Final Site!

FINALLY!!! After all the word work our site is finally done. After taking into consideration all the comments we got from our peers as well as Professor Ross, I believe the final site is looking better than what we initially showed the class during our presentation. Creating a website is no joke, but I can definitely say working with a partner was worth it. Enjoy. http://cfinamor.wix.com/coastalbcaboriginals

Jeremy’s Project Review

As part of the Chapbooks crew, Jeremy has decided to focus his attention on Scottish national identity and their relationship with Scotch Whisky between the late 18th cent and early 19th cent. He is looking more at the attitudes, of how prohibition affected Scottish attitudes towards scotch, especially on the ground level. During their presentation, I came to the realization that studying the Chapbooks would give one a good indication of what Scottish society was like during the time such stories were being written. Also, known as toilet reading, they were sold by traders/merchants  and touched upon a lot of genres such as romance, comedy, hymns etc. The Chapbooks during their time of popularity were very accessible and were written by common folk such as peddlers, rather than referring to common history, which tends to omit the voice of the subaltern the Chapbooks brings their voice to light.

As a primary source, one is getting a direct account of how life was like for many. Digitizing such accounts in my opinion would be very beneficial for those who are interested in Scottish history but are unable to access such direct primary sources. History should be accessible, and the internet is allowing for that happen. By using OMECA, Jeremy is planning on creating a cohesive online exhibition distinctly focusing on his personal choice of research. The University of Guelph has a pretty exemplary Chapbooks collection but there is always room for more research, therefore by digitizing such stories those of us who are interested in learning more about the histories of different cultures but may not have the right tools to start our own research can refer to the work being done by our peers and continue from there.

Project Update

courtneyfinamore

As the week has progressed, Bintou and I have come quite far in organizing our project. We have made some important decisions on how we are going to complete the task we have set out for ourselves.

We want to explore the First Nations of British Columbia and their migration patterns within regions. We hope to uncover the trends of movement between rural and urban populations over time and determine possible reasons for the trends. Another area that will be interesting to explore is movement on and off of reserves. Some possible motivators for migration may include opportunities for employment or education, among many others.

Our plan is to create an interactive map tracking this movement during a certain time period by geographical region. Ideally we would show the migration trends through the years, accompanied by a text component explaining the possible motivators and reasons for the migration. If we…

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Review of Vanessa’s Project

For her final project Vanessa is working on creating an interactive map depicting her family history and also potentially creating a digital scrapbook. I found this project idea to be very interesting because for 1) it is a personal task involving one learning about where they come from and 2) i find it empowering that her grandparents were able to maintain their ties to their country even while creating a new life for themselves in Canada. Family history projects are particularly difficult because acquiring the necessary information can be daunting. Often times one requires primary sources, and primary documents can be very challenging to acquire and challenging to decipher. Vanessa has already experienced such limitations because the documents she has come across are written in German, and she mentioned she wasn’t fluent in German. Luckily one of our classmates is fluent in German and was able to help her out in reading the document.

Although, information may be hard to come by, I do think by challenging herself she will get great fulfillment in this work due to the fact that she is learning about herself along the way. Some of the resources she mentioned, facilitating her approach along the way are Adobe Dreamweaver. This particular resource was not her favorite because it was hard to use. She also mentioned Bamboo Dirt, and seemed to find it very helpful. Finding the right/most useful resource to use in order to format her findings can be difficult but she seems to be on the right track. I also think her idea of creating a digital scrapbook will be really beneficial and generally very interactive, if she does have the time she should definitely pursue that particular avenue because I feel it will really add an extra layer of great content to her project.

Social Networking

Social Networking has become a crucial part in our daily forms of communication. Sites such as twitter and Facebook are no longer randomly visited sights, but are basically communities where people develop long lasting relationships and can now be categorized as a ‘place’ where ‘culture’ is learned. Information is constantly flowing and one does not need to refer to the newspaper or TV to get their daily dose of worldly issues, these sites have now become tools of truth, somewhat blurring the lines between what is real and what is virtual. I for one one enjoy both twitter and Facebook because they keep me connected. The constant status updates can get annoying at times but that is part of the social networking culture. I tend to follow those who use twitter for educational purposes and to keep me updated on current issues.

I am currently following  @africanhistory (https://twitter.com/africanhistory), for anyone interested in African History, and have been following him for a while. I find his tweets to be very educational because everyday one is given a historical lesson corresponding to the current date. Although they are only tidbits of information, additional links are always added giving the reader an option to expand on their knowledge. I find this method to be effective because information is readily available and quick to decipher. Also, the person behind the account engages with his followers and answers questions pertaining to whatever he tweets about. This makes learning a lot more interactive in my opinion and quick, information between those engaging in dialogue is delivered rapidly, cutting down on waiting time. Since historical information can be quite heavy, and sometimes tedious to absorb, social networks such as twitter and Facebook provide an alternative method of ‘reading’ info. This can also be problematic because people are no longer taking the time to do extensive research and are no longer getting  the full scope on the topics they are reading about BUT what these accounts tend to do are provide the curious mind with information and in a way potentially stem ignorance.  Since majority of us are fortunate enough to have access to all these networks one can never blame their ignorance due to a lack of information but because they didn’t take it upon themselves to do their research.

