Live Webcast With Students In Iqaluit, Nunavut.
Live Webcast With Students In Iqaluit, Nunavut.
On Wednesday October 29th, 2003, Assumption College students and some special guests got to experience something that was awesome, informative and rare!Using a Canadian Government runned program on the internet, we were given the opportunity to do a live webcast with students in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
It first started off when our school was selected for Southwestern Ontario to submit a question to be answered by the students involved in the webcast. Mrs. Lenz, received the package and decided to involve Mr. White, a physical education teacher, who has first hand experience and family members of the First Nations descent. The question that they submitted was, "In Southern Ontario, we play many traditional and non-traditional sports. Some examples of this are snowsnake, lacrosse, hockey, basketball, soccer and track and field. What traditional and non-traditional sports are played in your community?"
Beginning the presentation at around 1:00 everyone logged onto their computers to fill out a pre-webcast survey on the Government website. "When you think about Aboriginal youth your age, what comes to mind? Write down two (2) words or phrases that represent your impression of Aboriginal youth", was a sample question and also, "When you think of Aboriginal youth your age would you say they have more things in common with you or more things that are different than you?"
At 1:25, as a class we logged onto the website and began the presentation by viewing a slideshow of Iqaluit and their town. Having jazz music in the background, it showed pictures of their banks, grocery stores, their airport, their land, cultures, and special features to them. After the slide show finished,1:30 the presentation began. At the beginning it was a little hard to hear and it cut out a few times so you missed what they were saying but they began with an overview of their town and just told us about the differences in their grocery stores or teenager hang out places compared to ours.
Following the overview, we watched and listened as questions were asked of the students and they answered the best they could. Our question was one of the first ones asked and we found out that
they play most of the same sports, basketball, volleyball, soccer, hockey but they have a few games that are special to them. Also, we heard about their culture and its importance in society. We also heard that the value their language and use it regularly. Having only 500 students in their local highschool and 2,300 people in their town most of their town is young so the community has focused on building the community around them.
Many of us previous to the presentation all had our own opinions about Nunavut and what exactly we thought it would be like. However, our opinions changed for sure after this webcast. When we heard that they don't have much or any grass, their summer is around negative ten degrees Celsius and they only have 2,300 people in Iqaluit. Also, seeing them in winter coats outside and hearing all the wind in September made us just think about the huge range of temperature difference alone. Mr. White shows this point, "I think that there culture is very different in the fact that they live in a small community with very few trees and extremes in temperature to the point of -70 degrees. However, they are very similar in that they want to have fun and stay in communication with the rest of the world."
This opportunity allowed us to view how other people live in our country and the various aspects of daily life that ranges so much. We were able to actually see and hear how they live and not just assume. The presentation was amazing and it is something that most of us will never forget. "The Webcast was very interesting seeing other people in another province, seeing how they live in their society compared to ours," said Lindsay Vamos.
Jamie Clarke said, "I thought that the webcast was very interesting. It was neat to be able to see what the culture is like in Iqaluit and to be able to see it live over the internet made it that much more interesting." However, Mike VanBerlo felt that, "The webcast was interesting but should have covered more information that interested a younger audience such as fashion and sports."
To learn more about this webcast, you can visit the government website and perhaps you can take part in the Live Webcast from Mashteuiatsh, Quebec on November 28, 2003 and you can learn about the different cultures and how lifestyles can vary so much in one county!
