Achieving Student Success: Native Studies 10 Unit (incorporating digital and media literacy)
Writing a unit based on curriculum outcome with digital/media literacy indicators is the focus of my EC&I 832 final project. I am near completion of the outcomes I want to include in the Community & Kinship unit project and am writing the portion for incorporating digital/media resources….I anticipated this part to be easier than it is turning out mainly because my go-to resources are the human voice/perspectives and books. I am shifting my indicators to using tech tools for students to navigate through curriculum content.
Example: Outcome: FNMI philosophy of land; respect for the environment. Indicator: Interview an Elder and record the interview in two ways: voice/audio record and create a slide show using Power Point or Canva.
Digital Citizenship: Access – will my students have equal access to the tech devices required to complete the indicators? In order for all students to participate equally in this assignment, I will alter assignment to accommodate the digital divide: take my class to visit an Elder in the community and assign a recorder, photographer, or videographer to compile the interview material to be shared in the classroom.
Resources and media: Although this activity may seem like common sense (and it is), what makes a media literacy approach sensitive is the “oral tradition of the spoken word” when using Elders as a resource. Many times, students will not find these words on an internet search so they become creators of content using the authentic voice of the oral tradition, participants in cultural protocol, and active learners.
My academic mentor, Mrs. Linda M, Goulet, has co-written a book titled, “Teaching Each Other: Nehinuw Concepts & Indigenous Pedagogies” (2014), which starts with the acknowledgement to the Elders and their teachings as influential to her own teaching career. This is the cultural protocol that starts any cultural engagement activity; the ways of knowing and voices of the Elders.
Mrs. Ramona Alexson 