Can an increase in culturally relevant technology in classrooms increase British Columbia Aboriginal Dogwood Graduation Rates?

After watching the video of Dr. Lee Brown speaking of drop-out rates of Aboriginals in our school system, this helped me hone in on what I would like to look into for research.  After this video I went to the BC Ministry of Education Website and looked at the graduation rates from the last few years.  The last five years show an average of only 45.8% in relation to aboriginal graduation with a Dogwood Diploma.

Discussion of technology and whether it is culturally neutral, as well as if it is beneficial to indigenous peoples has been already touched upon in this course, therefore my research extends from here.

A continual theme in the British Columbia Education System is low graduation rates of aboriginal students.  Combining this with the theme of increasing technology in our BC school system, I would like to see if this increase in technology can increase aboriginal graduation rates in British Columbia.  Longer term, this requires creating technology and curriculum that is culturally relevant for aboriginal peoples and this is an area that I would like to focus on.  Since lack of support is also suggested for low completion rates, looking further into how online courses or technological communities can help increase graduation rates is also on my research radar.  Incorporating technology in classroom has shown that it can attract and retain student attention and enhance the self-sufficiency of learning.  Types of obstacles that could inhibit this type of technology being incorporated into classrooms could be: Financial resources, technical support, and manipulation of aboriginal culture into BC curriculum.  These obstacles will be considered heavily in my research.

Marijke Henschel