Issues in Media Education: Technology is Not Neutral Case Study (Transcript)

By Brendan Clark

ETEC 531

Assignment 2: Media Production

University of British Columbia

Transcript:

Media education has come to be considered a core-competency in British Columbia

Curriculum. Media educators are expected to teach students not only how to analyze and
produce their own content, they must also gain the ability to understand and critique how media
is used in society. The ability to understand and critique media is a challenging skill to teach,
especially when considering the histories of media and education in Canada.

The economic implications of being connected and educated in media technology has made
reliable high-speed connections a focus point of Aboriginal leaders located in remote locations
and the Canadian government for decades, most communities have some form of connection,
yet some still rely on low speed dial-up connections with limited functionality. Proponents of
expanding and improving these connections have pointed out the value of communication
technology in the preservation or First Nations oral histories and languages and the ability
access services like education.

Some Aboriginal scholars and leaders have accepted that connections are a necessity, but they
argue that some critical thought is needed to discuss how these changes could be reshaping
communities. Studying an isolated communitys gradual adoption of connectivity could not only
help highlight challenges of educators in these remote locations, it may also point out some
important challenges that educators in multicultural centres may not typically consider.

The Sioux Lookout region of northwestern Ontario is home to some of the most remote First
Nations communities of Canada. Many are fly-in only and transportation between communities
can be challenging and expensive. Beginning in 1994, K-net was established and began
providing communication technologies to isolated communities in the Sioux Lookout Region of
Ontario. Starting with one computer and technician per community, the network grew to provide
each school with computers and subsequently created multiple jobs in the region. More
recently, social media, primarily Facebook became available in the area and according to a
2014 report, became the most used form of digital communication by K-net users.. This case
shows how complex the notion of analyzing and critiquing how media is used society can be.

Issues include: The potential for increased technology to shift traditional forms education
towards more western forms of pedagogy which have ties to specific values and costs. Do
these shifts cause learners to lose the benefits an holistic and experiential approach, common in
Aboriginal education? And does new technology mean more individualistic, screen time
learning, which is influenced by the powers of capitalism?

The issue of acknowledging the history of Canadian policy aimed at annihilating aboriginal
culture through Residential Schools. For many, trauma can be a limiting educational factor.
Holistic approaches have been seen to help heal trauma and promote learning that computer
centred learning cannot.
Also, the inappropriate use of Native imagery in the North American mainstream and the
potential to flood remote communities with more english and french culture

The 2014 report was based on a survey of 663 Knet users. Findings from the survey begin to
shed light on some media issues. The Sioux region survey showed that more online
communication did not mean less travelling to visit nearby or distant contacts. In fact, the
opposite occurred, an increased use in digital communication also meant an increase in
face-to-face communication; which could suggest that drawback of increased individualism
could be avoided in education. Respondents also explained that users consumed more local
and regional culture with the introduction of social media. Knet customers explained that they
used social media to share art, music and news, casting some doubt on the theory that
connectivity would threaten local culture. However, many respondents also pointed out their
reliance on Knet homepages that promoted local content, and many explained that they could
use more support. The report suggested that increased connectivity has generally been viewed
as positive, but more technology has also typically meant, more needs.

The First Mile, a Canadian Non-profit organization that focuses on building local broadband
networks in remote areas, argues that the unique needs of Aboriginal communities, and the
history of paternal government infrastructure agreements, means that community ownership
and control are important to support these needs. However, community ownership does not
address some of the other important challenges present in the Sioux Lookout case study.
Educators who teach in remote Aboriginal communities will have to consider these complex
issues when designing learning that involves new technologies. Media educators who already
teach in environments immersed in media technology may need to reflect on their own teaching
and ask how relevant the challenges of remote Aboriginal communities are in their own
educational environments. Should holistic and experiential teaching pedagogy be incorporated
into all media education? If so, how would this look?
 References

Bazalgette, C. (1992). Key aspects of media education. In M. Alvarado & O. Boyd-Barrett (Eds.),
Media Education: An introduction (pp. 199-219). London: Open University Press. (in
Library Course Reserves)

Beaton, B. (1998). Connecting Remote First Nations to the Internet. Exploring What Works and
Why Conference, University of Guelph, Oct 26-27.

Bowers, C. A., Vasquez, M., & Roaf, M. (2000). Native people and the challenge of computers:
Reservation schools, individualism, and consumerism. American Indian Quarterly, 24(2),
182-199.

George, N. P. (2003). The rainbow/holistic approach to aboriginal literacy. Canadian Journal of

Native Education, 27(1), 29.

Molyneaux, H., O'Donnell, S., Kakekaspan, C., Walmark, B., Budka, P., & Gibson, K. (2014).
Social media in remote first nation communities. Canadian Journal of Communication,
39(2), 275.

Mr, R. M., Dr, S. O., Dr, R. S., Walmark, B., Beaton, B., & Dr, J. S. (2011). Digital divides and
the 'first mile': Framing first nations broadband development in canada. International
Indigenous Policy Journal, 2(2), 2.

National Aboriginal Health Organization (2008) Internet Connectivity Among Aboriginal

Communities in Canada, 1-5.

Pungente, J. & O'Malley, M. (1999). More than meets the eye: Watching television watching us.
New York: Martin McClelland & Stewart.
(http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/canadas-key-concepts-media-literacy)

UNESCO (1999). Educating for the Media and the Digital Age Conference. pp. 263-274
 Images

BC Core Competencies [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

Communication - By Davidbravoortiz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Computer Lab - By PurchY0 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Cultural Sharing Day [Digital image]. (n.d.) Nehmotl Community News, January 2016, p13.

First Voices Homepage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30.2016 from
http://www.firstvoices.com/en/home

Internet chart - By Jeff Ogden (W163) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18972898

Inuit map -By Asybaris01 (File:Inuktitut_dialect_map.png) [CC BY-SA 3.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)],
via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147033

Knet About Us Webpage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from
http://knet.ca/about_us

Lac Seul First Nation Webpage [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from -
http://lacseul.firstnation.ca/

Online learning - By Oconnoras (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Not your mascots - By Fibonacci Blue [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],

via Wikimedia Commons

Nanook - By Robert J. Flannery / Pathe Pictures [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Residential School - By Unknown - Photograph of the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario,
Algoma University Archives, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29214301

Social media - By Ibrahim.ID [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)],

via Wikimedia Commons

Music

Bensound Sweet [Music]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from Bensound.com