Open Education Rising: How Can OER Be More Inclusive? https://openeducationrising.blubrry.net/episode-11-how-can-oer-be-more-inclusive/
2018
- CC-summit https://soundcloud.com/wearecc/jess-mitchell Interview from the “Humans of the Commons” podcast lounge at the Creative Commons 2018 Summit in Toronto, Ontario.
2018
2018
- Quantization: Episode Two, Gender: http://quantization.ca/podcast/episode-two-gender/
2016
Workshops, Consulting, and Facilitation:
- Macalester College, Open Pedagogy consultation including Keynote and open workshop with faculty
2023
- Google, lululemon, IKEA workshops and consulting on Inclusive Design and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
2021-2023
- CACUSS workshop pre-conference,
June 2021
- University of Alaska, Fairbanks faculty seminar in making distance education inclusive and accessible during COVID-19
2020
- Inclusive Design; Centennial College workshop;
February 2019
- OpenStax Workshop days Presentation, Houston;
April 2019
- Open Textbook Network – inclusive design in education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NVsebgx70
2018
- Curriculum Developers Affinity Group Back to Basics Conference, Inclusive Design in Curriculum
2018
- Centre for Inclusive Design (week-long training for team); Sydney, Australia, October 2018
- Royal Ontario Museum staff Inclusion workshop,
2018
- Ontario Public Service 5x workshops with various departments,
2018
- City of Toronto Museums & Heritage Services, Design Thinking workshop,
2018
- Southern University – inclusive design in Education
2018
- BC Campus – inclusive design Webinar Series https://video.bccampus.ca/media/Inclusive+Design+Webinar+Series+Part+1A+Inclusive+Design/0_vo0at97w
2018
- Mozilla, Diversity and Inclusion for Communities and Contributors: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Diversity_and_Inclusion_for_Communities_and_Contributors/DI_Call_09_04_2018
2018
- Rebus; Accessibility in Open Textbooks; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n_iXNWPZKk&t=2676s
2017
Other Relevant Experience
Senior Manager Research + Design
Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC), OCAD University; formerly the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto
2008-current
- 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.
Senior Project Manager
Office of Information Technology
Duke University, Durham, NC
2004-2008
- 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.
Volunteer Consultant
Geekcorps, Accra, Ghana, West Africa
2003-2004
- 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 March 8, 2019, at OCAD
2019
- DEEP conference co-coordinator https://deep.idrc.ocadu.ca/
2014-2019
Membership:
- OTESSA (Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association) Board Member
2019-current
- Founding Board Member of Association Name (English): Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA)
Equity Member since 2019
- 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
References:
Available when requested