My final project is a Prezi presentation.I tried to embed it but that is not possible. To view it just copy and paste the link below.
http://prezi.com/u_9fkuopalto/aboriginal-cultural-and-technology-promotion-or-demotion/#
or just click on the hyperlink below
Aboriginal Culture and Technology
Thank you
Another source of information that I’ve found enriching is the official website that talks about the aboriginal youth and technology. The site which is sponsored by the government of Canada is specifically made to deal with this issue: Aboriginal youth and science.
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1312993954643/1312994422679
The site doesn’t really give a lot details about the issue itself but it does lead the reader to important separate links that provide essential information about the kind of programs aboriginal youth have received recently. I feel what the site is boosting here is the progress achieved in this respect from both sides: the designers and the learners. One of the given links that I really think useful in enhancing our understanding of the issue is the one about children:
Here the programs offered for young learners are explained with some details. I think this source can be a good guide about the youth science programs
Hussain
A good source, I came across this week, is a report about using technology in addressing the learning needs of the aboriginal learners. Traditionally, if there are any attempts of improving or designing any learning program technology is put in the second place. This situation probably suited a period when technology was in its first steps. The link to the report I am putting here is a hub for a lot of reports that tackle different issues. I just focused on this specific report as it offers a direct and effective treatment of the issue of using technology by the aboriginal people. The link doesn’t really offer a full reading of the articles but it gives general overview of these articles. If there is a need to see the full text then you can just google the title of the article. Accessing these articles is really easy as the government of Canada has sponsored their publication. Thus they are open to the public.
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=66
Hussain
One of the points that needs to be highlighted about the aboriginal culture is the distinctive creativity of the aboriginal people in North America. Their life style that might be looked at as basic or primitive is not so at all. The resistance to keep it so on the aboriginal people’s side is ascribed to the fact that they respect their culture and they feel that boosting it doesn’t affect their interaction with the changes around them. What the aboriginal did in the past as part of their life was advanced for that time, culturally speaking.
Here is a good a youtube clip that highlights a great Indian tradition which is the necessity to adapt.
Also there is an article by Jean Barman about the education given to aboriginal people neglected how creative these people. It did not pay attention to this essential side in them. The article is :
Hussain
Another source of information that can really expand our horizons in regard to the aboriginal rich and unique culture is an official website run by aboriginal themselves: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_nwc1.html
The information given here is not just statistical but also an objective and vivid interpretation of factual accounts in the history of the aboriginal families residing in the west coast of British Columbia. Whether the site covers the aboriginal people in the west, middle or east sides of Canada, I think the similarities among the aboriginal tribes are more than the differences. This is a fact that all educators should know. This is helpful because education designers are inclined towards making a unified educational system that can cater for the aboriginal learners. If we compare between two tribes from two different places in Canada we will see how close they are in terms of traditions and customs.
What I like about the above-mentioned website is the layout of the material and the selection of the topics discussed in it. One of the topics that I found appealing is the one about family structure. It gives concise and informative information about the customs and people in general.
I am sure you will like it. By the way the topics are put in the lower part of the page. To access them you need to scroll down.
Hussain
We are heading towards the end of our modules. In Module 4 the focus is on the significance of knowing one’s culture before approaching other cultures as this process is necessary in building an objective picture of the other cultures. One of the sources that I would love to share with you here is a measuring tool of cultural differences among countries. The site is based on researches done by Geert Hofstede, a famous professor in social psychology. I find his tool is interesting in understanding a lot of cultural subtle differences. He hasn’t talked about the aboriginal people as such but he has talked about people in general. I am sure some of his ideas can be analyzed to serve our purpose in some corners in our course.
After opening the site, read the instructions and then choose any country.
http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html
Hussain
One of the most interesting sources that I have come across is the following one:
In spite of the fact that it is not dealing with the education issue but it does with a lot of important issues that are related directly to the aboriginal people in Nunavut. The interesting thing about this study is that it offers instant solutions of the decolonizing process. Also what makes this study ( article) unique is the fact that it deals with the co-management of the Northern Territories and how that is resisted or rejected by the aboriginal people. A lot of ideas can be learned from this article. These ideas can explain why the aboriginal resist the co-management in their society.
The main questions discussed in this week are mostly about the aboriginal educational school system. Also there has been a lot of debate about the process of decolonizing the educational systems that are utilized by the aboriginal young learners. I see how creating or designing a learning base could contradicts the process of decolonizing it. Most of the discussions go around the schools. Here I found a good source that deals with the same problem but on a higher level, a university level in the Nunavut area. I brought this source here because it gives us a lot of information about the challenges facing educational designers who are trying hard to create a system that can cater for the needs of the aboriginal learners:
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/848/1798
The colonization of a nation that ruled a lot of lands in this world is a period that belonged to the past with all its inconsistencies. It happened; it built and destroyed a lot of things. Nobody can deny that. Now things are different. There a counter reaction to what happened to the aboriginal people in many countries and especially in North America. The reforming factors that encourage the new change in the aboriginal issue are highlighted by an aware educational body of educators and educational designers. This will pave the way to an integral educational system that can serve the learners whoever they are. Here is another source that doesn’t only focus on the decolonizing process in Canada but also in many countries as well. I thought it would be of use to all of us here in this course as it will give us a chance to make a comparison between North America and all the countries that have the same issue:
I am enjoying the postings this week about preparing a decolonized system of education for the aboriginal people. The educational system consists of aboriginal and non-aboriginal educators who are fully aware of the challenges in the learning process facing students and teachers alike. One of the sources that I can recommend to read not only to explore the topic this week but also to have a deep understanding of the core of the aboriginal educational issue. The source is a kind of study done by Linda Archibald. Its title is Decolonization and Healing. You can get it here:
