New Media as a Platform for Indigenous Self-Representation and Socio-Political Activism: As Seen Through TimeTraveller™ and Skins

This research considers how Indigenous people utilize new media as an effective tool for representing themselves and to address socio-political issues. Aboriginal Territories in Cyber Space (AbTec) is an online networking project created by Indigenous artists Jason Lewis and Skawennati Fragnito. Two projects created through AbTeC, TimeTraveller, a machinima production, and Skins, a video game workshop for Indigenous youth will be the focus of this research. Each project addresses different issues such as historical conflicts, representations of Indigenous people, online Indigenous territory, combining traditional practices with contemporary platforms, and integrating Indigenous people into the field of new media. AbTec, TimeTraveller™ and Skins are important because they serve as examples of successful new media projects. This MRP argues that new media presents a unique opportunity to challenge dominant ideologies, utilize selfrepresentation to address socio-political issues, exert identity, and compliment culture

Old Ways of Knowing, New Ways of Playing — The Potential of Collaborative Game Design to Empower Indigenous Sámi

Eamiálbmogat leat stoahkan, speallan ja hutkan spealuid čađa historjjá. Sámekultuvrras stoahkan lea okta bajásgeassima oasáš ja vuohki sirdit ovddosguvlui ávnnasmeahttun kulturárbbi. Liikká máilmmis leat hui unnán dutkamušat dakkár spealuin, mat livčče boahtán njuolgga eamiálbmogiin, eandalit sápmelaččain. Digitála spealuid dutkamušaid mearri lea vel uhcit. Dutkamušaid vátnivuođa sáhttá čilget sámi digitálaspealuid vátnivuođain: dárbu iežasgielat mediasisdollui lea dovddastuvvon juo jagiid dassái, muhto liikká sámekultuvrii gullevaš digitála spealut leat dušše moattit. Rabas gažaldagat laktásit nappo resurssaide ja eandalit dahkkiide: gii dahká ja mo? Dutkamuša vuolggasadjin lea sámi oaidnu ja oktavuohta sámeservošii. Dutkamuš gieđahallá kvalitatiiva metodaid bokte spealloovddidandáhpáhusaid potentiála sámi kultuvrralaš iešolggosbuktima ovddideaddjin. Dutkamuš vuođđuduvvá sápmelaš speallan- ja stoahkanárbevirrui, sápmelaš bajásgeassima árvvuide, álgoálbmogiid speallandutkamuššii ja speallandáhpáhusaid eahpenjuolgga oahppama iešvuođaide. Dáid oainnuid vuođul lean hábmen váldo dutkangažaldaga: mo spealloovddidandáhpáhusaid bokte sáhttá doarjut sámiid iešolggosbuktima. Dutkamuša metodan lea álgoálbmotvuolggalaš etnografiija, man materiálan leat observeremat (guokte spealloovddidandáhpáhusa, main oktiibuot 57 oassálasti), online gažaldatskovit (N=5), videojearahallamat (N=7), spealut (N=16) ja dutki beaivegirjemerkestagat. Analysa dahkkui kvalitatiiva sisdoalloanalysa vugiiguin. Dutkamuš ráhkaduvai golmma oassedutkamušas. Vuosttas oassedutkamuš suokkardalai sosiála oahppama váikkuhusa Nuoraid spealloprogrammerenkurssas, mii ordnejuvvui Ohcejogas jagis 2017. Oassedutkamuš I bohtosat čájehedje, ahte diehtu huksejuvvo sosiála vuorrováikkuhusas ovttas ja ovttaveardásaččat sámi bajásgeassima dieđuhuksema prinsihpaguin. Oassedutkamuš I čujuhii dasa, ahte lea vejolaš ávkkástallat sosiála oahppama oassin spealloovddideami sámi kulturkonteavsttas. Oassedutkamušat II ja III guorahalle dárkileabbot sosiála spealloovddideami fenomena nu, ahte speadjalaste sámi bajásgeassima iešvuođaid speallodáhpáhusaid eahpenjuolgga oahppamii. Oassedutkamuš II gieđahalai gažaldagaid das, mo Sami Game Jam ordnejuvvui, makkár spealut buvttaduvvojedje ja mo game jam -formáhta ávkkuhii oassálastiid. Oassedutkamušas III dutkojuvvui dat, mainna vugiin speallodáhpáhusaid sáhttá atnit ávkin sámi revitalisašuvnna bargoneavvun. Bohtosat čájehit ahte spealloovddidandáhpáhusaid sosiálalaš iešvuohta heive bures oktii sámi máilmmioainnuin ja dieđu buvttademiin ja ná dat doarju kultuvrralaš iešovdanbuktima. Ráhkaduvvon spealut speadjalaste sápmelaš speallan- ja stoahkanárbevieru iešvuođaid otnábeaivve sápmelašvuođa oainnuid mielde. Sáhttá nappo čuoččuhit, ahte sápmelaččaid spealloovddideapmi lea kultuvrralaš iešvuohta, mii boahtá oidnosii, šaddá ja ovdána go oažžu saji. Bohtosiid vuođul ráhkaduvvui Eamiálbmogiid spealloráhkadeami málle (Indigenous game design model), mii govvida álgoálbmotvuolggalaš fámu digitála spealuin ja mii stivre spealloplánema. Málle vehkiin sáhttá guorahallat fámuiduvvama spealuin viđa oasi bokte: máinnasárbevierru, dálá beaivve vásáhusat, oahpahusat, giella sihke juohkin ja ovddideapmi, Málle dahká vejolažžan guorahallat eamiálbmotvuolggalaš spealloplánema proseassan ja dat čalmmustahttá spealloplánema kultuvrralaš mearkkašumi eamiálbmotkonteavsttas.Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have played and made games. In Sámi culture, playing is one of the many elements of education, as well as a platform for transmitting their intangible heritage. Yet research into games originating in the communities of Indigenous peoples, especially Sámi people, is quite sparse, and this is even more true concerning digital games. This lack of research can be explained to some extent by the modest number of digital Sámi games in existence. While the need for media content in the native languages of Sámi communities has been recognised for several years now, there is only a handful of games available in Sámi languages. Several questions arise, then, concerning the resources and especially the creating: who creates games, and how are those games created? This thesis is written from the Indigenous Sámi perspective, especially pertaining to the local context of Sámi people in Utsjoki. The thesis takes a qualitative approach to exploring the potential of game development events to empower the cultural selfexpression of Sámi people. Its starting points are the Sámi game and play tradition, Sámi educational values, game studies on Indigenous peoples, and indirect learning as a feature of game jams. These aspects form the basis for the general research question: in what ways can game development events enhance the cultural self-expression of Sámi people? The study relies on the method of Indigenous ethnography and its data is collected via observation (two game development events, involving a total of 57 participants), online questionnaires (N=5), video interviews (N=7), games (N=16), and researcher field journals. The analysis was data-oriented and conducted using qualitative content analysis. This study consists of three publications (I–III). Publication I examines the social aspects of learning in a game programming course for adolescents, which was organised in Utsjoki in 2017. The results of this first study show that knowledge is formed in social interaction, collectively, and as equals, following the principles of the Sámi educational tradition. The study also suggest that social learning could be successfully employed as a part of game development in the Sámi cultural context. Publications II and III explore the phenomenon of social game development more closely, by employing aspects from Sámi education as a framework for studying indirect learning in game jams. Publication II set out to examine how Sami Game Jam was organised, what kind of games were created, and in what ways the game jam format was beneficial to the participants. Publication III examines the ways in which the new digital collaboration format of game jams can serve as a tool for the revitalisation of Indigenous Sámi cultures. The results show that the social aspects of the game creating events work well with the Sámi worldview and methods of knowledge production, thus supporting cultural self-expression. Games created in the event reflect contemporary aspects of the game and play tradition of the Sámi. It can be argued, then, that for the Sámi, game creation is a cultural trait which flourishes when granted proper opportunities. Based on these results, the study introduces the Indigenous game design model, a model that describes the Indigenous empowerment concerning digital games and that guides the process of game development. With the help of this model, empowerment can be explored from five aspects: storytelling, contemporary experiences, teachings, language, and sharing and developing. The model enables the examination of Indigenous game development as a process and reveals the cultural importance of game designing in the Indigenous context.Alkuperäiskansat ovat leikkineet, pelanneet ja tehneet pelejä läpi historian. Saamelaisessa kulttuurissa leikki on yksi monista kasvatuksen elementeistä sekä aineettoman kulttuuriperinnön siirtoalustoista. Alkuperäiskansalähtöisten, erityisesti saamelaisten, pelien osalta tutkimusta on kuitenkin vähän jopa globaalisti, ja digitaalisten pelien tutkimusta vielä vähemmän. Tutkimuksen vähyyttä voidaan selittää saamelaisten digitaalisten pelien vähyydellä: tarve omankieliselle mediasisällölle on tunnustettu jo vuosia sitten, mutta silti saamelaiskulttuurilähtöisiä digitaalisia pelejä on olemassa vain kourallinen. Avoimet kysymykset liittyvät siis resursseihin ja erityisesti tekijyyteen: kuka tekee ja miten? Tutkimuksen lähtökohdat ovat saamelaisnäkökulma ja yhteys saamelaisyhteisöön. Tutkimus käsittelee laadullisin menetelmin pelinkehitystapahtumien potentiaalia saamelaisen kulttuurillisen itseilmaisun edistäjänä. Tutkimus pohjautuu saamelaiseen peli- ja leikkiperinteeseen, saamelaisen kasvatuksen arvoihin, alkuperäiskansojen pelitutkimukseen sekä pelijamien epäsuoran oppimisen piirteeseen. Näiden näkökulmien pohjalta muotoutuu päätutkimuskysymys: Millä tavoin pelinkehitystapahtumat voivat tukea saamelaisten itseilmaisua? Tutkimuksen menetelmänä on alkuperäiskansalähtöinen etnografia, jonka aineistona ovat observoinnit (kaksi pelinkehitystapahtumaa, joissa yhteensä 57 osallistujaa), verkkokyselylomakkeet (N=5), videohaastattelut (N=7), pelit (N=16) sekä tutkijan kenttäpäiväkirjat. Analyysi tehtiin aineistolähtöisesti laadullisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tutkimus koostui kolmesta osatutkimuksesta (I-III). Ensimmäisen osatutkimus tarkasteli sosiaalisen oppimisen ulottuvuutta Nuorten peliohjelmointikurssilla, joka järjestettiin Utsjoella vuonna 2017. Osatutkimus I:n tulokset osoittivat, että tietoa muodostetaan sosiaalisessa vuorovaikutuksessa yhdessä ja tasavertaisesti saamelaisen kasvatuksen tiedonrakentumisen periaatetta noudatellen. Osatutkimus I antoi viitteitä sosiaalisen oppimisen hyödynnettävyydestä osana pelinkehitystä saamelaisessa kulttuurikontekstissa. Osatutkimukset II ja III tarkastelivat sosiaalisen pelinkehittämisen ilmiötä lähemmin nivomalla saamelaisen kasvatuksen piirteitä viitekehykseksi pelijamien epäsuoraan oppimiseen. Osatutkimus II kysyi, kuinka Sami Game Jam järjestettiin, millaisia pelejä tuotettiin ja miten pelijamien formaatti hyödytti osallistujia. Osatutkimuksessa III tutkittiin, millä tavoin pelijameja voidaan hyödyntää saamelaisen revitalisaation työkaluna. Tulokset osoittavat, että pelinkehitystapahtumien sosiaalinen luonne sopii hyvin yhteen saamelaisen maailmankatsomuksen ja tiedon tuottamisen tavan kanssa tukien kulttuurista itseilmaisua. Luodut pelit heijastelivat saamelaisen peli- ja leikkiperinteen piirteitä tämän päivän saamelaisuuden näkökulmasta. Voidaan siis väittää, että saamelaisten pelinkehittäjyys on kulttuurillinen ominaisuus, joka tulee esiin, kasvaa ja kehittyy saadessaan tilaa. Tulosten pohjalta luotiin alkuperäiskansalähtöistä voimaantumista digitaalisissa peleissä kuvaava ja pelisuunnittelua ohjaava alkuperäiskansalähtöisen pelisuunnittelun malli. Mallin avulla voidaan tarkastella voimaantumista peleissä viiden osa-alueen kautta: tarinankerronta, tämän päivän kokemukset, opetukset, kieli sekä jakaminen ja kehittäminen. Malli mahdollistaa alkuperäiskansalähtöisen pelisuunnittelun tarkastelun prosessina ja tuo näkyväksi pelisuunnittelun kulttuurisen merkityksen alkuperäiskansakontekstissa

Culturally Responsive Computing for American Indian Youth: Making Activities With Electronic Textiles in the Native Studies Classroom

By providing access to hands-on activities and the physical and digital tools necessary to complete them, maker activities encourage cross-disciplinary, interest-driven learning and problem solving in schools. However, maker movement efforts to broaden participation into computer science have largely ignored Indigenous populations. In this dissertation, I examine how electronic textiles (e-textiles) materials connects to the heritage craft practices found in many Indigenous communities. By design, e-textiles materials combine low-tech craft practices like sewing with high-tech engineering and programming. Framing learning computing within these two distinct but overlapping cultural contexts provides youth will a familiar context in which to learn something new (programming), promotes positive identity development, and fosters connections across multiple dimensions of youth’s lives. At the core of this work is design-based research into the development and implementation of a three-week electronic textiles unit in gender-segregated Native Studies class with American Indian youth (12-14 years old) at a charter school located on tribal lands in the Southwest. This unit was implemented four times over the course of the school year. Findings highlight how different groups of students (American Indian girls and American Indian boys) engaged with e-textiles activities and how their perspectives on computing developed through participation in the unit. In addition, the teacher’s perspective on integrating digital technologies in the Native Studies classroom is explored within the context of contemporary Federal Indian educational policy and practice. This work makes three significant contributions to ethnography, computing education, and American Indian education. First, it proposes a new methodology through the integration of ethnography with design-based research and critical Indigenous research approaches. Second, it contributes to the emerging field of culturally responsive computing by exploring what happens when computing moves beyond the screen and into the tangible realm. Third, it furthers our understandings of the role of digital technologies in American Indian education, with a particular focus on how making activities might contribute to increased educational sovereignty for Indigenous peoples throughout the United States

The Effects Upon Students of Supplementing Aboriginal Post-Secondary Transition Programs With Traditional Cultural Activities

THE EFFECTS UPON STUDENTS OF SUPPLEMENTING ABORIGINAL POST-SECONDARY TRANSITION PROGRAMS WITH TRADITIONAL CULTURAL ACTIVITIES Karen Favell Department of Education University of Western Ontario ABSTRACT This study investigates Aboriginal student experiences in an Aboriginal transition program that was co-developed by the student-participants. Data was collected from participants in the study through a focus group, journals, and surveys. The results show that adding Aboriginal cultural activities to the curriculum improved the experience of students in the transition program. Students felt that their contributions were important and valued, that they learned more about their traditional culture, and that their contributions enhanced their experience in the program. Allowing Aboriginal students to participate in their own education empowers them and improves their overall educational experience. Keywords: transition programs, cultural activities, assimilation, traditional knowledge, curriculum development, cultural relevance, Aboriginal perspective, empowerment, social justic

Culturally Responsive Computing for American Indian Youth: Making Activities With Electronic Textiles in the Native Studies Classroom

By providing access to hands-on activities and the physical and digital tools necessary to complete them, maker activities encourage cross-disciplinary, interest-driven learning and problem solving in schools. However, maker movement efforts to broaden participation into computer science have largely ignored Indigenous populations. In this dissertation, I examine how electronic textiles (e-textiles) materials connects to the heritage craft practices found in many Indigenous communities. By design, e-textiles materials combine low-tech craft practices like sewing with high-tech engineering and programming. Framing learning computing within these two distinct but overlapping cultural contexts provides youth will a familiar context in which to learn something new (programming), promotes positive identity development, and fosters connections across multiple dimensions of youth’s lives. At the core of this work is design-based research into the development and implementation of a three-week electronic textiles unit in gender-segregated Native Studies class with American Indian youth (12-14 years old) at a charter school located on tribal lands in the Southwest. This unit was implemented four times over the course of the school year. Findings highlight how different groups of students (American Indian girls and American Indian boys) engaged with e-textiles activities and how their perspectives on computing developed through participation in the unit. In addition, the teacher’s perspective on integrating digital technologies in the Native Studies classroom is explored within the context of contemporary Federal Indian educational policy and practice. This work makes three significant contributions to ethnography, computing education, and American Indian education. First, it proposes a new methodology through the integration of ethnography with design-based research and critical Indigenous research approaches. Second, it contributes to the emerging field of culturally responsive computing by exploring what happens when computing moves beyond the screen and into the tangible realm. Third, it furthers our understandings of the role of digital technologies in American Indian education, with a particular focus on how making activities might contribute to increased educational sovereignty for Indigenous peoples throughout the United States

