{"id":69,"date":"2024-05-28T16:38:56","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T20:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousdigitalliteracies\/chapter\/creating-digital-communities\/"},"modified":"2024-07-29T15:37:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T19:37:44","slug":"creating-digital-communities","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousdigitalliteracies\/chapter\/creating-digital-communities\/","title":{"raw":"Creating Community in Digital Spaces","rendered":"Creating Community in Digital Spaces"},"content":{"raw":"

How do we put all of this into practice? By creating community in digital spaces.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Cultivating Community Building in Online Learning Environments \u2013 Thriving Online: A Guide for Busy Educators (pressbooks.pub)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Try online discussion learning boards<\/h1>\r\nOnline discussion boards should be recognized as a separate \u201cthinking space\u201d beyond the formality of the classroom. This allows a space in which the student has the opportunity to engage in learning in way that is culturally appropriate for themselves, valuing their own worldview and epistemology. In a culturally diverse classroom, the discussion board can become a central enabling point of reference that reduces the colonization of the student.\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Creating Online discursive Spaces That Legitimate Alternative Ways of Knowing<\/a> by Andy Williamson and Ruth DeSouza<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Cultivate togetherness in your online classroom<\/h1>\r\nBuilding relationships within digital spaces may require a little extra effort, but it\u2019s definitely worth it. To combat isolation and build community, professionals should focus on making their digital spaces friendlier and more welcoming. You can create an inclusive space by being mindful of the images, wording, and sometimes fonts and colours used.\r\n

Attempt a learning log assessment<\/h1>\r\n\"IndigenousLearning logs provide a reflective learning experience. Students can journal about the steps of the learning process and what they learned, and record their questions to discuss with their instructor or research themselves.\r\n

Design an introductory email in line with Indigenous introduction protocols<\/h1>\r\nYou may have heard the term \u201cprotocol\u201d in relation to working with Indigenous Peoples. The term includes many things, but overall it refers to ways of interacting with Indigenous Peoples in a manner that respects traditional ways of being. Protocols are not just \u201cmanners\u201d or \u201crules\u201d\u2014they are a representation of a culture\u2019s deeply held ethical system.\r\n\r\nAlways introduce yourself when you are first meeting someone new. An introduction should include who you are and where you come from, which means your family\u2019s cultural and geographical background prior to being a settler in North America.\r\n\r\nWe also like to include a web self-location\u2014a motivating factor.\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Respecting Protocols \u2013 Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers (opentextbc.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Self-location identity web<\/h1>\r\n\"A\r\n\r\nIdentity webs can be used as introduction tools to facilitate interconnectedness\u2014supporting us to notice, wonder, and see the humanity in one another.\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Sources and recommended readings: 17 Enthralling Identity Web Activities For Students - Teaching Expertise<\/a> and Seen, Valued, Heard: Honoring Identity to Establish Community<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Encourage participatory learning<\/h1>\r\nDiscuss how the integration or embrace of Indigenous ways of knowing into teaching practice can enable learning to be accessible for all students.\r\n\r\nParticipatory culture means students can express themselves, can create and share, can mentor and be socially connected, and can feel secure in their voice.\r\n
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Self-Assessment #3<\/h2>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\n\"ToolkitWhat structures could you put in place in a school library to support participatory culture?\r\n\r\nRecord your responses in your Toolkit<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nHow do you bring Indigenous Traditional Knowledges into digital learning?\r\n\r\nHow do you weave Indigenous perspectives in course design while using a learning management system that can be seen as dominant\/Eurocentric?\r\n

These are good questions to be asking in your Indigenous digital literacy work. Let\u2019s explore.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIndigenizing curriculum is not about replacing the Eurocentric content with Indigenous content. Rather, it is about embedding Indigenous perspectives and histories across course design.\r\n\r\nThis work includes course descriptions, learning outcomes, lessons, assessments, and pedagogies.\r\n\r\nIt is a process that is responsive and inclusive to local lands, languages, traditions, and Indigenous Traditional Knowledges.\r\n

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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Indigenizing Design for Online Learning in Indigenous Teacher Education \u2013 Toward a Critical Instructional Design (pressbooks.pub)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Classroom suggestions<\/h1>\r\n