plan with me for March 2024. Hello, welcome to the video. My name is Nneka. I am a 29-year-old graduate student at Columbia University studying clinical psychology, also yoga instructor, also interning at the United Nations, doing a lot and trying to think of what I want to do with my YouTube channel. But for now, we are planning for March 2024. If you are new here, welcome. Make sure you subscribe. If you're not new here, you're probably like, girl, where are you? And right now, I'm actually currently in San Francisco while correction. I'm in Palo Alto. I am actually presenting at the Muslim Mental Health Conference at Sanford University tomorrow. So I'm really excited about that. But if you're not new here, you're probably like, girl, you have not been uploading consistently. You have been gone off the YouTubes. And it's true because I've just been really busy. Like in the past two weeks, I literally was in Columbia, then back in New York. As soon as I get back into my groove in my hometown, not my hometown, but I live in New York City. So I feel like as soon as I got into a groove in New York, I looked up and I was like, oh, I have to go to San Francisco this weekend. So my life has been a bit crazy. And I'm hoping that if we plan things right, we can kind of get back on track. So without further ado, let's start the plan with me. I have my laptop here, even though you guys can't really see it. But let's just hop into my notion. So I learned this really cool trick that if you actually do Command Shift L, they'll turn it into dark mode or Command Shift L to turn it back into light mode, which this is kind of the first time I had to learn that because I usually film these in the morning, but it's not the morning anymore. So this is my notion. If you want like a grand overview of what it looks like, I would suggest you watch my January plan with me. But I might also make a separate video just going through that. And then you can see here my big beautiful vision board. And I just like to look at it at the start of each month just to like realign on like what am I trying to do here? So I have a piano here because I'm trying to learn piano. I have lots of like big, bold like actresses and Columbia obviously because I graduate this year. All these things, we can talk about them later, but let's just get right into March. So I do like to start my notion, my monthly notions with actually checking in on my yearly goals just to make sure I'm kind of like on track for those. So personal journaling once a week, I have actually been really good at journaling this year. Like honestly last week, I was really going through it emotionally and I probably journaled every day, sometimes multiple times a day. So I feel like I did really good for February doing that. One first date per month, I don't think I went on a first date in February at all. But honestly, I had a really like vulnerable and emotional conversation with like one of my long term friends. And I feel like that counts. Like honestly, that conversation took a lot more vulnerability than any first date ever would just because we've known each other for so long and we have so much history. So I feel like that counts. Like I'm going to check that off in my head mentally because I guess I can also check it out here. We're in piano. I've actually been really good at my piano lessons and like just practicing on a daily basis on the keyboard. So I feel like we're doing good there. I've been going to my choir lessons doing good there. I've been really bad at Spanish and even when I went to Columbia with my friends, I felt like I didn't even try that much because I could just lean on them to speak Spanish for me. And I honestly converse mostly in English the whole time. So that's something that I could really be better at budgeting. I also was really bad at February and therapists. I did actually, I emailed three therapists. I had one interview with one therapist and she ended up rejecting me. But I tried. So I feel like that was good. I'm just sending these back to zero because this is my yearly and we're going to look at this at the end of the year. But I just like to check it to make sure I'm doing it for the monthly health and fitness. I feel really good about my fallen angel. I kind of did that in February slash January. And for March, I actually want to focus my yoga sequences on the splits. So that's going to be coming up soon. My podcast is actually launching in March, which I looked over here and I put launch in February. That didn't happen. It's actually going to launch in March. And we've been doing choir practices. So I feel like we're in a really good place. And then yeah, I didn't do the splits though, but I did fallen angel. And that's also something I really like about Notion. Like you can kind of like things aren't set in stone. You can kind of just make it how you want it to be as you kind of go through your life. I've been good at my iron supplements, but I do need to retake them. Launch podcast coming up in March, get into PhD. I actually have a bunch of clips that have compiled for you guys for my PhD update, which will probably be the last installment in that series. So hopefully I can get that out for you in March. Don't know what we're doing about a salary nine to five user experience career. I'm not even sure if I want to do that. We'll see. Dula business is coming. Dula stuff is coming. Graduation is coming. I think we're in a good place. Let's dive into the