http://www.media-ecology.org

Media Ecology is an emerging field of study about media technology. According to Neil Postman, Media Ecology can be defined as an approach to research “media as environments”.

The term “ecology” in Media Ecology is not identical with “ecology” often emphasized in understanding of TEK. While being aware of the difference, it is interesting to see how Western media scholars appropriated the term “ecology” and launched a new approach to the media and technology.

Media ecology, which was established by Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman among others, understands media technology as an environment that re-defines human behavioral patterns. From this approach, the Internet is not simply a conduit, yet it in itself involves an epistemological, phenomenological, and informational shift; the Internet would bring about a new horizon of human cognition, intelligence, and behaviors, which can be compared with the emergence and dissemination of print culture in Western modernity (Carr, 2010).

Reference: N. Carr (2010). The Sallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, N.N.Norton.

Ky
Module 4: #4

Sugata Mitra’s new experiments in self-teaching
Video 1 (2008)
Video 2 (2010)

Education researcher Mitra’s experiment of children’s use of ICTs suggests that children can teach themselves with ICTs. Mitra has find education and learning a sort of “self-organizing system”. His claim has been tested in several case studies he is presenting in the these Ted lectures.

With regard to indigenous education and technology, I find Mitra’s project noteworthy and worrisome at the same time. It is noteworthy because of its claim that the provision of proper infrastructure can facilitate children’s agency in learning processes. However, it is also worrisome because, as presented in an example of Indian children quickly learning Western knowledge and British accent via ICTs, much dependence on ICTs can entail the rapid Westernization of local and indigenous children.

Ky
Module 4: #3

This article, published yesterday on CTV.ca, titled, “Native Children in Care Surpass Residential School Era” discusses the long term effects the residential schools have had on Native communities and the Canadian Child Welfare Program. The article mentions what we have all been discussing in the online vista boards, that the residential schools have severely damaged first nations communities – not just the people who were victims of the schools.

What’s interesting is that the article states that the residential school period was 1940 -50. Which is not entirely true – the last residential school closed down in 1996 (according to wikipedia)!

So what is Canadian Culture?

This article/ interview from the Globe and Mail, titled, “Canadian Culture: A category?” sums it up nicely:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/archives/article801204.ece

“So that’s Canadian culture; it doesn’t exist, it’s regional, and it’s multicultural or any combination of the three. In many ways it’s all of those things. It is a complex culture, shaped by all the cultures that form it. Maybe it’s this complexity that causes it to defy definition. Or maybe its complexity is its definition. Canadian culture means a different thing to everyone. Maybe that’s what it truly is; it’s whatever you see it to be.”

Northern Perspectives

The Parks Canada website offers visitors information about traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) and helps explain some fundamental differences between Western and Aboriginal worldviews relating to nature and history. As an example they cite Dene oral histories that track the migration of peoples resulting from volcanic eruptions. Using “western” scientific techniques these stories have been scientifically “proven”.

Parks Canada -Aboriginal vs. Western World Views

The site links to a number of  a articles in Northern Perspectives ( a publication of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee) that  further clarifies notions of traditional knowledge in contrast to western science.

An interesting comment in Martha Johnson’s article on Dene traditional knowledge mentions that western science is rooted in quantitative  analysis while aboriginal peoples value qualitative information.

Scollon’s Axehandle Academy Proposal was quite intriguing. Traditional western educational systems may work for some but how well do they serve those who live in remote areas? In addition, it is important yet logistically difficult to bring useful education to remote areas.

The University of the Arctic ( UArctic) uses Thematic Networks and e-Learning to provide focused learning opportunities through co-operative arrangements with universities, colleges and other agencies serving northern areas.

Thematic-based learning, in combination with knowledge sharing seems more empowering and useful than traditional distance education models that simply convey information that is likely difficult to meaningully “transfer” into regional environments.

Module 4’s theme of ecological knowledge centres around oral traditions and the importance of storytelling. We are also asked to consider the ecology of the natural world apart from the western scientific model.

The Debajehmujig (Debaj) Theatre Group’s (Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island) production Global Savages touched on several different themes from this course : stereotypes, globalization, and ecology … all through storytelling.

I watched this performance under the evening sky within the ruins of the St. Johns’s School for Boys. A place where residents were prevented from speaking their language and learning about their culture not so long ago.

The group told an alternative history of mankind dating back 18,000 years. The story of Turtle Island was quite localized (another theme) and rich with ecological references to nature and animals. The performance is aimed at helping others understand alternative perspectives, de-myth stereotypes and promote the need to care for our planet.

Global Savage is just one of many productions that the Debaj group has performed over the past 27 years. The newest is called Elders Gone AWOL!

Roots and Shoots

Module 4 has prompted us to consider Traditional Educational Knowledge (TEK). According to the Roots and Shoots website TEK is “knowledge that have been passed down for generations.  TEK involves the knowledge of one’s own environment that is gained through experiences, actions and interactions.”

Associated with the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, Roots and Shoots is funded by the Dept. of  Indian and Northern Affairs.

The goal of the program is to:

• Support youth in taking action on issues affecting people, animals and the environment.
• Mobilize youth to become more connected to their land, people and cultural identity.
• Empower First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth to make change in their communities.

One of the initiatives provides support for story telling initiatives (Wisdom Keepers and Storytellers Narrative Initiative) which encourages youth to become “messengers of the culture, spirituality and the environment of your community”. Some examples are the stories can be found at the Stories at Work section on the site.