Partner Spotlight: Keeping Students Engaged with Connected North@Home

This article is part of a “Partner Spotlight” series where we will be sharing the innovative ways SCSC partners are responding and adapting in light of COVID-19. 

TakingITGlobal (TIG) is one of the world’s leading networks of young people learning about, engaging with, and working towards a more inclusive, peaceful and sustainable world. 

TakingITGlobal has been a core partner of SCSC since its founding and a stakeholder in the global movement for social connectedness for over two decades. TakingITGlobal and SCSC have worked together over the years to host events related to inclusive education, co-create research and programming for the benefit of Indigenous communities, and to spread positive messages about the role of youth as local and global leaders.

In response to COVID-19 and resulting school closures, TakingITGlobal has adapted its Connected North Program, which fosters student engagement and enhanced education outcomes in remote Indigenous communities in Canada, to provide unique learning opportunities for students at home, wherever possible. 

TIG’s new Connected North@Home initiative offers unique learning experiences for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, while at home, through a variety of Connected North content providers and partners including museums, zoos, artists and storytellers. Connected North@Home is not only providing students with continued access to opportunities for unique and immersive learning while at home, but also continues to provide Indigenous content providers income. Many of the live sessions will also be recorded and available for on demand viewing anytime at the Connected North Video Library. 

To learn more about TakingITGlobal Connected North@Home, visit their website or watch their YouTube playlist. 

In partnership with ImagineNATIVE, TIG is also launching Create to Learn@Home, as a result of school closures. The Create to Learn@Home initiative works with Connected North schools across Canada, to build digital media production skills and creative confidence, through connecting students with Indigenous media makers as trainers and by providing equipment to schools. Create to Learn@Home will develop instructional videos with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists and media makers and make them available online for students to follow along at their own pace and build their skills in software tools and other creative processes. 

To learn more about the Create to Learn@Home, follow them on Instagram.

SCSC is proud to work with an innovative partner like TakingITGlobal, who is channeling their energy and resources to ensure that no student is left behind at this time.