monthly goals. So for February, film three podcast episodes, I did that applied to four jobs. I did not do that. I did do my PhD interviews and I feel really good about them. But again, I have a video coming to talk to you guys a little bit more about that review SPS SPSS, which is a statistical analysis software, which I honestly like preparing for my conference in Stanford. I was heavy running dental analysis queries and SPSS. And I felt really good about them. Like I honestly felt like a real scientist. So I'm really excited about that. I didn't outline for my UN maternity paper have not written too much though. And my internship actually ends in April. So that's something that's going to have to be a huge priority in March that I need to do. I told you guys I emailed three therapists interviewed with one therapist got zero therapists out of it. So I need to hurry up and do that, especially because my university insurance expires in May, I believe. So realistically, I'm only going to have like two months, maybe three if they're generous with this therapist. So I definitely want to get it going sooner rather than later. Wow, Duolingo once a day. That did not happen budget for February that also do not happen. But I have faith when I get home and March, it already is March, it's March first actually. But when I get home, I'm going to try to sit down and do all my February finances because between Columbia and now the Stanford trip, like, I've just been spending a lot of money on Ubers and like Uber Eats and like dinners and stuff. And normally like, I eat at home, I take the subway, like I just don't spend money like that. So I do think I have been way over budget and that kind of scares me. And when I intellectually think like, guesstimate them over budget, it makes me want to budget less, which is like a cycle of financial anxiety that I get into. So we're going to rip the band-aid off when we get back to New York City. And so for piano lessons, I did it was about $600, which actually wasn't that bad considering that I get like 18 classes, like it's three months of classes. So I feel really good about that. I did not do this. Do you even remember that it was a goal with mine? Like, when did I say I want to try veganism? I don't even know if I'm into that. I did do the 12 through 30 for two weeks, not like every day, but like, I did it enough enough for me to get so tired from walking so much that I got like physically sick. So I have to be really mindful about that because I already exercise a lot as it is.  So kind of learning the balance between those two.  I feel like I'm the queen of that. Like honestly, I will go to sleep. You don't have to check for me, boo. Again, I don't really like digital journaling. So I'm probably not going to do any of this. And if I do do it, I will not do it with you guys because some things have to be sacred. Okay, we're in business. So let's do our goals for March. So career goals, honestly, oops, health and fitness goals. So the first goal for March is going to be my splits. I need to create a new yoga class that is focused on the splits. But I do have the playlist nearly done. So I'm going to tighten that up when I get back from March. What else do I want to do? Duolingo one today, we can leave that there. I can try to get back into Duolingo. I was in a really good routine with like learning languages because I was doing Ebo and Spanish for a while. If you don't know, I'm Nigerian. My father's Nigerian, my mom's African American. My father's Ebo. I'm Ebo. But do I speak Ebo? No. So I wanted to kind of learn a little bit more. And I was doing a really good job like sitting Spanish in the morning, sitting Ebo at night. And I kind of just fell off that because I stopped doing my morning routines and nighttime routines really heavy. So maybe we can add that back in here. So open Duolingo once a day. I'm going to leave that there because that's basically for Spanish. But I also want to make it a goal to kind of like review morning and nighttime routines because I was really on top of my language learning when I had really solid routines and I just haven't really had a solid routine. Despite what I posted earlier in the year, my morning routine and my night routine, I don't know. Like I feel like I'm just so loosey goosey with myself. But I guess it's also my year of doing nothing. So I don't know. I'm going to review them. I honestly will probably watch those videos again, but we'll see. I digress. I'm rambling. For my career we're finally launching our podcast. So I'm really excited to share that with you. Launch podcast and no, the podcast won't be live by the time this goes up, but it might. Okay. If it is, I have the cover art, so I'm just going to share it here. You guys can check it out. I'll leave a link in the description box below. I'm really excited about that. I'm going to keep applying to four jobs because I need to start applying to jobs. I'm going to remove my PhD interviews because I don't have any more and I need to work on my UN maternity paper and is there anything else? Oh, I really want to do like a meditation challenge with you guys. So I want to do a meditation challenge. I'll probably do like either two weeks, but I think ultimately I want it to be four weeks, like 30 days. But I think in March, I'm just going to try to outline the first two weeks of it. And then I also want to come up with a solid like marketing strategy because I'm about to be a doula guys. So I want to