Based on my background in social research as an undergraduate, I would like to explore more on the subjects of how educational technology can support social connectivity, networking, and community building in preserving and advancing First Nations culture in today’s world. The analytical framework will be based on the notion of social capital defined by Falk & Filpatrick (1999) as “the product of social interactions with the potential to contribute to the social, civic or economic well-being of a community-of-common-purpose. The interactions draw on knowledge and identity resources and simultaneously use and build stores of social capital.” Many researchers are applying this notion to the Indigenous context (e.g. see sources).

Possible topics of exploration includes:

• Social capital in examining educational achievement, particularly in relation to social exclusion.
• Social capital as a relevant way of measuring the impacts of ICT in Indigenous communities.
• Social capital in the context of Indigenous economic development.

I will also seek to examine community-building projects carried out by ICT support groups such as Network BC and First Nations Technology Council, and analyze the role of social capital for measuring social and economic outcomes in rural and remote aboriginal communities.

Possible Sources:

Brough, Mark., Bond, C., Hunt, Julian., Jenkins, D., Shannon, C., & Schubert, L. (2006). Social Capital Meets Identity: Aboriginality in an Urban Setting. Journal of Sociology 42(4), 396-411.

Hunter, B. (2000). Social Exclusion, Social Capital and Indigenous Australians: Measuring the Social Costs of Unemployment. CAEPR Discussion Paper 204, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra.  

Lahn, J. (2012). Poverty, Work and Social Networks: The Role of Social Capital for Aboriginal People in Urban Australian Locales. Urban Policy and Research, 30, 293-308.

Mignone, J., Henley, H., Brown, J., O’Neil, J., & Ross, W. (2008). Information and Communication Technology in Aboriginal Communities in Canada: Increasing Aboriginal Social Capital. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 1-84.

Mignone, J. (2009). Social Capital and Aboriginal Communities: A Critical Assessment. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 100-147.