Lesley Wilton
Dr. Lesley Wilton, OCT, is an Assistant Professor (CLT), Teaching Stream in the Faculty of Education at York University and serves on the Tenure Stream Appointment Committee (TSAC).
Her research and teaching interests include issues and practices of integrating technology into teaching, issues in literacy, constructivist and CMC perspectives on the design of online learning environments, blended learning, foundational pre-service and research courses, and artificial intelligence in education. Her MEd research (York University) examined pre-service students’ perceptions of the concepts of digital literacy. She completed her PhD research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)/University of Toronto, where she studied social practices and new literacies in online learning. She co-chaired the Best Paper Awards Committee of the Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group (OTL SIG) at AERA for many years. She recently contributed to and co-edited the Handbook of Research on Online Discussion-Based Teaching Methods (2020) and has authored a number of peer-reviewed papers such as “Quiet Participation: Investigating non-posting activities in online learning” in the Online Learning Journal (2019). She has served as an invited reviewer for many publications such as a Communication Studies special issue on Understanding Each Other when Communicating in Emerging Technology. She is currently writing a chapter for a multi-institutional eCampus book on online teaching and learning to be published in 2022. She is a long-time member of the Pepper research group and the Encore Lab. She has often presented at AERA, CSSE, Saltise and the Literacy Research Association (LRA). She is a member of the International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society and is interested in this area of research. She developed and teaches one of the few courses in this important area. She joins the call for more educators to publish research on issues of AIED. She can be followed @LesleyWilton on Twitter.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto (2017)
M.Ed, York University
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Mississauga, ON (1996)
Publications
Wilton, L., & Brett, C. (Eds.). (2020). Handbook of Research on Online Discussion-Based Teaching Methods. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Wilton, L., Khan, R., Brett, C. & Alexander, P. (2020). Private Interactions in Online Learning Discussions: Instructor perspectives. In Wilton, L., & Brett, C. (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Online Discussion-Based Teaching Methods. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Wilton, L. (2020). New literacies, social practices and active learning in e-discussions. Conference Proceedings of the 9th Annual Saltise Conference.
Wilton, L., Theodore, A., & Vocino, J. (2020). Chapter 5 – Balancing the 4 Frames: Kindergarten and Remote Teaching. In Kay, R. (Ed)., Thriving in an Online World: For Busy K-12 Educators, pp. 35-47.
Wilton, L. (2019). Quiet Participation: Investigating non-posting activities in online learning. Online Learning Journal, 22(4).
Wilton, L., & Brett, C. (2018). Beyond apps: Unpacking Perceptions of TPACK and Global Competencies in Pre-service Education. In Niess, M. L., Angeli, C. & Gillow-Wiles, H. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on TPACK in the Digital Age. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Wilton, L. (2017). The Three Rs of Online Learning: Interpretive Views of the Social Practices of Reading, Rereading and Revisiting. (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Toronto, ON, TSpace.
Presentations
Wilton, L. (Feb. 11, 2022). AI Literacy – An Important Conversation. Invited speaker, SMT Centre, OISE, University of Toronto.
Wilton, L. (Oct. 21, 2021). Artificial Education in Education, What Counts? Invited speaker, University of Minnesota.
Wilton, L. (June 2, 2021) New literacies, social practices and active learning in e-discussions. Roundtable presented in online format at 10th Annual Saltise Conference.
Carvalho, R., Raman, P., Boldyreva, E., Ndubuisi, A., Burron, G., Zhang, X., Ghasempour, E., Wilton, L., & Slotta, J. (June 2021). Designing a Global Community of Critical Action Educators. ISLS Annual Meeting, 2021.
Wilton, L., Stodolak, M., & Brittain, P. (Dec. 9, 2020). AI is here. Have some fear? 5 assurances to allieviate and educate you on the potential of artificial intelligence in K-12 education. The Learning & Training Conference, 2020, Education Session in the K-12 Stream.
Wilton, L. (December 2019). Towards an Understanding of New Literacies and Social Practices in Online Learning. Paper presented at Literacy Research Association’s (LRA) 69th Annual Conference, Tampa, FL. Nov. 29-Dec.2.
Wilton, L., Brett, C., & Hewitt, J. (April 2019). Finding Balance: Pre-Service and non-Pre-Service Students’ Online Course Participation Patterns. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Wilton, L., & Brett, C. Why Reading and Rereading Matters. (October 2018), members of a panel discussion: The Conversation is Online: Characteristics of Successful Online Graduate Courses and the Pedagogy that Support the Conversation. Online Learning 2018. Online Learning 2018, Toronto, Ontario.
