Tag Archives: Place based learning

M4: P4 – Snap Inc.’s Spectacles

Here’s another non-Indigenous product that, in my opinion, would prove useful for connecting Indigenous knowledge to the land. This product is called Spectacles and was created by Snap Inc. According to Snap Inc.’s website, “Snap Inc. is a camera company.” However, they dabble in social media through its parent company, Snapchat. Regardless of the origin story, Snap offers a new version of Spectacles that claim to be a “pair of glasses that bring augmented reality to life”. 

Photo: Snap

Spectacles take augmented reality (AR) that is normally experienced through a handheld device, to the user’s eyes in what could be considered immersive AR. Not only are they immersive, but the user can now experience AR hands-free because the device is worn as a set of eyeglasses with controls on the side. You have seen these sorts of glasses in movies such as Iron Man (2008), to Minority Report (2002), and if you want to stretch, Predator (1987). Many, if not all, of the FAAMG big tech companies are trying their hands at this technology, but have yet to do it right. It may be some years yet, but something to consider to augment AR.

Image: SnapImage: Snap

M4, E2: For-Credit Summer Camp

Module 4: Ecological Issues in Indigenous Education and Technology

Entry 2: For-Credit Summer Camp

I am currently searching for concrete examples of Indigenous STEAM opportunities for students that will directly inform my final project. Much of what I have found encourages the use of place based education and promotes hands-on learning to engage, excite, and inspire students to choose careers in STEAM. This study provided recommendations to reduce barriers to STEAM education such as involving families and adopting more of a summer camp model when approaching the teaching of STEAM classes.  The authors found that challenges in K-12 STEAM education “include lack of capacity by teachers, lack of relevant curricula, lack of adequate facilities, and, most fundamentally, a lack of resources.”

I can relate to these problems as a teacher and parent and understand the struggle of trying to make STEAM education relevant in classrooms that have a lack of resources and time, very large class sizes, and combined with many interruptions to learning (everything from pandemics to bake sales) that reduce instructional time. 

I was excited to learn about a summer camp organized by Actua that provides students with those engaging, hands-on STEAM experiences that are also for credit. I think this is a creative way of blending the best of both worlds. It makes me start to rethink how I could teach some outcomes in a field trip format instead of in traditional methods and how I could set things up to really engage learners.  

 

CBC News. (2018, July 17). New summer camp offers STEM education from an Indigenous perspective. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/new-summer-camp-offers-stem-education-from-an-indigenous-perspective-1.4750527 

Kerr, J., Hess, D. Smooth, C., & Hadfield, M. (2018). Recognizing and Reducing Barriers to Science and Math Education and STEM Careers for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. CBE – Life Sciences Education 17 (4). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-06-0091

M4, E1: Place-based learning communities

Module 4: Ecological Issues in Indigenous Education and Technology

Entry 1: Place-based learning communities

This article focuses on Place-based learning communities on a rural campus at Humboldt State University in California. Students who came to study in STEM fields to this rural campus were put into cohorts, offered residences to live in a community, and took classes together (starting with Science 100) to better acclimatize themselves to learning in a remote setting. Students who participated in this program showed that they were able to “better understand the relationships among STEM courses and are able to connect content to intercultural themes (e.g., aspects of their culture and the cultures of local indigenous people). (Sprowles et al., 2019). 

One of the goals of the Science 100 course is: Students will gain appreciation for and understanding of an expanded world perspective by engaging with other students, staff, and faculty within and outside their field. 

This post-secondary approach can inform the elementary and secondary education system as well. This study showed that a deep connection to place, connections to the students’ cultures and local cultures, and the deliberate grouping of students based on their interest and area of study can lead to understanding the world from multiple perspectives.

Sprowles, A., Goldenberg, K. Goley, P. D., Ladwig, S., & Shaughnessy, F. (2019). Place-based learning communities on a rural campus: Turning challenges into assets. Learning Communities: Research & Practice (7)1 Article 6.