Project Brief – Longhouse OER Course Module

Project Goal:

• To design and develop Indigenously informed pedagogies, through a single test course module, in support of the combination of a virtual and interactive learning environment
• Support the exploration of the historical and archaeological known knowledge, to multimodal lens in the interpretation of that knowledge
• Augment the Ryerson University HST 580 Natives and Newcomers to 1763 course
• Examine the use of digital cultural heritage as a means of knowledge mobilization
• To create a classroom experience of the Longhouse OER VR and/or game experience that is engaging, rich, meaningful and respectful

Situation Analysis:

• Instructors are looking for classroom resources that are easy to integrate into existing curricula
• Education funding cuts have eliminated or reduced access to Indigenous educational resources and programming (ie. Ontario Government’s cuts to Indigenous Culture Fund)
• Many university, college and high school instructors have requested the 3D Visualization of Eastern Woodlands Indigenous History

Audience

Primary

• Instructors and faculty in post-secondary and secondary institutions
• Learners in post-secondary and secondary schools

Audience Empathy Map:

Thinking and feeling: Resource- and time-strapped, they want something easy to use, turn-key and with minimal need for rework

Hearing: That experiential, full-sensory and immersive learning is a powerful tool for pedagogy

Seeing: A limited pool of Indigenous educational resources; a limited sample of digital cultural heritage approaches and processes

Saying and doing: They are looking for a way to bring this into existing coursework and do so in a way that is informed by Indigenous educational frameworks, and integrate the content into existing learning in a way that is engaging, informed and respectful

Pain: Need to do more with less

Gain: Improve and enrich student experiences and understanding of course materials

Strategies:

• Use evidence-informed community consultation models such as focus groups, virtual town halls and student/Indigenous/instructor advisory boards to inform and execute the project
• Leverage design thinking and empathy mapping with key communities to gather requirements and validate project direction
• Developed a multi-modal approach to the creation of materials informed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Proposed Deliverables:

Based on the primary audience, we envision the following tools and deliverables would be in scope.

A Pressbooks-based module which includes the following sections:

Instructor resources

• • Lesson plan
  • Presentation slides
  • Lesson scripts
  • List of high-yield questions
  • Answer keys
  • Sample student perspectives
  • Troubleshooting guides
  • Classroom management tips
    

Student Resources 

• • • Active learning exercises (quizzes, sharing circles, one-minute papers, creative reflections, building projects, mind mapping, etc.)
    • Discussion boards, Hypothes.is threaded annotation, peer discussions and evaluations
    • Self reflection and journaling