We’ve crossed the finish line of this course. I wish everyone well on wherever the next step is in their learning journey.

Here is my summary of learning:

Summary of Learning

Photo by minanfotos on Pixabay

I am always ambivalent about mandatory interactions (group work and discussions) for courses. I understand the need for them in terms of learning, but as a learner I’ve never enjoyed group work or discussions, so I try to maintain that awareness as an instructor. Certainly, during high pandemic, many students needed to have a form of socialization for mental health and engagement. That, I completely understand. And many people are extroverts who enjoy (and thrive) on socializing, but there are also many people who are introverts preferring to be on their own and work independently. There are a multitude of reasons for such a preference. There are also other considerations such as social anxiety, mental health issues, learning uniqueness(es), personal situations and safety. By safety, I mean depending on the course (environment) and group of students, it is the teacher or facilitator’s job to ensure that students feel safe in group work/environments. There are attitudes, mindsets, and personality differences that can come into play for group work/environments. And often times, we as employers/teachers/facilitators push for these collaborations because we want “work bullies” to change and learn how to “work together” rather than taking the safety of other employees/students into consideration. In my opinion, it is not the job of other employees/students to educate other staff/students. They may choose to do so, and that’s great, if they choose to do so (not because they’re forced to do so because no one else will), but it is not their role. We can write all the codes of conduct we want, but aggressions will still happen, and often times employees/students will not approach an employer/teacher regarding these, in particular, because they are hard to “prove”. This may correspond to what we read regarding cultural and epistemological considerations in Chapter 4 of the text.

My daughter completed her first year of studies at Concordia University. She dropped a course that required 3-4 breakout rooms per class. It was just too much for her as an introvert – and as someone who has social anxiety. She was willing to do 1, maybe 2, breakout rooms per class, but for her, 3-4 per class was too much during a 1.5 hour class that ran twice a week. She dropped it and never looked back because her stomach would be in knots the day of class as she tried to mentally prepare herself for that class. Indeed, people require the skills of working as a team, communication, and so on, but for my daughter, the amount of interaction required was just too much. Further to this, sure, people with anxiety can overcome anxiety by challenging and pushing themselves, but this usually works best when it is at their own pace. I’ve seen my daughter challenge herself and do very well, but at her discretion. There seems to be a push for group (interactive) work during/since the pandemic, and I understand why, but I really don’t recall doing as much group discussion/work as students are required to do today (way) back when I completed my undergrad and Master’s degree. I recall marks being allocated to class participation and discussion, and the occasional group activity, but not as much as I witness my daughter having to partake in today. (Note: I got my daughter’s permission to blog about her personal experience).

Having said that, I enjoyed the readings Building Community in Online Learning Environments and Building Community in Online Courses as both offer a lot of great ideas in building community for online learning. I’m completing an asynchronous online course that I’m really enjoying. In my opinion, it’s set up for very well. Recently, the professor of this course who checks in with us regularly provided individual feedback for our midterm synthesis via video, which was a nice surprise – and very useful. It was personable and warm. As mentioned in Michael Wesch’s video, it “validated and motivated” my work in that particular course because it provided me with great comments/feedback and offered words of encouragement. And as mentioned in the Andrea Harkins Parrish piece (respect/relationships/relevance), I felt like the professor was connecting, building relationship (addressing students directly in the feedback video), while at the same respecting the choice of us registering in an online (asynchronous) course. This is also mentioned by Wesch when he suggests that teachers personalize videos by addressing students by name, it humanizes the online experience, offers connection and warmth.

Currently, my course prototype has a Parlay discussion for asynchronous student to student interaction. The students are required to answer four questions and they must respond to at least two classmate responses. In my course prototype peer feedback, it was suggested that I use a rubric in the discussion so that students are supported in their responses/interactions in the Parlay activity, so I will be integrating that idea into my final prototype so that students are better supported in that space for writing their responses. I may also include an assessment that falls in line with OCL’s intellectual convergence asking students to submit a type of synthesis assignment that demonstrates what they’ve learned from their peers’ responses. However, they’d do this assignment independently, not in “joint construction of some artefact” (Chapter 4 of course text).

I chose to use only one asynchronous student to student interaction for my prototype because it is a blended course; thus, students will have plenty of in-person synchronous class time together, which will entail opportunity (the option) to work together during class time at a computer completing online work. This, I think, falls in line with the Harkins-Parrish piece in that it offers flexible option for online participation because students who enjoy working online (and independently) may do so, but those who may find this part difficult can complete the online work (with others who feel similarly) in the in-person synchronous classes.

As for the teacher and student (T-S) interactions in my course prototype, these will take place during the in-person synchronous classes; however, I enjoyed some of the ideas shared in the two readings mentioned above as well as in the Michael Wesch video, so I’m considering integrating another form of teacher-student interaction into one of my two modules. I’m just not sure what type would be the most effective to use on the LMS when most T-S interaction will take place in in-person synchronous classes. I’ll have to ponder this one more.

