Congratulations to Dr. Guofang Li and her co-principal investigators for the 200,000 yuan ($40,000) grant they have received from the National Social Science Fund of China to study Xinjiang low-SES Uyghur kindergarten children’ early literacy development. The National Social Science Fund is China’s equivalent to SSHRC.
Brava to Guofang and her team!
– Dr. Anthony Paré, Professor and Department Head
Dr. Bedi has been awarded the 2018 Charles J. Gelso, Ph.D., Psychotherapy Research Grant from the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (Division 29) of the American Psychological Association.
The research being funded is entitled, How to culturally adapt psychotherapy in India in service of reducing international disparities in psychotherapy outcome.
The migration from Connect to Canvas will be completed by the end of summer. If you have taught a classroom course using Connect, and would like it to be migrated to Canvas, please contact ETS (ets.educ.ubc.ca) as soon as possible. If you are teaching a fully online course, ETS will take care of it. For non-credit shells, please fill out the request form.
If you are teaching a fully online course, ETS will take care of it. If you have any questions, please email Natasha Boskic, Director of ETS (natasha.boskic@ubc.ca).
Room 308A, used for the web conferencing has been upgraded! Instead of the old Tandberg system, the Cicso VC system is in place with a new camera and a new screen.
In addition to the renewal of the web-conference room, there is also a new mobile web conferencing unit. This mobile VC unit operates via wireless connection. This offers the flexibility to turn any room into a VC meeting room.
To book 308A, please contact your unit administrator, as you did before. It is highly recommended to submit a ticket to ITAV av.helpdesk@ubc.ca as soon as the room booking is confirmed or to reserve a mobile unit. AV staff will walk you through the new system, and set up a mobile unit for you.
Stay tuned for the coming updates on the IT Service Catalogue, and more detailed instructions about the use of both 308A and the mobile unit.
Learning Digital Citizenship in Publics of Practice: How Adults Learn to use Activist Hashtags on Twitter
Supervisor(s): Dr. Deirdre Kelly, Supervisor (Educational Studies); Dr. Theresa Rogers (Language and Literacy Education); Dr. Catherine Corrigall-Brown (Sociology)
Wednesday, August 8, 2018 | 2:30 pm | Room 2012, Ponderosa Commons, 6445 University Boulevard, V6T 1Z2
Today, vital aspects of private life and public discourse are happening online, and media and digital literacy skills (MDL) are necessary to engage in this sphere. This qualitative study examines how adults can learn the MDL skills necessary to advocate for social change on Twitter using activist hashtags, like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, and engage as democratic digital citizens. To do this, nine Twitter users with varying levels of activity provided their Twitter archives and took part in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. These data were evaluated using content analysis to explore how participants learned to use activist hashtags on Twitter.
Using the lens of critical pedagogy and a theory of learning through experience (Dewey, 2004) as the foundation, participants’ learning journeys were coded, analyzed, and compared to concepts from the literature. These concepts include public pedagogy (Giroux, 2000), which applies to sites of learning beyond formal education, and communities of practice, which addresses how communities teach their members (Lave & Wenger, 1991). In addition, the concepts of publics and counterpublics are employed to make sense of how hashtags function (Bruns & Burgess, 2015; Fraser, 1990; Warner, 2002). Finally, the concept of digital citizenship is applied to the practices under examination to demonstrate how MDL alone fails to capture the critical, political aspects of activist hashtags.
Study participants learned to use hashtags to advocate for social change on Twitter by combining multiple strategies, based on individual goals, opportunities, and obstacles. In total, participants described 18 strategies, which could be grouped into the four main approaches of: applying prior knowledge; exploration; models and examples; and directly accessing expertise. The three most common strategies were learning through exposure over time (i.e., experience), observation and copying, and trial and error. Activist hashtags are able to function not just as sites of public pedagogy or communities of practice, but as “publics of practice” where participants used the public discursive space to learn and practice relevant digital citizenship skills. Although this study is focused on a narrow set of behaviours and participants, it provides insight into how people might be learning to use new digital tools.
Okanagan School of Education (OSE)
education.ok.ubc.ca
On Tuesday July 10th, Dr. Judy Halbert and Dr. Linda Kaser, co-leaders of the Transformative Educational Leadership Program hosted a reception for UBC Faculty of Education alumni in the penthouse of Ponderosa Cedar House. With over 40 guests in attendance, the event was by all measures a great success.
During reception, guests were invited to listen to speakers from Faculty and Staff including, Dr. Jan Hare, Dr. Judy Halbert, Dr. Linda Kaser, Dr. Suzanne Scott and Michael Murphy. Though Dean Frank could not be there in person, a special video message was played to welcome guests to the event. Following the speaker’s remarks, guests were treated to drinks, hors d’oeuvres and to chat with fellow alumni.
Thank you to all of our alumni who came out and made this event such a success. Make sure to keep an eye out for future events like the Alumni and Friends Pride Reception on August 2nd the Dean Frank is hosting.
View the full set of event photos here:
Applications are now open
Gender plays an important, but often overlooked, role in wellness.
What if we paid more attention to gender in all its forms (e.g. norms, roles, identities, Two Spirit)? Could we improve wellness among Indigenous People? If you have an idea or would like to contribute, we want to hear from you!
The CIHR Institute of Gender and Health (IGH), the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH) and the Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), along the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP) in Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, are excited to host an Idea Fair and Learning Circle on the topic of Indigenous gender and wellness.
The Idea Fair and Learning Circle is the first phase in a larger initiative to support the development and implementation of community-led projects on the topic of Indigenous gender and wellness.
The event will provide an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples and allies to meet, share ideas and work together to turn ideas into fundable projects. Projects developed at the workshop will be eligible to apply for future funding. Overall, CIHR has set aside approximately $8M in funding over five years to support these projects (pending approval).
Funds Available:
Travel awards of up to $5,000 are available to cover the costs of attending the Idea Fair and Learning Circle, which will be held in Montréal, located on the traditional unceded territory of the Kanien;keha:ka (Mohawk) people.
Who should apply:
Research experience is not a requirement; however researchers who meet the eligibility requirements are welcome and encouraged to apply.
To be eligible, you must either self identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) or provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally-safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples (learn more about eligibility requirements on our website). We welcome applications from adults of all ages and especially encourage young adults to apply.
You may choose to apply as an Idea Contributor and come with a potential project or idea to present to others.
Or you may come as an Idea Supporter if you do not have a specific project or idea to present, but would like to contribute towards advancing Indigenous wellness with a focus on gender.
Sample project ideas:
• Improving wellness among gender- and sexually-diverse Indigenous youth
• Gender-based violence affecting Indigenous Peoples
• Digital technology to support informal caregivers: Matching the tools to the needs
• Indigenous masculine identities and wellness
• Projects with a focus on the arts (e.g. visual, music, dance, theatre, literary or media, including the contemporary practice of traditionally-based forms)
• Applying SGBA+ to a modernized framework for the regulation of self-care products
These are ideas only. Your creativity is the limit!
This award honours full-time and sessional faculty, staff and other persons associated with the Faculty of Education who have made an outstanding contribution to the Teacher Education Program at UBC.
The recipient will receive a plaque along with a Pendleton blanket. In addition, the recipient’s name will be displayed in the Faculty alongside other recipients of the award.
The nomination package should include 3 letters of nomination that address the following criteria:
