Every community has a common space where people gather regularly to share, to catch up and engage with each other, and to look out for one another. This common space may be a town square, a public park, a community centre, gym or art studio or a coffee shop. It may even include many of those special places.
At SelfDesign, we call our common space the Village of Conversations. This safe, secure online forum is a gathering place for all members of our community to connect with each other, form friendships, ask questions, discuss resources, and be supported by each other and by SelfDesign’s B.C. certified educators.
“All ages, programs, contractors and all families are invited to participate,” says Village moderator Lori Bender, a SelfDesign educator.
“Learners and families can post to it independently. And when those posts generate conversation, that’s awesome! I love it when new families come in to discuss ideas and share their insights into learning.”
The forum is arranged around interest-based channels or “conferences”, each of which is hosted by one or more SelfDesign educators.
Artscape, SelfDesign’s online art centre, welcomes the discussion, creation and sharing of art of all kinds. The Indigenous Education channel is open to all SelfDesign members to connect to one another and with our Indigenous community and opportunities. The Genius Hour channel, hosted by SelfDesign educator Joanne DiGiuseppe, invites community members to share their passions and also provides a space for learners who attend SelfDesign’s monthly real-time Genius Hour meetings to continue sharing, discussing and exploring. At the Village Café, people can chat, share recipes, suggest books to read, and post links to cool resources.
“One of the many things I love about the platform is that we can add pictures and post YouTube videos,” Lori says. “It provides for more interesting posts and the ability to learn in different ways.”
Lori, for example, likes to share links to B.C. live-feed critter cameras, including an early 2021 streaming link that followed a family of hummingbirds as their chicks hatched, grew, and fledged from mid-February to mid-March.
Other Village spaces – SelfDesign Library, Subscriptions, SelfDesign Competencies – are great places to go for information and discussion about SelfDesign resources.
Some Village channels support specific groups within the SelfDesign community. For example, SelfDesign community members who love Minecraft and are members of the Minecrafter server can gather and share in the Village’s Minecraft space, while parents participating in SelfDesign’s Path Course have their own designated closed channel to discuss ideas and support each other.
SelfDesign’s community rules and policies for engaging respectfully, transparently, and safely online apply, and participation is restricted to SelfDesign community members via their SelfDesign accounts. This, in addition to the gentle and encouraging oversight and guidance of Lori and her co-hosts and co-moderators, helps to keep the Village safe and secure for all members.
Learn more about learning, connecting and community at SelfDesign.
