“What we see on Social Media through our Indigenous Leaders is the authentic voice, and it allows the real story to be told.” – Brad Baker (Miller, 2021).
Brad Baker is an example of a long time educator who saw a need for Indigenous education and took action. He is has taken the newly created role of executive director Indigenous Education for SD44 in British Columbia as of Dec. 1st 2021, and his top priority is bringing an Indigenous perspective into the classroom (Seyd, 2021). It is evident that he sees social media as a helpful tool in spreading knowledge and perspective. In order to make strides towards reconciliation, and fully understand what that means, the Indigenous community and all other communities can use social media as a way of spreading that knowledge. Social media platforms, like Twitter, have a certain the strength of allowing several stories and perspectives to be put out there for the public to read. The complexity of Indigenous nations is spread this way, which is an important step towards reconciliation, as Baker mentions that people can see Indigenous people as “simple” when in reality, these stories bring to light the diverse culture and complexity that exists in Indigenous communities and cultures (Miller, 2021).
Being vulnerable, open and honest is necessary for change to happen, especially in the school districts. Baker mentions how social media has a big role in this, as online learning and networking is moving more on more online (Miller, 2021). It seems as though Twitter is a great place for this to happen; as threads of important conversations can happen on that platform, conversations can sometimes be uncomfortable but allows for many perspectives to be heard and shown.
Miller. (2021). Brad Baker EDCI 338. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z8iHxW2n4&feature=youtu.be
Jane Seyd. (2021). North Van district principal to take on provincial role in Indigenous education. North Shore News. https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/north-van-district-principal-to-take-on-provincial-role-in-indigenous-education-4800556
Hey Sarah, really good post! It was really insightful to hear Brad’s opinions and ideas on media for education purposes. I’m Interested to hear how you value social media for educational purposes? Personally it has been far more valuable for me in terms of learning about Indigenous communities for example, as opposed to traditional news platforms.
Keep up the good work!
Hey Alex,
Thanks for the comment. I think that social media uses for education have really increased for me ever since COVID (as I’m sure they did for everyone). It allows for easy communication, a diverse platform for people to share their perspectives, and it is so accessible to so many people. My group is using google drive to do this project, and while I wouldn’t consider that a social media platform, technically I am a resident on that site because I am communicating and developing connections on it. So, google drive is definitely a popular platform for me in terms of education. I have also used several other social media sites for group projects, mainly just for group chats, include Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. These apps all have different purposes and feeds, but they all have one common denominator; they allow for easy communication. I think that is the takeaway for Social Media and education, for me at least.
Do you use social media for education in another way besides communication? Obviously I use social media to learn from my peers and get different perspectives from other people, but in terms of your university experience. Have you used social media in your classes a lot? And what for?
Hey Sarah, I have used certain media platforms extensively from an educational standpoint, especially WhatsApp. I prefer WhatsApp for group projects because it feels like an impersonal platform. To expand on that, I mean it’s impersonal compared to Facebook or Instagram. Group projects are often brief, and most of the time you don’t further your connections with the people that are in it. Based on that I usually prefer to not use a personal social media platform to connect with my group members, I prefer to keep my media for friends and family.