Media.Knet.Ca

Let's Talk: Global Communications, Innovation, and Participatory Videoconferencing

December 9, 2004 : 8am to 2pm, and 6pm to Midnight EST (GMT-5)

Join us in December for a truly interactive global event. Presentations this year will include not just talks, but also musical events, dramatizations, and any other form of interactive communication. All presentations will be strongly encouraged to take advantage of the interactive possibilities in videoconferencing, by engaging with the registered participants, presenting from multiple locations, or by any other means that take advantage of this multiway, real-time communication technology in research and education.

About the Megaconference http://www.megaconference.org/

Each year, the Megaconference occurs as a result of a tremendous amount of volunteer effort and good will, with the goal of connecting people together everywhere on Earth where someone chooses to participate, in order to further the use of videoconferencing in education and research and to advance of the state of the art in videoconferencing technology.

On the chosen date, speakers from across the globe share their latest real-world uses of H.323 videoconferencing, while using H.323 videoconferencing to do so. The audience consists of:

· Active participants who have access to advanced Internet connectivity and an H.323 videoconferencing endpoint, and
· Observers who watch the simultaneous stream using a web browser and freely available stream players.

If you would like to join Megaconference VI as an active participant, please register by the deadline. If you would like to observe this year's Megaconference, please visit our streaming page. If you would like to participate as a volunteer in any way for this or the next Megaconference, please feel free to contact us.

The Technology

A system of distributed, H.323 multipoint control units (MCUs) located around the world will be cascaded together to create a cutting-edge Internet videoconference infrastructure. For more, visit our MCU page.

The Email List

If you wish to subscribe to the Megaconference email list, simply send Bob Dixon an email, telling him briefly who you are and that you wish to join the list. Great practical discussions on H.323 issues occur on this list.

Call for Proposals: Submit Your Proposal Here

Registration is Open: Register to Participate Here

We hope to see you on December 9 for a global conference from a world of locations

Come Join our Videoconference and Open House ...

Find out more about the

Native Early Childhood Education Diploma Program

and

First Nation Business Administration Certificate Program

These programs are offered by Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute in partnership with Cambrian college and will begin in January 2005.

The modular format -- two intensive on-campus sessions each semester with independent work between sessions -- is designed to provide maximum flexibility. Earn a certificate or diploma while remaining employed in your home community. Oshki-Pimache-O-Win also provides students with support to ensure successful completion of their chosen program.

Join us by videoconference or in person at the Institute to find out more about these programs and how to register!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

3p.m. or 5p.m. EST

Call (807) 346-2770 for more information

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute
is now accepting registrations for the

First Nation Business Administration
Certificate Program

(January 2005 Intake)

The First Nation Business Administration Certificate Program is a one-year, two semester program, delivered in partnership with Cambrian College, that provides a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience that will:

• Increase human resource capacity within the First Nation communities and Aboriginal organizations
• Increase employment opportunities for graduates through development of up-to-date, marketable skills
• Offer graduates eligibility for advanced standing when entering diploma or degree programs
• Allow flexibility and access to employed students through the use of a modular format—two intensive on-campus sessions per semester
• Student support services to help ensure student success

Course List

• Intro. to Accounting
• Mathematics of Finance
• Bus. Communications I
• First Nation Funding Arrangements
• Spreadsheet Mgmt.
• Managerial Accounting
• Organizational Behaviour
• Writing Fundamentals
• Intro. to Marketing I
• Intro. to Marketing II
• Bus. Mathematics
• First Nation Human Resource Mgmt. I
• Intro. to Computer Competency

Enroll Now!!!
Call (807) 346-2770 or 1-866-636-7454 (toll free) for more information

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute
is now accepting registrations for the

Native Early Childhood Education
Diploma Program

(January 2005 Intake)

The NECEP is a two-year, four semester program offered in partnership with Cambrian College, that provides a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience.

