Monday Morning Blog

National Film Board of Canada This is the final post I have on the topic of indigenous issues and culture.  These links follow-up to the previous two posts and contain a variety of videos that were created by the National Film Board of Canada or another organization in partnership with them.  Films are of different lengths and filmed at different points in time and reflect different points of view.   I previewed many of the videos and suggest that if you wish to have younger people view them you either watch them together or preview them yourself.  Some of the movies have emotionally challenging content while others reflect controversial issues. Video descriptions are taken from the NFB website. Building the fire 4 min   Billy shares with us the source of his motivation; his role model Shawn Tomatuk, his late-brother. Circle of the sun 29 min This short documentary by Colin Low is an invitation to a gathering of the Káínaa of Alberta - as the Sun Dance is capt

  Data science Data Science: Foundations using R Specialization This Specialization covers foundational data science tools and techniques, including getting, cleaning, and exploring data, programming in R, and conducting reproducible research. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/data-science-foundations-r#courses Introduction to Data Science Specialization The specialization entails understanding what is Data Science and the various kinds of activities that a Data Scientist performs. It will familiarize learners with various open source tools, like Jupyter notebooks, used by Data Scientists. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/introduction-data-science Genomic Data Science Specialization This Specialization covers the concepts and tools to understand, analyze, and interpret data from next generation sequencing experiments. It teaches the most common tools used in genomic data science including how to use the command line, along with a variety of software

Health and Well-being The Science of Well-Being Very popular online course these days where you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being Science Matters: Let's Talk About COVID-19 On this course, you will hear directly from our world-class experts about the theory behind the analyses of COVID-19 and its spread, while learning how to interpret new information using core principles of public health, epidemiology, medicine, health economics, and social science. https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid-19 How to Learn Online Learn essential strategies for successful online learning. https://www.edx.org/course/how-to-learn-online

Indigenous Culture and Issues- Part Two Today’s post contains resources that support the content which was shared in part one of the Indigenous Culture and Issues posts.  In collecting these resources, there was an emphasis on finding art, culture, social and political issues related to Indigenous peoples of western Canada and Saskatchewan in particular. Office of the Treaty Commissioner Reconciliation 2 videos Treaties and the law 9 videos Treaty message minutes 8 videos From dream to reality 4 videos Treaty relationship 1min George Lafond and Eekwol on resilience    9 min We are all part of treaty 7 min Treaties as a bridge to the future 12 min Building harmony 12 min   A wishahkecahk story 11 min A solemn undertaking 13 min Role of the elders 12 min   Socioeconomic impact of treaties 18 min (Includes video footage taken outside the SRDC building) The mace runner ceremony 14 min Allen Sapp 19 min We are all treaty people 2 vide

Bioinformatics This is the first post in another series of posts that contain training materials recommended by the Bioinformatics Support Network.   Each post will contain recommendations for online educational opportunities in areas such as bioinformatics, data science, computer science and general health and wellbeing.    The list of recommendations from the network was provided by Miles Buchwaldt.   I’ve reorganized and reformatted the list to make it easier to present in a blog format. Today’s post contains suggested resources for learning in the area of bioinformatics. Plant Bioinformatic Methods Specialization The Plant Bioinformatics Specialization on Coursera introduces core bioinformatic competencies and resources, such as NCBI's Genbank, Blast, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics in Bioinformatic Methods I, followed by protein-protein interaction, structural bioinformatics and RNA-seq analysis in Bioinformatic Methods II. In Plant Bioinformatics we

Indigenous Culture and Issues- Part One This post is the first of a series of three on the topic of indigenous cultures and issues.   In this post, I share 4 courses that provide background training on these topics.   Indigenous Canada, in particular, provides a thorough basic knowledge of Indigenous history and culture from pre-colonial times until today as well as some coverage on topics such as arts, social movements and Indigenous relationships with governments. The next two posts will follow-up and provide more specific examples and detailed information on the topics covered in the training found in these classes. Coursera Indigenous Canada 20 hrs Aboriginal worldviews and education 14 hrs EdEx Reconciliation through Indigenous Education 18 hrs Human Rights, Human Wrongs: Challenging Poverty, Vulnerability and Social Exclusion 33 hrs (This course covers many groups including indigenous persons)

Today's post has been cut and paste from an email sent by GC Campus.  If you don't have VPN access, you can take these classes.  If you didn't sign up for a GCCampus account in the past, it is possible that you could encounter some difficulty.  This is particularly true for those who currently can't access their work email.  I have enquired about options for those who don't have existing accounts and can't access their work email but have not yet received a reply.  However, most of you should be able to access this training now. Managing your mental health during times of crisis is an essential part of the coping process. Be sure to acknowledge how you are feeling about your personal circumstances. Take the time you need to talk to others and consult the many mental health resources available to you. Protecting your mental health In response to COVID-19, the  Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace  has launched a new portal to bett