Project II

As mentioned in my previous post, I was thinking about focusing on the migration patterns of our First Nation communities in Canada. After receiving wonderful feedback from a classmate, I have decided to narrow my search to the groups situated in the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. BC is home to about a number of different linguistic and cultural groups who tend to share similar social and cultural structures. Whilst doing my research I have come across very minimal data, mapping out migration patterns from rural to urban areas. It has been noted that many of the First Nation communities living in the coastal regions have a historical  trajectory of being semi-urban therefore making the transition from rural to urban somewhat successful. Research has also shown that 42% of the registered Indians live off-reserve and the population of registered bands: Definition- (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/band)- “has become urbanized because they are located adjacent to or within urban centres.” (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/urban-migration-of-native-people)

I also found it interesting that Aboriginal women tended to migrate into urban centers more so often than aboriginal men. According to the (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/urban-migration-of-native-people), approximately 54% of the urban Aboriginal migrants are women, who tend to go further in school and accept steady paying jobs regardless of it’s low salary. I think focusing on women and their urban migration patterns should be a lot easier to tackle. I would like to know why women are increasingly migrating to urban centers at such a young age  and the types of jobs they are finding. Although i seem to have  a semi clear idea of the direction I want to take, i am quite unsure of how to format this project. So far research is going well but it could be better and for now I think its time i start sorting out through data and trying to make sense out of the information.

Project

I am still having a difficult time trying to figure what it is I want my project to be. I have searching google, as a means for some inspiration as well as to get an idea of the types of projects people are working on, but at this point nothing. I know for a fact that I would like to tackle a developmental issue, maybe focus on the First Nations communities in Canada or south of the border, identify geographical factors that may influence their poverty levels eg. lack of near by health care facilities etc. I could also potentially look at cultural factors that may influence poverty levels hindering “development”. 

I think it would also be very interesting to observe the migratory patterns of our First Nations communities and analyze where most of them are situated. Why are they situated in certain areas? What factors have caused certain communities historically to migrate from one area to another? War? Famine? Unfavorable geographic conditions? These are all questions I am trying to sort out so I can narrow my focus on a single topic. So far this is a tentative topic and I am not sure if I am going to continue with it, but writing this entry has actually given me time to really think about this particular project. From hereon hopefully ideas will start flowing.   

Free Education…really?

Many of us agree that education or the freedom to access quality education is a human right, yet in our society often times ones social status determines the level and quality of education they are able to attain. Although we are privileged enough to be part of an institution of higher education and may one day reap the rewards of such, I think it is safe to say that quality education is definitely not cheap. Therefore wouldn’t it be amazing if we had an alternative, a system where one could access high standards of education without being burdened by their financial insecurities. The Khan Academy seems to be just that.

For this weeks assignment, I decided to explore the Khan Academy which is an interactive site of learning where anyone and everyone can learn almost anything for free. According to the academy their mission is to “provide a world class education to anyone, anywhere” (Khanacademy.org).  The site was started by Salman Khan in 2006 a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School as a non-profit organization, and has really grown as a leader in the realm of online interactive learning. The site provides a range of topics such as math, Science & Economics, Computer Science, Humanities and Test Prep. Under all these sub headings the user can narrow his/her focus by choosing a specific topic to learn eg. under the sub heading math, it’s broken down into 12 sub categories including algebra, geometry, calculus etc. (https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra/solving-linear-equations-and-inequalities)  Rather then relying on an external source to determine your success on a particular subject the Khan Academy gives you the opportunity to take learning into your own hands and personalize it according to your own needs.

I was very impressed by the vast of knowledge the site was able to offer, not only that, it was very easy to navigate and user friendly. Also, because it is a non profit organization and the majority of their funding is generated through donation, due to this it is important to note that many people find the site beneficial and therefore feel that their money is being well invested. Many of our daily activities are increasingly being done  through a computer screen and although I am a huge proponent of good old fashion human interaction, I am not opposed to the wonders offered by the digital world. The Khan Academy in my opinion is quite revolutionary because it’s beginning to bridge the gap between the educated and the “non” educated. Yes, it requires internet access and requires one to have access to a computer BUT innovative ideas such as these are preludes to what can be.  If I had known such a site existed in my first year I probably would have forgone a lot of sleepless nights struggling over economics.

Tutorial about Ancient and Medieval History:  https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/ancient-medieval

GIS- African Development?

Whilst conducting research about particular GIS projects/programs around the world, I was genuinely confused about what this term exactly meant. Being a development student, we are constantly bombarded with multiple forms of acronyms which tend to get lost in translation. As I did further research and finally found the meaning behind GIS I narrowed my search and focused on how GIS could potentially be a leader in propelling African development.

As many African Nations are increasingly becoming involved in the global market at a very fast rate, the notion of “development” is no longer an abstract idea confined to the Global North. GIS has become integrated within the national agendas of many African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Uganda just to name a few. For example in Ethiopia under the project “Information for City Development” city agencies/officials have used GIS technology to collect geographical data of communities in an attempt to redevelop and redefine urban planning. The city of Addis Abeba, known as the capital of Ethiopia was built in an unplanned manner inhabiting approximately 3 million residents with 400,000 housing units, a great deal of which were in the form of slums and illegal housing settlements. With the rise of urban migration, and cities become increasingly urbanized, it is important for urban planners to have the necessary technology available to redevelop such densely populated regions.

GIS is also being used as a tool to monitor communicable diseases within the African region. It’s ability to spatially map out the affect health care services has on a particular region or lack thereof is an important tool in redefining the health care sector in Africa. Although economic development is the ultimate goal for many African nations, with economic development often times comes environmental degradation, therefore it is imperative for nations to find a balance between the two. GIS technology is increasingly being used for conservatory practices. With it’s ability to produce detailed maps, one is able to get a better understanding of the effects of human impact on the environment and how sustainable methods can be employed in ensuring that development is done in a tolerable manner.

For more info visit: http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/gis-for-africa.pdf