Image by Unsplash, Dawid Zawita

My (draft) course is titled Indigenous Women: Past and present. Storytelling is an important foundational component in the course in its entirety. It is how the course begins because for Omushkego Cree and Anishinaabe peoples oral history has been a part of who we are since Time Immemorial. It is an important part of this course because the target student population is individuals of Indigeous descent who feel disconnected from their Indigeneity, their roots. It is also solely for Indigenous women and Two Spirit individuals, so stories about the significant roles that women held (hold) are critical. One of the course goals is to support students in their journey of reconnection, wherever they may be in that journey. Thus, the parts of the stories that are included at the beginning of the course are required for student prior knowledge and (re)building identity so that as students move through the course they may apply the teachings in those stories to significant work of Indigenous women today.

There are important cultural protocols around storytelling for many First Nations and Indigenous peoples including that many types of stories were (are) to only be told in the winter season. There are many commonalities among First Nations and Indigenous peoples. We are certainly connected. But there are diversities as well, in culture, language, ceremony, spirituality, protocols, and practices. This is also true for storytellers, Elders, philosophers, teachers, knowledge keepers, advisors and more. Dr. Louis Bird is a well-known storyteller, philosopher, Elder, historian and much more, not just in his traditional territory but in many areas. He’s collected the stories around his territory since he was a young man. He never claims to be an expert despite the enormity of his knowledge and experiences. He is also my adopted grandfather. Truly, a blessing.

What Louis taught me is that many Native people have become disconnected from their culture(s), language(s), and spirituality(ies) due to colonialism, and we live in a time that calls for the reclaiming, renewing, and revitalization of our ways, especially for young people. While it is important to maintain traditions, we are also allowed to be fluid and dynamic in a good way. He once said to me and another colleague that ancestors see us. They see the time that we’re living in, its climate, and how colonialism has impacted us and our communities, so they understand what we’re often up against in this new world. And it is for this reason, I approach including these stories in a good way. I also choose not include in my course profile some of the practices that will be a part of the course that supports the sharing of these stories.

Renowned Indigenous educator, Dr. Verna Kirkness talks about the importance of banking our knowledge(s) and language(s). And (Dr.) Louis Bird does this important work as he has written books and created Our Voices, An Omushkego Oral History Project so that current and future Omushkego generations know who they are and where they come from.

Louis Bird also talks about the types of stories that he has collected over his lifetime including what he refers to as Quotation Stories, Legends, Creation Story, Recent Stories, and Mystery (Fantastic) Stories. It is more those that are often referred to as legends that were (are) told in the winter season. Creation Stories are not legends. (I should mention here that while the term legend is used to refer to some stories, it comes with the connotation of being untrue, but this is not the case in First Nations stories, use of the term does not mean that the story isn’t true). Louis uses the term legend for Wisahkaychak, Wihtigo, and Chakapesh (to name a few) stories, but he does not refer to Creation Stories as legend. And Our Grandmothers’ Powers would also not be considered a legend, it would be a quotation story, or a recent story because it is about events that happened not long ago.

Now, I must say that these are the teachings that I was given. It is what I was told and taught, and I am no expert. And I come from a specific territory. This is the context of which and how I approach my work. It does not apply to everyone, and it shouldn’t, so no one should take my words as guideline. Each person doing work in Indigenous Education (Knowledge Systems) must seek out their own teachings because we are all unique in who we are and how we do this work (and how we intend to use it).

As for other aspects in my (draft) course, I will add rubrics to each activity in the modules, which I think will bring on more ideas and feed into some other suggestions that were given in review; however, the rubrics would be more a facilitator guide then for students (participants) because the intention is for them to have more freedom in their understanding, interpretation, and expression particularly in those first two modules. As the course progresses, student demonstration(s) of learning will be a bit more structured as expectation(s) also progress.

I’ve purposely left out part of the Old Nokomis story as this was/is often an element of storytelling so that curiosity is peaked and questions encouraged, but I may rework the Animaker video that I created for this course. I had wanted to push myself out of my own comfort zone when I used Animaker and incorporated it into the course.

Again, this is a blended course, so a lot of content (and protocol) will be covered in an in-person synchronous classroom setting including prior knowledge needed for the online (asynchronous) components of the course. Feedback will happen in the classroom with students (participants) and the timeline for the course may appear short (online), but it is taught in conjunction with the content covered in in-person synchronous classes. One of my reviewers utilized a calendar in their course, so perhaps I will look at whether this, too, could work for my course. I will also re-examine my layout in Canvas (tabs, etc), so that it is visually more appealing and perhaps I will incorporate the word, units, for modules.

I will also add the transcript for one of the stories in the modules. This will provide additional support to learners. This seemed to be an oversight for many courses.

Ekosani reviewers! Your time and feedback is appreciated.

I put my course profile and shell directly into the Learning Management System, Canvas, which is what I used for my course platform. It is in the Syllabus section.

But I thought I should also put it here on my blog for easier access for instructor and reviewer/s, so here it is in PDF format: IWPP Course Design for Online and Blended Learning.

Ekosi.