Education

4 SUPPLEMENT TO THE FREE PRESS • SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022 EDUCATION GUIDE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF THE NORTH Ready for technology S urvival in Manitoba's north country takes ex- perience, know-how and perseverance. These are all qualities University College of the North student Char- maine Sayese used to succeed in a program using mother- boards, satellites and software. Sayese was raised and lives in the Opaskwayak Cree Nation com- munity of Big Eddy. She remembers the first time she used a computer as a young girl in elementary school. "I was in awe. We were playing a game," Sayese says. "The com- puters back then had floppy disks. The advancement to now is unbe- lievable." In Sayese's community, urban centre modern conveniences, like the internet, can be intermit- tent. Despite the uncertainty of a constant connection, Sayese em- braced what technology she could get her hands on. "You can search anything. If you want to learn it, you can search it," she says. "If you want to educate yourself, you can with the com- puter." Social media platforms like Facebook are another survival tool in the north. Online commu- nity groups that trade and sell are some of the most followed. An or- der from Amazon may take weeks to deliver. Your neighbour might be selling just what you need. Sayese's technology curiosity led her to UCN's Information Tech- nology Readiness North Project. The project sets out to lessen the digital and economic divide for Indigenous women in the north. "It's nice to have hands-on. I get to learn more about what we are using, like the insides of a com- puter." Less than three per cent of women at Manitoba post-second- ary institutions study computer or information science. That number drops even lower for women em- ployed in IT. Indigenous women in the field are rare. "UCN recognized the lack of opportunities for local women to access IT training. The course be- gan as a women-only pilot project with the intent of opening train- ing to all students in the future," says Tara Manych, innovation consultant. UCN, in partnership with the Future Skills Centre (FSC), seeks to improve the outcomes of north- ern communities and northern women by offering training in an industry that promises economic opportunities, advancement and financial security. "What the north lacks in IT, we make up in potential waiting to be discovered. The world needs the talents, the unique perspec- tives and the ideas that are found in our area and our people," says Rob Penner, project lead and UCN associate vice-president of Com- munity and Industry Solutions. UCN's approach to IT training is unique to the north and to the populations it serves. By braiding soft skills, digital skills and us- ing oral storytelling as a personal growth pedagogy, InTeRN aims to bridge the digital and real worlds, making those connections for stu- dents easier. Industry partners like Comput- ers for Schools are helping move the project forward. "Partnering with UCN to devel- op the InTeRN Project will provide SUPPLIED PHOTO Part of Charmaine Sayese's coursework is to learn software and the computer components that make them work. SUPPLIED PHOTO Charmaine Sayese and her classmates visit Bit Space Development Ltd. The company is an interactive digital media studio that specializes in creating innovative learning experiences for the classroom and workplace. It was amazing to watch the transformation of the women in the program." — Tara Manych, innovation consultant TRAIN AS A PARAMEDIC IN THE NORTH Learn in the heart of the Canadian wilderness at University College of the North. APPLY NOW FOR SEPTEMBER 2023. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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