Month: September 2008

Categories
Module 2

Database of Language, Culture, Stories & Resources

The Torres Straight Islanders  have created a database of language, culture, stories, resources. This site provides an amazing amount of interesting pages to surf through. I am amazed by the amount of material on this site promoting language and culture.

http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/

“The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is the world’s premier institution for information and research about the cultures and lifestyles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Institute undertakes and encourages scholarly, ethical community-based research, holds a priceless collection of films, photographs, video and audio recordings and the world’s largest collections of printed and other resource materials for Indigenous Studies, and has its own publishing house.”

Categories
Module 1

Historical Indian Treaties Time Line

Historical Indian Treaties Time Line

This is a Canadian Government websites that covers the in chronological order a selection of the major treaties, starting from the first Peace and Friendship Treaty in 1725. This site provides detailed, map information, and historical facts.

We must keep in mind that this is a Federal Government website based on federal and provincial reports. In my opinion this site does lack the aboriginal perspective of the events. Nevertheless it has excellent visual representations / maps  of the areas where treaties were formed.

Also here is a Youtube Video on First Nation treaty History in BC.

[youtube]https://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YN2fOBqJpEA[/youtube]

Categories
Module 1

Culture Shift – CBC.ca

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/cultureshift/index.html

Click on the link above to visit a CBC Winnipeg site. It focuses on diversity and real life stories. The site is full of pictures, stories, audio files, and much more. By visiting this website you will meet 25 young people talking about how they live in everyday life.

It “shines a light on two segments of Manitoba’s next generation: young Aboriginals, our ‘first Manitobans’, and young Africans, part of the new wave of immigration. ”

I feel that this site does strive to connect and learn about others. It is also set up similiar to a blog whereby a visitor may also share their personal stories on the site.

Categories
Module 1

FIRST VOICES

FIRST VOICES

This is another quite interesing site.  FirstVoices is a suite of web-based tools and services designed to support Aboriginal people engaged in language archiving, language teaching & culture revitalization.

The FirstVoices Language Archive contains thousands of text entries in many diverse Aboriginal writing systems, enhanced with sounds, pictures and videos.

A companion set of interactive online games is designed to present the archived FirstVoices language data in creative learning activities.

Some language archives at FirstVoices are publicly accessible, while others are password protected at the request of the language community.

I found myself surfing through the many maps, links, games, and sounds.

Categories
ETEC 512 Module 1

Totem Poles ~ An Exploration

Totem Poles ~ An Exploration by Pat Kramer

“This website explores the myth and magic from the west coast of British Columbia to Alaska.”

It is a great resource. It provides the full story about totem poles including history, meaning, stories, and much more. I am particullay impressed with the detailed visuals and insite that this site provides. It is a prime example of how a culture can use technology to educate and eliminate myths. This site works toward preserving west coast native culture. Take a look at this site. I learned a great deal from this site and enjoyed the many pictures too!

Also for general interest for those of you who do not live on the West Coast here is a video that displays various totems & carvings:

[youtube]https://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=648gwElcPzU[/youtube]

Categories
ETEC 512 Module 1

Engaging Aboriginal Learners – Reading Into the Numbers

Learnnow BC – Engaging Aboriginal Learners

Above is a link to a British Columbia site that provides a wealth of information, statistics, and other links pertaining to aboriginal learners in the Province. I found reading through the statistics and completion rates particularly interesting. Through this site you can learn about any district in the province.
As the site says “Aboriginal learners bring a wealth of diversity and skill to rural classrooms, yet an examination of achievement data and completion rates reveals that many of them do not experience success in our schools”.

I agree that  “Educators and Aboriginal communities across the province are working hard to develop relationships and create structures, strategies and resources to improve the relevance of the learning experiences provided for these students.”

I am sure that integrating culture and improving connections with families and communities, are both vital components in student success.

Although I find it interesting to read through the stats I am a firm beleiver that the stats do not tell the full story. In my opinion, I am opitimistic that we are preforming much better than the numbers tell us.

If you work in the BC Public school system; do you know your rates?

Also there is a link through this site provided by the BC Principals and Vice-Principals Association. It presents an online series for educators on Engaging Aboriginal Learners which also can be found here.


Categories
ETEC 512 Module 1

Hello & Welcome to my ETEC 521 Blog

Over the next few months I will begin posting important research links from the Internet that relate to issues of Indigeneity, Technology and Education. Enjoy!

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