Semester 2, Weeks 9/10: Let's get participatory
This was it, friends. Week 9 was the week.
The week I was finally far enough into the semester that I could see to the end, which let my brain start weaving together the same kind of big, weird, interconnected, holistic, creative project for all of my remaining work as it did around this time last semester!
To understand more about what that means, see this accompanying post.
First up: What is Participatory Culture?
In EDUC 5131 (Digital Citizenship, Global Community), during week 9 we got acquainted with Henry Jenkins via this video lecture. This video is amazing, but long (17:46) so I applied the principles he shares in the lecture to snapshot its essence in a way that's so participatory and meta you just know Henry would be delighted:
I was intrigued by Henry, so I dug a little deeper and found this short video (run time, 3:35) that provided the spark for what I want to do for a final cross-curricular project for my courses this semester:
1:59 – “As a professor, we should create our content in such a way that it travels around the planet and is accessible not just to students at other universities, but to anyone who wants to learn within the culture… anyone who wants to engage with our ideas… we should be out there in a way that's accessible to them”
This touched a nerve for me and I knew I needed to challenge myself to be innovative in the way I created and shared my remaining work online.
How can I change my own work to be more participatory in a way that actually feels comfortable and authentic, and brings my work more in alignment with my values and with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit?
Guiding Lights: Who are my role models for flat learning/collaboration in the digital world?
I am beyond fortunate to be surrounded by and connected to many people I can look to as examples of how to be brave, vulnerable, innovative makers/creators/participants in digital culture in ways that not only support digital citizenship but also uplift Inuinnait culture and Inuit societal values. Please check out and follow the public work of:
My phenomenal friend Jana Angulalik:
I am lucky enough not only to know Jana, but I have also worked with her mom (who is also an educator) for the last 13 years, and her brother Tyler (who I taught when we were both much younger 😜) is currently training to be a teacher!
Aside: I am SO excited about the idea of teaching with Tyler in another year or two can you even imagine anything cooler than getting to have a former student as a colleague?!
Jana is someone I feel radiates sunshine, kindness, humour, healing, wisdom, fierceness and love in person, and in her work. She shares hard things but in ways that focus on inuuqatigiitsiarniq (care, respect, connection), ilatka (family), healing, and joy in ways I deeply admire.
My former student/friend Aedan:
You have already encountered Aedan from a conversation we had in the fall:
Aedan recently performed a selection of their poetry as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors event: The Brave and The Vulnerable.
The following quote from Aedan's performance (at 32:50) really stuck with me, especially in relation to the individual interview assignment I completed for EDUC 6103 and the group "uninterview" assignment with Dr. Liz my team completed for EDUC 6115.
This resonated with me deeply, as a member of Aedan's home community who I feel can understand both the weight and the hope in those words.
I couldn't help but think that so many of my struggles during this year of study have come from a sense of lack of community in my online learning experience.
I reflected on this in light of the concept of flat classrooms and the particular challenges I (and many other autistic people) face with communication generally, and electronic communication specifically (Livingston et al., 2020).
I also thought about this in terms of my commitment to building my knowledge with my community through pilimmaksarniq & piliriqatigiingniq so that I am respectful that my place as a non-Inuit ally in Nunavut is not to speak for my kids or my community, but to share work by my community members in ways that honour Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and my personal relationships.
This brings me to my final thoughts on developing a rubric for our final Digital Citizenship Activity Assignment (which I think I would like to also use as the basis for this semester's proposed Super project - what I am calling Super project 2.0):
References
Angulalik, J. (2021, July 26). Kakiniit: The art of Inuit tattooing. Canadian Geographic. https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/kakiniit-art-inuit-tattooing
CBC Arts (2019, October 29). Jana Angulalik’s journey to proudly wearing traditional Inuit tattoos [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJk4Q6veGy4
Corey, A. [@uviluq_by_design]. (2022, March 26). My first block print! “Inner healing”. Some adjustments to make but that’s okay, all part of the process [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CbjF9qsOoWH/
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2022). Digital Citizenship in Education. ISTE. https://www.iste.org/areas-of-focus/digital-citizenship
Lindsay, J. (2013). Flattening classrooms, engaging minds. Allyn & Bacon/Pearson Education.
Lindsay, J. (2020). Learning Confluence by Julie Lindsay: Choices, Conversation, Community, Creativity. Learning Confluence. https://learningconfluence.com/
Livingston, L. A., Ashwin, C., & Shah, P. (2020). Electronic communication in autism spectrum conditions. Molecular Autism, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-020-00329-2
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