start getting some doula clients and I need to kind of figure out how I'm going to do that. So I kind of, I worked on like an entrepreneurship class in my last semester of graduate school. So I have like a rough idea, but I kind of want to take that idea that's kind of on paper and put that idea on a calendar, maybe even make its own like notion page and then like start implementing on it that way. So for all that fitness, I only have to split tier, but I kind of think that's fine. Like I feel like I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my life. So I don't really feel like I have that much to really add. And in our February plan with me, I literally forgot to do this part with you guys. So we're making progress there and I'm really proud of us. Let's go into our weekly check in. Honestly, I think we can kind of skip that mainly because I have been very bad at like actually doing it.  Oh God, some of this, I don't even think I can show you guys like my whatever. I'll just blur that out. But yeah, we are far behind on life as you can tell. Um, YouTube posting dates. I feel like this is like everyone's favorite part because he doesn't like seeing what I'm going to post. So today, I was supposed to go live with the Columbia vlog. That did not happen. We're currently filming the March plan with me. So I'm going to move that to the fifth. I'm going to try to get that out earlier. But I think honestly, probably the fifth will be the earliest I can get it out. I'm going to move some of these down because I just I'm going to move them all down to like the last week of the month because I am far behind on videos. So the next vlog I do want to get out for you guys is actually, oh I still need to do this too. Oh God, okay. Yeah, so I'm probably not going to generate any more video ideas for March because this is actually filmed. I just need to edit it. Columbia is also filmed. I just need to edit it. This weekend in my life, it's also filmed. I need to edit it for actually continuity and like chronicicity, chronological order. For those purposes, the weekend in my life needs to go first and then Columbia vlog and then new luxury wet bag. Yeah. And then maybe I'll move these here but yeah. That's what we're looking like for our YouTube posting schedule. Honestly, just taking most of the stuff I was supposed to post in February and hopefully posting them in March. I have just been behind unvlogging, not even unvlogging. I've been vlogging a lot. I just haven't been editing on that a lot and that's mainly because I just haven't been home. So thank you all so much for your patience. Please subscribe. Don't unsubscribe. Don't leave me. I'm sorry. I'm really trying to get these videos out. I just have so much going on. Oh my God. And I actually have to write my IP because it's due April 1st. So let's go back to the monthly goals for career. I cannot forget about that or I won't graduate. So big, bold, write IP for graduation. Yeah. So every month is different and I think March is going to be a very career heavy month for me just because I need to prepare for life after graduation. And yeah, I don't really have that many personal goals. I don't really have that many health and fitness goals because I just need to get my life together for post graduation. Alright, let's go back to my podcast. No, we're kind of get there. Books and media. I've been posting these little like book review videos. I don't think you guys like them that much because they don't really get that many views but I like posting them and hopefully maybe one day the algorithm will catch on. But I just finished reading the Paris apartment, literally on the plane to... Where am I? Literally on the plane to San Francisco. And that was really good. I really like it.  So I'm gonna be recording that. I'll probably add that to my March uploads. And yeah, I'll let you guys know my thoughts a little bit more in that video. But that was really good. And I'm trying to figure out like what I should read next. Right now, I'm just rereading the alchemist actually. I have it here. Great book. Love rereading it. But like also wait a moment of just like catching up. So I'm traveling to a Muslim mental health conference, right? And I literally like was talking to my friend who lives in Brazil about like visiting her in Brazil. I started reading this book. The author is Brazilian. And then the book is all about this Spanish boy who goes from Spain to North Africa, is surrounded by Arabs, learns Arabic. And it's just like, wow, like I'm learning about the Quran and stuff in this.  But I really enjoyed this book. And if you haven't read it, you should. It's like a really great spiritual book. Back to my bookshelf. I'm trying to see which book I should read next. I've read this one. So we're gonna leave that. And then I just finished reading. That is gone. I don't see the Paris apartment on here. So I think we're good. But if you read any of these books, or if you want to read any of these books, let me know in the comments below, like, which book you think I should read next, or if you have any books that you think I should read, let me know. I love reading. So I read a lot. And I think this honestly gonna be short and sweet because I don't have to Oh my god, content tracker stuff. This is honestly probably my favorite part. We can start with my Instagram, which honestly, I have been so bad at posting on Instagram. I'm trying to get better. But if you like Instagram, and you want like more real time updates with me, follow me there. Otherwise, I actually posted twice this week, which is kind of crazy because I never posted Instagram. But yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if I have less Instagram followers. Oh no, I haven't. Well, I forgot to do this for February, but it's fine. I have actually gained four subscribers. So I am pretty proud of myself, even though I have like literally no Instagram strategy whatsoever. And I barely show up on the platform. But it's fine. So let's go to TikTok.  