TakingITGlobal

Helping students to see the benefits in online learning - "it's not going away anytime soon!" Some benefits could include: more family time, ability to stay in community while learning, more flexibility, opportunity to build new technology skills (note: ensuring that each students' needs are met is key to finding any silver lining in online learning) Supporting students transition to online learning (e.g. sharing resources, providing workshop, one-on-one support, etc.) Creating learning hubs within communities - this could be a space in a library or an empty boardroom of a local business Supporting students' mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well- being through workshops for reducing anxiety, one-on-one support, meditation classes, or encouraging more communication with Elders Facilitating virtual events to encourage engagement in social activities (e.g. virtual tea times, talking circles with Elders, cultural events and knowledge sharing sessions, book clubs, cooking classes, etc.) Increasing use of social media to promote events, share more content from Indigenous influencers around Turtle Island, and to build community with potential students, current students, and alumni Despite the barriers that impact enrolment and retention, staff and faculty have found creative ways to ensure Indigenous students are supported to begin or continue their studies. The following approaches and hopeful practices were identified during the Virtual Sharing Circle: The following are recommendations for institutions to support Indigenous student enrolment and retention during COVID-19 as well as how to support the staff and faculty who work with Indigenous students: Support the delivery of workshops on trauma-informed classrooms to share information with faculty on how COVID-19 impacts Indigenous students in online learning environments and how they can better support Indigenous students T H E R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S Thank you to all who contributed to this output. A P P R O A C H E S A N D H O P E F U L P R A C T I C E S Support Indigenous students in accessing technology (e.g. financial aid, laptop/hot spot rentals, etc.) Support initiatives within Indigenous services that would ensure ease of transition to online learning (e.g. workshops, step-by-step videos, etc.) Support well-being initiatives that are culturally-relevant for Indigenous students Create more online Indigenous programming and courses Support Indigenous recruitment initiatives without placing too much of the onus on Indigenous service staff - listen to what they need to thrive Provide COVID-19 updates to Indigenous students as quickly as possible - but do not bombard them with too many emails P r o c e s s f a c i l i t a t i o n l e a d a n d i n f o g r a p h i c c r e a t e d b y : E m m a G r e e n f i e l d , F u t u r e P a t h w a y s P r o g r a m A d v i s o r

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