Students will:

• travel to Thunder Bay to participate in two 2-week on-campus sessions per semester
• earn their ECE certification for employment in licensed child care settings
• develop knowledge and skills to organize and maintain a safe, stimulating learning
• environment to ensure the child's total development.
• examine the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth of the child

1. Graduates may be eligible for advanced standings when entering other diploma or degree programs
2. The modular delivery provides students with the flexibility of earning a NECE diploma while remaining employed in their home community
3. Oshki-Pimache-O-Win provides students with support services to help ensure student success

Course List

Semester 1

• Writing Fundamentals: Home Study
• Introductory Computer Skills
• Child Growth & Development 1
• Fieldwork Seminar 1
• Interpersonal Communications
• Methods 1
• Introductory Ojibwa

Semester 2

• College Writing
• Aboriginal Language in Programming
• Methods 2: Curriculum Planning
• Child Growth & Development 2: Lifespan
• Health & Nutrition
• Intermediate Ojibwa
• Fieldwork 2

Semester 3

• College Writing 2
• Job Search Skills: Home Study
• Parenting and Relationships
• Exceptional Child
• Native Culture 3
• Fieldwork 3

Semester 4

• Personal Wellness
• Contemporary Native Concerns
• Infant Care
• Methods 4: Program Management
• Child Abuse
• Fieldwork Seminar 2
• Day Care in the Community

Enroll Now!!!
Call 346-2770 for more information

Geordi Kakepetum, Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Executive Director, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Paul Minister presenting a strategy to complete the work required to support all First Nations to develop local broadband infrastructure and uses for the network. Click here to read the entire letter and the AFN resolution (117K PDF). Hopefully other Aboriginal communities and organizations will send similar letters to the federal government encouraging further investment and development in these ICT tools.

"At the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) gathering in Charlottetown this past summer the attached Chiefs’ resolution (First Nation Telecommunication Technologies and Broadband Infrastructure) was tabled by Chief Raymond Mason from Keewaywin First Nation. The resolution recognizes the socio-economic importance of broadband connectivity in First Nations across the country. It directs the AFN leadership to ensure that Industry Canada (both regional and national programs) complete the job of ensuring that all Aboriginal communities have the opportunity to develop and maintain their own broadband infrastructure. The resolution also clarifies the role that other Federal government departments such as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and Health Canada need to undertake by supporting local and regional applications such as telehealth, e-learning, and e-commerce to ensure the ongoing sustainability of these community broadband networks. ...

It is important that any investment by the Federal government in the development of local broadband infrastructure, includes parallel investments in the ongoing development and operation of the different applications that address local needs. Strategic investments by INAC, Health Canada, Human Resource Development, Canadian Heritage supporting local broadband networks are required so they can remain sustainable. There are no federal or provincial programs that provide the necessary funds to maintain the operation of these services. This gap in funding must be addressed and eliminated.

There are various pilot projects that fund innovative services such as the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth Initiative or the Keewaytinook Internet High School. But these innovative projects are at risk unless operational funds are supported by the appropriate departments. Strategic capital investment from FedNor and other partners have made it possible to introduce local telemedicine, teleradiology, high school programs and other applications but now the need and challenge is to ensure the ongoing operation of these services.

The Auditor General noted in several reports about the challenges that First Nation communities are faced with as they try to work with the department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Effective use of these new information communication technologies (ICTs) by INAC, Health Canada and First Nations will support the development of improved local services and opportunities. But these improvements will only occurred if these departments and their staff have the program dollars required to support the ongoing operation of these technologies and the broadband connections so the services can be sustained.

Today, federal regional agencies such as FedNor have the flexibility to compliment other programs such BRAND, that supports First Nations in completing the necessary local infrastructure builds. This type of program flexibility ensures that all communities, even those with limited financial and human resources are now able to compete for broadband infrastructure and develop local applications that address local needs. The National Satellite Initiative is supporting local regional economic opportunities through partnerships such as the Kativik Regional Government in northern Quebec with funding support from CED and their work with Keewaytinook Okimakanak in northern Ontario with strategic infrastructure investments by FedNor that now make satellite broadband available in nearly 30 remote Aboriginal communities in these inter-provincial regions. ..."

First published in Thunder Bay’s Chronicle-Journal newspaper on Saturday, October 16, 2004 (Page A7) as a Guest Column by Geordi Kakepetum, Keewaytinook Okimakanak’s Executive Director.

As Thunder Bay Telephone adopts a new course ("TbayTel aims to keep up with times" - C-J, Sept 29), it’s important to consider some of the opportunities that information communication technologies (ICTs) offer for community-based development.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak (the Northern Chiefs Council) was created more than 10 years ago to bring support services and other applications including connectivity and ICTs to our member First Nation communities in Ontario’s Far North. Back then, many of our communities did not even have residential telephone service. Our leadership understood that a technological revolution was taking place that we could not afford to miss.

To learn more, our chiefs travelled by bus to witness a demonstration of tele-medicine in Ottawa. They watched as a cardiologist at the Heart Institute diagnosed a patient in the Northwest Territories. Our leadership immediately saw the potential of such a tool to imporove the lives of people in Ontario’s Far North.

Since then, Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) (http://knet.ca) has become a leader in First Nation connectivity and telecommunications. We operate KNet Services (http://smart.knet.ca), a community-based telecommunications network, KO Telehealth (http://telehealth.knet.ca), and KiHS (http://kihs.knet.ca) to name just a few. Each of these applications was developed by our communities to address local needs.

I would like to share with you how education has changed in Ontario’s Far North because of this. Historically, our children had to leave their families and communities after they finished elementary school if they wanted to continue their education at high school in Sioux Lookout, Kenora or Thunder Bay. Not surprising many of these young people ran into trouble as they struggled to deal with the challenges of urban life.

Most of our communities simply could not support a full high school program because populations are small. Those communities with enough students to support a high school program could only afford to hire one or maybe two teachers. Like all rural and remote schools, our programs could not provide the full range of curriculum options that urban students take for granted. Further, it was difficult to hire and retain teachers to work under such conditions.

Keewaytinook Internet High School (http://kihs.knet.ca) was created by our communities to address each of these challenges. KiHS now offers Grade 9 and 10 courses for those who wish to remain home for the first two years of high school.

KiHS is not a "cyber school" where teachers and students can only interact with each other via e-mails and web pages. KiHS is a high school with classrooms located in the thirteen partner First Nation communities across Northwestern Ontario.

KiHS students attend a regular classroom each day under the direction of a teacher accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers. Instead of trying to teach all subjects at every grade level, each teacher is responsible for teaching only two courses, one at the Grade 9 level and the other in Grade 10, in his or her area of specialization. The teacher in Fort Hope, for example, teaches computer science to all of the students across the KiHS network via the Internet and videoconferencing.

How successful is KiHS? This program has been operating for only three years so it has not been objectively evaluated yet. We would like to know if smaller class sizes and the opportunities for on-on-one mentoring better prepares our students for the remaining years of high school. We would like to know how successful our students are when they graduate and move towards college, university and beyond.

Nevertheless, KiHS has achieved a number of its original objectives. It keeps our youth at home under the guidance of their parents and grandparents during those critical early teenage years. Would you want your children to leave home to attend Grade 9? Would you want them to board with strangers?

Many First Nation students who travel south to attend high school drop out shortly after September and return home. Without KiHS, these students would have nothing to do except get into trouble. KiHS allows these students to save their year by achieving at least some of their credits.

Some complete the maximum number of credits available. Many of these young people choose to remain KiHS students for Grade 10. There is pressure from the Chiefs and parents to expand KiHS to include Grade 11 and 12. If the program was not meeting their needs and expectations, our enrolment would not grow every year.

KiHS is just ne of the ICT applications that Keewaytinook Okimakanak has developed to serve the needs of our members. Like KiHS, KO Telehealth links via videoconferencing the sick and injured in 24 First Nations in the Sioux Lookout Zone with physicians and specialists in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Toronto. KNet Services is a community-based telecommunications network that is now supporting "Voice-over-Internet" telephony, videoconferencing, web pages and e-mail to name just a few of the services that we provide to First Nations people.