Always saving the best for last. So we can go to my TikTok road, which I honestly don't think I've tracked this in a long time either. Let's see. Yeah, I forgot to do February, I guess. So I have 184. Is that right? No, I have 187. Okay. So I lost one. Oh well. I honestly, I'm like once the last time I posted on TikTok, last time I posted was September of 2023. So I'm like, I don't think I can really be mad at that. I'm being honest. So yeah, I think a part of my marketing strategy for my duela business will probably be being active on these platforms again. But until then, we'll worry about that for another day. But let's check out the piece of resistance, my absolutely favorite, favorite, favorite social media to track. YouTube, obviously. Duh. I honestly spend the most time with you guys. Like, I'm sorry, I've been a little neglectful, but y'all get the most out of me. Like, the Instagram girlies aren't getting anything. The TikTok girlies aren't getting anything. I show up for y'all on YouTube. So let's do March. It is March 1st too. So it's actually a really good time to check. Ooh. So I'm at 906 subscribers from March. Wow. I actually gained a lot. Thank you guys so much for subscribing to my YouTube channel. I really love you. And if you haven't subscribed yet, please subscribe. Okay, so my watch time has actually been really down because I haven't been posting as much, which kind of sucks. So yeah, we took a bit of a tank when it comes to the watch time hours. I'm at 2,764, which because on average, I usually get 100 watch time hours a month. But right now I'm at 77.5 watch hours for the month. So it kind of makes sense because I just haven't had as many new uploads and the uploads that I did do just like did not, were not as popular as they usually are for like my vlogs or my book reviews when my book reviews really aren't that popular. But anyway, my numbers are down. So I'm not surprised that my watch time hours are a little bit down. But let's see what are my lifetime views. So my lifetime views are 144,468. 444 I've been seeing a lot recently and now you'll probably see it in the Columbia vlog. But like, yeah, it's just been really interesting. And I looked up the spiritual meaning of 444 when it comes to love because it kind of happened right after I had that like huge conversation.  But like, if you know, you know. All right. So I feel really good about that. And I honestly think maybe we can end this plan with me here. Is there anything else I'm missing? Quotes I like, doula trading. I need to kind of do some of that. Yeah, I feel kind of good. Okay, let me stop recording. Oh God, we literally have 1% left on my camera battery. So I'm gonna love you and leave you here. Make sure you subscribe and I'll see you guys in the next video. Love you. Bye.


My name is Dr. Herman Michele, I'm a member of the Berenlands First Nation, which is part of Treaty Tanda Straddles, Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. I come from a long line of traditional land users that have occupied this region for centuries. My people are the Woodlands Cree. I am a university educator that specializes in indigenous education. I am a published author of numerous books and articles. Today, I want to share with you some of my emerging thoughts on homeschooling from an indigenous lens. My talk today is not meant to be prescriptive. I ask that you take what you need from this presentation in order to build on what you already do within your respective practice. Homeschooling to me is the ultimate way of taking over your child's education. I begin this talk with the understanding that Canada's colonial education system has taught indigenous children to live in a way that is not our own. However, curriculum theories and schooling have changed over the years. Provincial standards have also changed. The integration of indigenous knowledge in school curriculum is now a mandate in many public schools and indeed First Nations schools. However, not much literature exists on how you can do this using a homeschooling approach. Indigenous peoples have a different way of perceiving knowledge. We also have our own ways of passing on what we know. I have always envied parents who choose to teach their children at home. Homeschooling can seem like an isolated way of teaching and learning. However, from an indigenous lens, homeschooling has a strong family and community involvement orientation with links to the lands we occupy. Students receive intensive one-on-one learning. There's a small classroom environment focus. It is important to understand what may work for one child may not necessarily work for another. There are successes. Kids have gone on to become professionals and leaders in different careers. It might be worthwhile to connect your children with role models who have been homeschooled. Homeschooling is not for everyone. In many situations, students require extra supports from external resource people. It