Workshop:

portraitX: A Creative Model for Innovative, Tech-Enabled Experiential Learning

Nathalie Hazan, Raison d'art

portraitX is an award-winning digital art educational initiative designed to address the complex challenges youth face online.

This hands-on workshop introduces participants to an innovative model that integrates social-emotional learning (SEL) and experiential learning to foster healthy relationships and digital citizenship in grades 6–12. Participants will explore the portraitX app—co-developed over 5 years of research with students and educators in English-language school boards such as LBPSB, EMSB, organizations like LEARN, and universities like Concordia and McGill - as a tool for classroom-based experiential learning. Through curated Canadian artworks, participants engage in digital self-portraiture, creating media content, and exploring issues like stereotypes and online safety.

This session demonstrates how technology can be used meaningfully in education: not just to deliver content, but to deepen student SEL, creativity, and critical thinking. By blending media-making and digital literacies, portraitX offers a replicable model for fostering inclusive, future-ready classrooms. Educators will leave with accessible online tools, co-created media, and strategies for integrating this tech-forward approach into their own teaching practices—building resilient learning environments rooted in empathy, and innovation.