Tag Archives: Teacher education

Module 3 Post 3 (Makoon’s Media Group)

As soon as you enter the Makoons Media Group site, they assert that … “THE MAKOONS MEDIA GROUP CREATES DIGITAL PROJECTS THAT MAKES SPACE FOR INDIGENOUS VOICES TO DISRUPT, INSPIRE & TRANSFORM THE WORLD AROUND US.”
The organization is both a content producer as well as a service provider for Indigenous communities. There goal is to create a digital story platform-space that gives voice for new expressions that expose settler culture and the decolonization practice.

As part of their work, they have constructed the portal Indian and Cowboy, which is a website that hosts numerous podcasts and resources for aspiring Indigenous media producers. The site encourages submissions or pitches from members. Below are direct links for some of the featured podcasts with brief explanations. However, I encourage you to check out all of the content. I have highlighted the three that I have been able to listen to.

Red Man Laughing

In this series, Host and comedian Ryan McMahon challenges the notion of reconciliation by arguing that before any reconciliation can happen decolonization must be the placed as the primary discourse for Indigenous communities.

“RED MAN LAUGHING – INDEPENDENT, FORWARD THINKING CONVERSATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS & PONTIFICATIONS ABOUT THE COLLISION BETWEEN INDIAN COUNTRY & THE MAINSTREAM.”

Stories from the Land

This series focuses on the connections, intersections and inseparability between Indigenous cultures and the land they collaborate with. The series also explores the philosophical difference between settler resource exploitation and Indigenous holism.

“STORIES FROM THE LAND ARTICULATES AND REINFORCES INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEW & INHERENT CONNECTION TO LAND VIA LIVE STORYTELLING EVENTS, LISTENER SUBMISSIONS AND SOUND RICH AUDIO DOCUMENTARY.”

Think Indigenous

In cooperation with the University of Saskatchewan, Indian and Cowboy have created this mini series for teacher education programs and practicing educators. The series explores the possibilities of Indigenous focused education efforts. The series features educators explaining their experience working with Indigenous youth and explores what they believe to be best practice.

Module 1 Weblog

I would like to focus my research on the instructional design of e-learning in higher education that incorporates the Indigenous experience and meets the needs of Indigenous learners. I tried to get resources specifically from higher education, but found one with K-12 resources:

Cape Breton University. (n.d.). MIKM 2701: Learning from Knowledge Keepers of Mi’kma’ki [Course Description].

This course answers calls from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into higher education curriculum) by sharing the “history, culture, and wisdom of Indigenous peoples in Mi’kma’ki and across Canada.” It is offered for-credit or for general interest to the public. Classes from the Winter 2016 offering were live webcasted and then archived online.

Indspire (n.d.). K-12 Institute: Successful Practices.

This Canadian Indigenous-led registered charity includes 1000 resources in their online resource centre for Indigenous education stakeholders. Proven practices in the form of research, models, frameworks and educational strategies are shared for K-12, across subjects, provinces, grade levels, topics (e.g., online learning, holistic learning practices) and Indigenous affiliations.

Koissaba, B.R. (2014). E-learning principles and practices in the context of Indigenous peoples: A comparative study. Cultural Survival Quarterly.

This article is published by Cultural Survival, an organization that “advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience” (Cultural Survival, n.d.). The article highlights cases of e-learning in Indigenous communities from Australia, Kenya and the United States, and includes recommendations to develop e-learning practices that better serve the needs Indigenous communities.

Reedy, A., Gulwa, H.W., Charles Darwin University, & Marmaruni School. (2016). Online learning and teacher education: The experiences of Indigenous teacher education students. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, 20, 40-51.

This article looks at the needs of Indigenous post-secondary students taking online courses in Australia. The data was collected through “yarning,” a conversational research method, and a research study into the experiences of Indigenous post-secondary students in order to inform the design of online learning environments.

The University of British Columbia. (2017, February 21). ‘The little MOOC that could’: Online course promotes Indigenous ways of knowing [Media Release].

This is a media release about a massive open online course (MOOC) that introduces participants to indigenous histories and worldviews and shares teaching tools on indigenous education. The third offering ran in Winter 2017 with 8,200 registrants (mostly educators), and the next offerings are slated for Fall 2017 and Winter 2018.