https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oqx-EgGbE
Issues in Media Education: Technology is Not Neutral Case Study (Transcript)
By Brendan Clark
ETEC 531
Assignment 2: Media Production
University of British Columbia
Transcript:
Media education has come to be considered a core-competency in British Columbia Curriculum. Media educators are expected to teach students not only how to analyze and produce their own content, they must also gain the ability to understand and critique how media is used in society. The ability to understand and critique media is a challenging skill to teach, especially when considering the histories of media and education in Canada.
The economic implications of being connected and educated in media technology has made reliable high-speed connections a focus point of Aboriginal leaders located in remote locations and the Canadian government for decades, most communities have some form of connection, yet some still rely on low speed dial-up connections with limited functionality. Proponents of expanding and improving these connections have pointed out the value of communication technology in the preservation or First Nations oral histories and languages and the ability access services like education.
Some Aboriginal scholars and leaders have accepted that connections are a necessity, but they argue that some critical thought is needed to discuss how these changes could be reshaping communities. Studying an isolated community’s gradual adoption of connectivity could not only help highlight challenges of educators in these remote locations, it may also point out some important challenges that educators in multicultural centres may not typically consider.
The Sioux Lookout region of northwestern Ontario is home to some of the most remote First Nations communities of Canada. Many are fly-in only and transportation between communities can be challenging and expensive. Beginning in 1994, K-net was established and began providing communication technologies to isolated communities in the Sioux Lookout Region of Ontario. Starting with one computer and technician per community, the network grew to provide each school with computers and subsequently created multiple jobs in the region. More recently, social media, primarily Facebook became available in the area and according to a 2014 report, became the most used form of digital communication by K-net users.. This case shows how complex the notion of “analyzing and critiquing” how media is used society can be.
Issues include: The potential for increased technology to shift traditional forms education towards more “western” forms of pedagogy which have ties to specific values and costs. Do these shifts cause learners to lose the benefits an holistic and experiential approach, common in Aboriginal education? And does new technology mean more individualistic, screen time learning, which is influenced by the powers of capitalism?
The issue of acknowledging the history of Canadian policy aimed at annihilating aboriginal culture through Residential Schools. For many, trauma can be a limiting educational factor. Holistic approaches have been seen to help heal trauma and promote learning that computer centred learning cannot.
Also, the inappropriate use of Native imagery in the North American mainstream and the potential to flood remote communities with more english and french culture
The 2014 report was based on a survey of 663 Knet users. Findings from the survey begin to shed light on some media issues. The Sioux region survey showed that more online communication did not mean less travelling to visit nearby or distant contacts. In fact, the opposite occurred, an increased use in digital communication also meant an increase in face-to-face communication; which could suggest that drawback of increased individualism could be avoided in education. Respondents also explained that users consumed more local and regional culture with the introduction of social media. Knet customers explained that they used social media to share art, music and news, casting some doubt on the theory that connectivity would threaten local culture. However, many respondents also pointed out their reliance on Knet homepages that promoted local content, and many explained that they could use more support. The report suggested that increased connectivity has generally been viewed as positive, but more technology has also typically meant, more needs.
The First Mile, a Canadian Non-profit organization that focuses on building local broadband networks in remote areas, argues that the unique needs of Aboriginal communities, and the history of paternal government infrastructure agreements, means that community ownership and control are important to support these needs. However, community ownership does not address some of the other important challenges present in the Sioux Lookout case study. Educators who teach in remote Aboriginal communities will have to consider these complex issues when designing learning that involves new technologies. Media educators who already teach in environments immersed in media technology may need to reflect on their own teaching and ask how relevant the challenges of remote Aboriginal communities are in their own educational environments. Should holistic and experiential teaching pedagogy be incorporated into all media education? If so, how would this look?
References
Bazalgette, C. (1992). Key aspects of media education. In M. Alvarado & O. Boyd-Barrett (Eds.), Media Education: An introduction (pp. 199-219). London: Open University Press. (in Library Course Reserves)
Beaton, B. (1998). Connecting Remote First Nations to the Internet. Exploring What Works and Why Conference, University of Guelph, Oct 26-27.
Bowers, C. A., Vasquez, M., & Roaf, M. (2000). Native people and the challenge of computers: Reservation schools, individualism, and consumerism. American Indian Quarterly, 24(2), 182-199.
George, N. P. (2003). The rainbow/holistic approach to aboriginal literacy. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 27(1), 29.
Molyneaux, H., O’Donnell, S., Kakekaspan, C., Walmark, B., Budka, P., & Gibson, K. (2014). Social media in remote first nation communities. Canadian Journal of Communication, 39(2), 275.
Mr, R. M., Dr, S. O., Dr, R. S., Walmark, B., Beaton, B., & Dr, J. S. (2011). Digital divides and the ‘first mile’: Framing first nations broadband development in canada. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2(2), 2.
National Aboriginal Health Organization (2008) Internet Connectivity Among Aboriginal Communities in Canada, 1-5.
Pungente, J. & O’Malley, M. (1999). More than meets the eye: Watching television watching us. New York: Martin McClelland & Stewart. (http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/canadas-key-concepts-media-literacy)
UNESCO (1999). Educating for the Media and the Digital Age Conference. pp. 263-274
Images
BC Core Competencies [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies
Communication – By Davidbravoortiz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Computer Lab – By PurchY0 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Cultural Sharing Day [Digital image]. (n.d.) Nehmotl Community News, January 2016, p13.
First Voices Homepage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30.2016 from http://www.firstvoices.com/en/home
Internet chart – By Jeff Ogden (W163) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18972898
Inuit map -By Asybaris01 (File:Inuktitut_dialect_map.png) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147033
Knet About Us Webpage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://knet.ca/about_us
Lac Seul First Nation Webpage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from – http://lacseul.firstnation.ca/
Online learning – By Oconnoras (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Not your mascots – By Fibonacci Blue [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Nanook – By Robert J. Flannery / Pathe Pictures [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Residential School – By Unknown – Photograph of the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, Algoma University Archives, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29214301
Social media – By Ibrahim.ID [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Music
Bensound Sweet [Music]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from Bensound.com