A Study of the Role of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Development of a Regional Service Plan for Northwestern Ontario (http://nwodhc.com/update.htm)

Tom Closson was appointed Special Advisor by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Honourable George Smitherman. As Chair of the Steering Committee overseeing this study, Mr. Closson welcomes your input to this study that is preparing a Regional Service Plan for Northwestern Ontario. The terms of reference for this study can be found at http://nwodhc.com/pdfs/terms.pdf.

Your interest and comments in the issue of access to tertiary services for the residents of Northwestern Ontario are being sought. As part of gathering input into A Study of the Role of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Development of a Regional Service Plan for Northwestern Ontario, you can provide your comments via e-mail to planning@nwodhc.com (Subject line: Feedback).

From the web site:

You have the opportunity to outline the problems, as you see them, via e-mail. Also, we are interested in learning about the solutions you feel are available or any other advice you may wish to offer. Limit your remarks to the biggest three issues that, if resolved, would have the greatest impact for the most people in your community. Your ideas about how to solve the issues are most important to the committee.

There are several opportunities for your participation. First, there have been consultation sessions with various community leaders and stakeholders. Secondly, through an in-depth interview process, the Hay Group consultants will seek input from Northwestern Ontario residents. And thirdly, by submitting your comments via e-mail on this web site, you can participate in this study.

The final product will be developed from all of the work that has been done to date in Northwestern Ontario. The Minister will receive a framework for action and feasible recommendations for a regional health plan for Northwestern Ontario. The role of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre will be described in that plan, and then, it will be up to the health care providers in Northwestern Ontario, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the communities of Northwestern Ontario to implement the plan.

Russell Means was in Winnipeg in September sharing his thoughts about building strong and healthy communities. His message contain challenges for everyone to consider ... "Anything you don’t work for you shouldn’t get. If you don’t work, you shouldn’t be rewarded, period. It creates a dependency syndrome that is only beneficial to those who are in control."

Means' recommendations for positive change in First Nations include:

• Abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs (in Canada, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs). “The Bureau of Indian Affairs is a racist, colonial office that has total authoritarian control over Indian land, resources and people...."
• Establish property rights on reserves. “It would benefit our people. Every society on Earth . . . knows that property rights enhance meaningful economic development.”
• Have your own schools. Means has adopted an immersion school model from the Maori for a Lakota school program at Pine Ridge. 
• Have your own courts. Without the protection of law, efforts to attract sustainable businesses and investment will fail.

Means' was brought to Winnipeg by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (http://fcpp.org/), an independent, non-profit think tank founded to undertake research and education in support of economic growth and social outcomes which will enhance the quality of life in our communities. Through a variety of publications and public forums, the Frontier Centre explores policy changes required to make the Prairies a winner in the open economy. It also provides new insights into solving important issues facing our cities, towns and provinces.

The Frontier Centre web site contains several more interviews, discussions and radio presentations with Russell Means. Check out ...

• Where White Men Fear To Tread - Russell Means lays out his vision for aboriginal policy reform.
• Russell Means, America's "most famous Indian" - On four changes needed in aboriginal policy
• NCI Radio interview with Russell Means (Mp3)

This year's Canadian Aboriginal Festival is happening at the SkyDome in Toronto on November 26, 27 and 28. There are activities planned for everyone, including:

• Pow Wow
• Music Awards
• Education Day
• Market Place
• Economic Conference
• Fashion Show
• Lacrosse Competition
• Traditional Teachings
• Film & Video
• Visual Arts
• Education Pavilion
• Performing Arts
• Workshops

The sixth annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards will honour the premiere musical artists of the Canadian Aboriginal communities. The Awards will be taking place Friday, November 26th at the John Bassett Theatre located in the Metro Convention Centre. Click here to see the list of 2004 finalists.