Cree School Board – 7th Gen Character Design + and Bitsy
- Location: Nemaska, QC
- Date: April 9th-11th 2024
- Duration: 3 sessions of 2 hours each (x2)
- Instructors: Skawennati Fragnito, Nancy Townsend, Vanessa Racine
Overview:
The Skins Team is always looking to establish relationships with local communities, and this time we were able to collaborate with the Cree School Board. We designed a week of two different workshops that students could pick from: the morning session was our 7th Gen Character Design+, where students created Indigenous characters living seven generations into the future, and the afternoon class learned the tool Bitsy in which they could make their own little 8-bit game via browser. These two tools are great for those who do not have access to gaming-capable computers and can be done easily on a Chromebook for Bitsy and an iPad for 7th Gen Character Design+.
Regrettably, the Skins Team noticed the ongoing challenge of student absences and low motivation across different schools. The transition of lockdown protocols during the pandemic and re-entry into in-class learning has clearly been difficult. Students are less interested in schoolwork and sitting for long periods of time, attention span is shorter, and personal screentime is consistently increasing. One of the questions back in the lab is how to address this going forward, so that we can engage with students, and students can engage with us, in a meaningful way.
Despite the challenge, we were able to inspire some students to think about their future, and we helped them as they created unique characters and games! From bandits to escaping asylums, to navigating mazes and characters with street-style fits, we are always excited seeing what the students were able to come up with in a short time.
In our first collaboration with the Cree School Board, the Skins Team made their way up to Nemaska to give a dual workshop over the week.
Funded in part by:
