A Network Administrator creates and maintains computer networks and associated software and hardware systems. The Nîyâkahpisôwin program provides a foundation of knowledge and understanding for designing, installing and maintaining industry-standard communications network services in information system networks and server systems.

The Nîyâkahpisôwin curriculum empowers student for designing and maintaining network architectures, managing and directing network traffic, switching and routing, evaluating and monitoring network performance, active directory services, system automation, identifying and fixing network faults, evaluating communications hardware/software and transmission services, maintaining links with network suppliers and network security.

Nîyâkahpisôwin has been designed based on iyiniw pimatsiwin, ekwa iyiniw mamitoneyicekan (indigenous forms of life and thinking) in accordance with the Guiding Principles of Maskwacis Cultural College.

Nîyâkahpisôwin offers a community-engaged program of learning grounded in Indigenous practices, languages, knowledges, and methods. The core technical knowledge in each course is presented in contexts relevant to Cree learners, with locally relevant examples and demonstrations, the incorporation of Cree language for key concepts, and in a learning environment that acknowledges the importance of family, community, land and spirit. Etuaptmumk (Two-eyed seeing) is a guiding principle integrating settler and Indigenous epistemologies to collaboratively address Indigenous community realities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Nîyâkahpisôwin is unique in that it includes Indigenous traditional knowledge as an integral part of the content. The certificate’s learning outcomes spans both the living and the non-living – from human-to-community networks, from computer networks to environmental factors, and from machines to human networks. Importantly, the learning outcomes focusses on how these networks relate with and influence each other. In adopting this viewpoint, the certificate program refines a western scientific approach with traditional Indigenous knowledges passed down for generations. The conception, the design and the development of the certificate program and its learning outcomes a) leverages existing and new partnerships with Indigenous communities, rights holders, and stakeholders to valorize Indigenous perspectives and knowledge, b) significantly increases Indigenous representation among computer networking administrators, and c) facilitates the autonomization of networking knowledge mobilization among Indigenous communities.

Nîyâkahpisôwin has been designed to offer different potential employment pathways, including employment-ready training for students interested in technical careers in ICT fields upon graduation, or in preparation for entrance into university level bachelor or diploma computer science and information systems programs.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

•  MCC Application form

•  Official High School Transcript

•  Computer Literacy in MS Word and online applications

•  Letter from employment or supporting agency

NÎYÂKAHPISÔWIN MODULE COURSE/OUTLINE – CORE CERTIFICATE COMPETENCIES

Nîyâkahpisôwin provides foundational technical training in a range of areas in order to provide learners with a provincially accredited college certificate in ICT network administration. The program is comprised of 10 courses (30 credits).

In addition to the core competencies of the Certificate Program, Nîyâkahpisôwin also includes prequel courses to allow for community members to acquire a baseline of competencies related to digital technologies required for entry into the certificate program, designed to ladder into Nîyâkahpisôwin. The prerequisite courses are to be also available as standalone courses for learners interested in basic digital literacies, but not in the Certificate Program.

•  Prequel Course 1 – Introduction to Digital Literacy - Computer basics, online safety and privacy, email, navigating the Internet, introduction to social media, solving information problems, employment issues, accessing health services.

•  Prequel Course 2 – Introduction to ICT Networking - Introduction to the architecture of network infrastructure, applied exploration of the Internet of Things, networking in the community.

ASSESSMENTS

Assessments are mostly based on

•  In-class live discussions

•  Lab reports

•  Individual and group reflections (in Mahara)

PRACTICUMS

Students will be required to complete a minimum 15-week practicum (6 credits) in a community-based professional work setting requiring the application of program-learned skills and knowledge. The learning objectives of practicums include:

• Integrate theoretical knowledge with practical experience in a professional setting

• Acquire experience in an employment / professional setting

• Develop practical skills and self-confidence

• Build career networks, including mentoring relationships with ICT professionals in the community

• Clarify career goals

Practicums will be structured around (i) mutually established site-specific objectives and outcomes; (ii) mid-point evaluations; and (iii) reflection portfolio (in Mahara) by the student.

Nîyâkahpisôwin ICT Network Administration (N-ICT-NA) Curriculum

• Program Outcomes of the NA Certificate 

  • Create, maintain, troubleshoot, repair and administer common network administration tasks in Cisco networks, particularly in indigenous-run networks and organizations

  • Create and maintain new users on the network

  • Secure network using IP access lists

  • Increase network capacity to accommodate growth using VLAN trunks and IP routing

  • Gain a basic understanding of the theory of computer networks, spanning both the living and the non-living

  • Evaluate the quality of a network in terms of human-to-community networks, environmental factors, and cultural indigenous perspectives

  • Troubleshoot the network

  • Perform routine network start up and close down and maintain control records

 The certificate’s learning outcomes spans both the living and the non-living – from human-to-community networks, from computer networks to environmental factors, and from machines to human networks. Importantly, the learning outcomes focusses on how these networks relate with and influence each other. In adopting this viewpoint, the certificate program refines a western scientific approach with traditional Indigenous knowledges passed down for generations. The conception, the design and the development of the certificate program and its learning outcomes a) leverages existing and new partnerships with Indigenous communities, rights holders, and stakeholders to valorize Indigenous perspectives and knowledge, b) significantly increases Indigenous representation among computer networking administrators, and c) facilitates the autonomization of networking knowledge mobilization among Indigenous communities.