A Spark that Lights the Fire

Does technology shape culture or does a culture shape technology?

Both are true. Over the past 100 years western culture has transformed itself through the successive introduction of telephone, television and Internet technologies. Through each phase, technology has shaped how we see ourselves. But how we see ourselves has also shaped our next generation of technology.

For Canada's northern First Nation communities a similar phenomena has been unfolding in a parallel but contrasting manner. What they have experienced and learned from their process is providing the rest of Canada with insight into mainstream technology adoption processes and with alternative models for facilitating education, healthcare and social interaction.

Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS – http://kihs.knet.ca) is a unique Internet High School that combines the most valuable elements of the instructor lead classroom experience with those of more conventional Internet based training techniques. Students come together each day in classrooms located in small widely dispersed communities across Northwestern Ontario, to share a space with other students and to obtain the guidance of a classroom instructor. Punctuality, dress code and social responsibility are all part of their daily experience in a manner quite similar to what any traditional high school student would expect. However when the time comes to change classrooms for specialized instruction, they turn instead to their Internet terminal.

Each classroom instructor plays a dual role. For the students within their physical classroom, they are mentor, instructor and disciplinarian. For students located in other classrooms within the KiHS network, they provide specialized instruction in subjects like science, Native studies, math and English, all delivered using Internet based content and all evaluated on the basis of assignments and tests submitted by the students over Internet connections. In-person support and direction are always available from the in-class instructor, but the specialized content and evaluation comes from the remote teaching specialists.

What makes this model different from other Internet High Schools is that the service is not remotely hosted and delivered in a way where a student could be considered to be "a subscriber". Rather it is a cooperative internet-based school where a collection of relatively normal classrooms, separated by hundreds or in some cases thousands of miles, interact with one another almost as if they were located in one physical building. The institution is self-contained in that instructors and students all work within one institution, creating an environment and curriculum tailored to the needs, interests and values of the communities and students which they serve.

The real story behind KiHS is not just how it works, but that it is a cultural adaptation of an application, based on technology that was completely unknown to these communities as little as five years ago. When the Chiefs of Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO), came to FedNor in 1999 and suggested that a broadband network could be the solution to their challenges in healthcare and education, Carl Seibel, telecommunication officer for FedNor recalls that, "At first we were quite doubtful that communities that didn't have telephone service would be able to make effective use of videoconferencing."

Since overcoming that first doubt, investors at Industry Canada’s First Nations SchoolNet and FedNor have been rewarded


2002/2003 Graduating Class at Keewaywin High

with a success story that continues to outstrip their wildest expectations. The spark that ignited KiHS in the seven First Nations communities north of Sioux Lookout, is now spreading to other First Nations communities across Northern Ontario and Northern Canada.

Craig Hardy a KiHS teacher working out of Fort Williams says, "KiHS is the opportunity that we needed to bring education back into our communities so that students can have the support of their parents and community as they learn. We are involving not only our students, but their parents as well in the educational process. We are literally teaching parents how to support their children. When students know that their parents care about their school work, they are a lot more motivated to learn!"

Brian Walmark, Coordinator of the KO Research Institute (http://research.knet.ca), pointing to the too often forgotten fact that First Nations veterans were the most decorated soldiers in the First and Second World Wars, says that KiHS and the KNET initiatives are providing an opportunity to inject much more culturally relevant information into First Nations curriculum. He went on to explain, "The KiHS program will help our students maintain an equal footing with mainstream Canadians and enable them to qualify for university and medical schools without the support of specialized programs previously required to prepare them for these challenges.”

About KiHS

KiHS was born in the fall of 2000 with three First Nation classrooms offering Grade 9 courses using a conferencing bulletin board system. Early phase deployment was carried out under the keen eye of the Ontario Ministry of Education, since KiHS was the first private Internet high school in Ontario to deliver Ministry accredited courses.

Year 2 saw the addition of five more First Nation classrooms, planning for the start of a Grade 10 program, and the introduction of the WebCT e-learning environment. Also in year 2, work was initiated on the ZED e-learning environment. ZED is an open source e-learning platform designed specifically for the needs of KiHS students and teachers.

First Nation e-learning initiatives continue to expand from the KiHS initiative and the innovative use of ICTs in First Nations. Industry Canada’s First Nations SchoolNet funds a national network of Regional Management Organizations (RMOs). Each RMO works with the First Nation schools in their region and supports the development and operation of broadband connections, as well as the innovative use of ICTs to expand opportunities for students living in remote and rural communities in their region. For example a program is now being delivered which assists Grade 8 students become better prepared for high school. The program facilitates the on-line delivery of supplementary courses for Grade 8 science, math and English (see: http://g8.firstnationschools.ca) using the Moodle open source e-learning platform.

Through the RMO network, First Nation groups across Canada are now collaborating to develop an online e-learning environment for First Nation learners. Collaboration between groups is being facilitated through the use of broadband IP video conferencing and the selection of a common open source development platform (see: http://moodle.org)

Funding and support for KiHS is provided by its partners including each of the participating First Nations, Keeewaytinook Okimakanak, Indian and Northern Affairs which provides the annual operational dollars for the high school, Industry Canada through the Smart Communities project, FedNor and the First Nations SchoolNet program.

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