Expanding the magic circle in pervasive casual play

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em InformáticaIn this document we present proposals for merging the fictional game world with the real world taking into account the profile of casual players. To merge games with reality we resorted to the creation of games that explore di-verse real world elements. We focused on sound, video, physiological data, ac-celerometer data, weather and location. We made the choice for these real world elements because data, about those elements, can be acquired making use of functionality already available, or foreseen in the near future, in devices like computers or mobile phones, thus fitting the profile of casual players who are usually not willing to invest in expensive or specialized hardware just for the sake of playing a game. By resorting to real world elements, the screen is no longer the only focus of the player’s attention because reality also influences the outcome of the game. Here, we describe how the insertion of real world elements affected the role of the screen as the primary focus of the player’s attention. Games happen inside a magic circle that spatially and temporally delimits the game from the ordinary world. J. Huizinga, the inventor of the magic circle concept, also leaves implicit a social demarcation, separating who is playing the game from who is not playing the game [1]. In this document, we show how the insertion of real world elements blurred the spatial, temporal and social limits, in our games. Through this fusion with the ordinary world, the fictional game world integrates with reality, instead of being isolated from it. We also present an analysis about integration with the real world and context data in casual en-tertainment.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - grant SFRH/BD/61085/200

Cultural Constructionism: an Indigenous Computing Experience

This dissertation is a semi-longitudinal investigation of the design, application and evaluation of a novel abstraction of two learning theories - William Demmert, Culture-Based Education and Seymour Papert, Constructionism, to form “Cultural Constructionism.” This study was driven by an interest to explore the linkage between cultural history and computing history and how they interplay in mind, culture, history and activity, in an effort to understand why there are so few Indigenous students in computing. This study investigates the potential of a learning theory that responds to Indigenous culture to support learning activities that can increase interest in the computing sciences. The theory was used to guide the design of a computing workshop and to test the application of the theory in an intervention. The workshop provided the opportunity to observe and investigate its effects upon ten Indigenous high school students, who participated during the summer of 2010. The students’ responses from discussion sessions that formed part of the workshop and during interviews at the end of the workshop were recorded. The ten students were tracked between 2010 and 2015 to observe their choices for further education. During the passage of time, one student did choose computing as a subject of study.In 2015 four of the students agreed to be interviewed, later one declined to allow his responses to be used in this research. These interviews contain the students’ reflections on the effects of workshop, and their views on the matters discussed during the workshop. The results suggest that the Cultural Constructionism theory is useful in structuring educational activities in computing for Indigenous students. It shine a light on many challenges in the lives of Indigenous students, and suggest that the workshop had value for the participants in responding to these challenges beyond providing knowledge of computing

Eye on Collaborative Creativity : Insights From Multiple-Person Mobile Gaze Tracking in the Context of Collaborative Design

Early Career WorkshopNon peer reviewe

Beyond game worlds: Story-ing storied space & the hope-full endeavour

This thesis explores the entangled stories in software artefacts and design. An apparently simple problem of participation in a digital approach to telling cross-cultural stories and communicating identity through use of game making software reveals potential dilemmas in the wider fields of participatory culture and new literacies, participatory design and contemporary approaches to designing. The thesis weaves a research narrative around six publications. By questioning the possibilities of crafting digital environments, that genuinely keep, tell, and reflect the experience of diverse cultural groups, the research demonstrates that the way design tells stories about itself is an increasingly important object of study

Collaborative video game design work and diversity

The video game design industry is one of the most significant fields for both producing and using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) today. Many industry leaders, researchers, and players continue to argue that diverse representation in both games and the workforce matters for the health of the industry and for an equitable society. Very little research thus far, however, has directly considered how to better support diversity within collaborative video game design work. I identified three concrete areas to study diversity within this field (understanding the structure of organizations, understanding collaborative work tool selection and use, and broadening the participation of underrepresented and marginalized groups) and developed three corresponding research questions. I addressed these questions by employing qualitative methods of multi-sited ethnography, digital ethnography, and modified grounded theory. I conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with game designers in different job roles within 19 different organizations; these interviews drew out instances related to diversity in participants’ daily practices and experiences. I then analyzed all interview data using an iterative process of thematic analysis, guided by my modified grounded theory approach. I inductively developed a list of salient structural features of participants’ video game design organizations that is directly based on their discussions, including: size, task division and allocation, coordination, decision making, and recruitment and hiring. I additionally developed a list of significant rationales for how and/or why particular tools were selected, including: fitting an existing workflow; size; cost; the influence of upper management; ubiquity or industry standard; ease of use; and familiarity with the tool. Both of these ontologies can be used to examine specific effects of diversity within an organization and to suggest changes accordingly. In addition to these conceptual contributions, I generated concrete recommendations that can be used to support the inclusion of underrepresented and marginalized groups within video game design organizations; these suggestions emphasize a need to place diverse people in diverse positions within an organization and to overcome the hiring conundrum. The conceptual and practical contributions of this dissertation can therefore positively impact diverse stakeholders within the video game industry and related research fields.Informatio