takes a lot of hard work and patience. It requires routine, structure and rigor. There's also a lot of freedom. Parents want the very best education for their children. And given the chance, they will expose them to what is important. They know what works and what doesn't work. They also know how to push boundaries that go beyond the comfort zone of learning. It's not about feeling the head of your child. Elders say they come into this world with inherent knowledge and wisdom. Parents know the strengths of their own children and where they may be headed in terms of career choices. Homeschooling from an Indigenous lens is about reinforcing the concept of lifelong learning. It is a process. Elders say we could never know all there is to know about Indigenous knowledge in a lifetime. Indigenous education is about relevance. Connect teaching and learning with everyday life. Kids need to know why they are learning about certain things. We live in a virtual world with access to thousands of materials and resources. I highly recommend parents to explore the NCCIE website. There are lessons and activities that can be integrated into homeschooling. Gone are the days when memorization and regurgitation of facts was the only way to teach and learn. Diversity and enrichment of learning experience is the key.  First Nations, Métis and Inuit people come from diverse cultures, communities and environments. There are diverse knowledge systems across the country. The teachings and practices are incredibly rich. There are also commonalities that thread through all cultures regardless of race or other social markers. The value of respect is the guiding principle we use to teach our youth. We want to prepare them to walk through multiple worlds in pride. Despite the diversity of teaching and learning practices, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples share a strong connection to the land. There is a shared world view. Indigenous people see the world in an interactive way. Humans are interdependent with the rest of creation. We want our children to think in a holistic way, which is the foundation of teaching and learning from an Indigenous lens. We have a shared vision of self-determination. We all want our children to be able to learn from an Indigenous lens. We have a shared vision of self-determination. We all want our children to be able to take care of themselves as they grow older. Homeschooling is not new for Indigenous peoples. We have done this since the beginning of time. In traditional times it was our extended family members that were our teachers. They have diverse knowledge and skill sets. From where I come from in Northern Saskatchewan, we do certain things at certain times of the year. The carriers of traditional knowledge are the elders, the hunters, the trappers, the fishers and the gatherers of medicine. Our seasonal cycle is the framework we use to develop teaching and learning activities. At the forefront of Indigenous education is the importance of teaching the essence of our oneness with the lands and the lakes and the rivers and the oceans within our respective territories. Elders say all humans must bond with the earth in all of its facets. There are natural laws rooted in the land. There are also spiritual laws that guide how we think, how we behave and how we relate to one another. We have counting systems in our languages. Numbers do tell a story. Math can be taught through beading, through sewing, through cooking, carpentry and preparing for periods of isolation in camps. Teach students how to read the land in waterways. Storytelling is one of the main ways of passing on knowledge. Share stories and allow them to make links with the world around them. Teach them deep thinking skills. There's a time and a place for everything. There's a time to sit with them and a time they must work alone. Indigenous education is based on whole child development. Engage in activities for mental, for spiritual, for emotional and physical development. Learning is not only about mental development. Elders say the longest journey we will ever make is to connect our heart and mind. Teach students to express themselves in multiple ways. For example, through writing, through stories, through dance, through drumming, through music and even puppetry. Indigenous peoples lived a very physical, active lifestyle. Involve youth in sports so they can connect with peers. They learn about teamwork and rules by playing sports with others. The NCCI website can provide you with different physical activities. There are traditional sports they can learn that are connected to their cultures and their languages. Children today are very technologically oriented. They know how to use computers. They have cell phones. They know how to take photos. They know how to communicate with others using FaceTime, for example. Make videos together and enter virtual competitions. Watch Indigenous documentaries that are in the NCCI website. There are also Indigenous cartoons for younger children. Give consistent praise even for the smallest of achievements. Relationship building and reinforcing human relations skills is the cornerstone of Indigenous education. Teach youth respectful ways of communicating with others. Teach them about respect and allow them to demonstrate respect for themselves, for others and the natural world through projects. The underlying teaching is that every animal, every plant and every insect has a purpose. Every entity has