Lenora’s anti-bullying resource

I do not feel that creating a website is the way to go for Lenora. In keeping with Bates SECTIONS model, the students needs must be considered. If the material is not culturally relevant to the community it is suppose to service then the content will not help the teachers who in turn will not be helping the students. Secondly, the ease of use of creating the website seems to be barrier for Lenora since she has limited skills in creating a website from scratch. An alternative solution is for link onto the existing Cradleboard resource to create a discussion forum where teachers can share their personal stories and she can reply to them based on the information that she learned from attending the professional development workshop. The discussion can then help to modify the material such that it is more relevant for the community to use. This alternative may be less time consuming and takes advantage of the infrastructure of an existing web resource. If the existing Cradleboard website has been useful to the First Nations community from an access point of view then it makes sense to build upon that resource so that the information is centralized.

Bates, T. (2014). Chapter 8: Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS model, Teaching in digital age. (p. 257 – 291). Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

7 comments

  1. Hi Edwin,

    I think that your idea of centralizing information within one location is an important one, especially if access to online resources becomes a challenge facing many of Lenora’s colleagues. By building within one location, the organization and time management become more streamlined.

    I suppose that it comes down to whether or not Lenora hopes to develop her skill in planning and designing online resources. Keeping within the confines of cradleboard.org would give her a starting point to work within an established space, but developing her own independent anti-bullying resources would offer her more opportunities to personalize and adapt the content and discussions. Do you feel that this might be an option for Lenora in the future?

    – Allen

    1. Hi Allen,

      I definitely think that may be an option for Lenora in the future. Perhaps she can set a goal to work on developing her own skills in website design and creating online resources once the information is up and running first. She will build her confidence more effectively by building her skills in other more user friendly platforms like Weebly or WordPress. If the school allows her some protected paid time to work on these projects then she would not feel overwhelmed to have to complete additional work on top of her regular teaching duties.

      Edwin

  2. Hey Edwin,

    I think you make some solid points. I had similar concerns about Lenora trying to make a website a scratch. Adding to Cradleboard is definitely a solid option. Do you think it will allow her to release the larger Indigenous community?

  3. Hi Edwin, Hi Allen, Hi Colleen;

    Edwin, I love the idea of using the Cradleboard site as a jumping off point. Creating a discussion forum there, would, as Colleen suggests, give her immediate access to the community that she wishes to reach.

    Allen, you suggest that sticking with Cradleboard may limit her creativity in terms of creating an online resource. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Perhaps if she used the discussion forum as a starting point, she would be able, initially to provide links to other informative sites. Though, perhaps in time, as Allen suggested, she could attempt the creation of her own wiki site.

    I must say that I like the idea of her starting by developing her own breakout community on the Cradleboard site. If that platform already works well as a learning community for Aboriginal educators, then she would begin with a receptive audience. It would be a great place to begin.

    Kind regards to all,
    Tanya

  4. HI Edwin,

    Great Post. I think it might be a viable option. You’re right it’s probably the best way to keep connected with the learning community. My only issue is with the cradleboard website itself. I found it frustrating to navigate, and I’m not sure converting to s different solution wouldn’t open new avenues. Is it still worth using if the website is no longer being maintained?

    Jason

Leave a Reply