responsibilities and every human being is special, unique and beautiful. Teach them about traditional values of sharing, of giving, of caring, humility, truth and other ways of thinking relating and behaving. Teach them compassion by helping others that are less fortunate. Harvest natural foods and medicines and share them with the elders in the community. Indigenous worldviews, cultures, languages, values, ways of knowing and practices are rooted in the land. Demonstrate passion in your teaching. Demonstrate the value of learning Indigenous knowledge and the relevance of these ways of knowing in modern-day society. Sustainable ways of thinking and being, for example, is a part of Indigenous cultures which has become very important in taking care of our planet. Make learning fun. Humor is a big part of how elders teach. Allow children to make mistakes and learn from them. Use competitive activities of being the best that you can be as a learning tool. Let them know their voice and perspectives count. Engage in collective decision-making to solve problems. What would you do if you were lost in the wilderness together? As a parent, allow yourself to learn right along with your children. Learn about Indigenous protocols. Protocols are about giving something in return for something taken. There's a video on the NCCI website on protocols. Once you're on the website, click on the Knowledge Space and click on Start Your Journey Here where there are several introductory videos to watch. Co-develop questions so you can go on a joint learning adventure. Have your children share and write about what they learned and how they would apply that knowledge and skills in their everyday lives. Use technology and online resources to do background research on different topics. Reading and writing go hand in hand. There are many Indigenous books on the NCCI website you can use. Indigenous people have the gift of orality. Stories allow students to think, to reflect, and make links with life. Storytelling can be used to learn about Indigenous history. Approach different types of storytellers. Concentrate on the strength of Indigenous peoples. Our original stories have hidden teachings and messages. Have students dig deep about the underlying meanings and how these lessons apply to real-life situations. On the NCCI website, there's a videos webpage with lots of videos, some of which have to do with storytelling. Check them out. Hands-on learning and engaging in projects are part of how Indigenous people teach and learn. Use the see-and-do approach. Have students observe on how to fish, how to prepare fish, how to prepare animals until they are ready to do it on their own. Show them proper ways of handling animals and plants that have been harvested. There are videos on traditional medicine-gathering activities in the NCCI website. Have students explore and engage in deep conversations. Teach them to explore different perspectives on Indigenous issues. For example, for older students, there's a lesson plan on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline that includes some research and personal reflection. Check out the videos on the reconciliation page on the NCCI webpage, where there are videos, one of which is Willie Irmine talking about an Indigenous perspective on reconciliation. Develop questions for further research. Assist the students in visioning, in planning, in researching, building, and sharing. Engage in service projects that benefit the collective, the family, the community. Teach them that they can make a difference in the lives of others. Have your children research stories of Indigenous role models in occupations that they are interested in. The NCCI website has a series of lesson plans for students approaching high school graduation. Land-based excursions have been used by Indigenous peoples for centuries to teach and learn. Use seasonal activities. Even just a couple of hours outside your backyard can be a rewarding experience to learn about a particular topic. Learn about Indigenous place names and the stories behind these place names. Medicine walks are becoming common where students learn to identify how to harvest, store, and use plants for health and wellness. These stories are associated with different plants. There are different types of medicine-gatherers in communities that can be accessed. Have students learn about what it means to live a sustainable lifestyle. Teach them to live off the land. Identify traditional foods and harvest edible plants. Teach them wilderness survival skills. There are several NCCI lesson plans and videos to give you some ideas of learning outdoors and on the land. Indigenous language learning can be done in a variety of ways. Use your home as a rich learning space where you can teach common household words and basic greetings. Go for walks and link Indigenous language words with the natural world. There are language websites and social media sites where you can learn the sound of words with visuals. Have language competitions and mini oral tests using photographs. Incorporate rewards and incentives. Link up with elders and storytellers that share stories through their language. There are language dictionaries online that students can use to create stories. Create songs in an Indigenous language. Use puppets to teach language. If you're not a language speaker, take the time to learn right along with your children. Again, the NCCI web page has lesson plans that includes learning about an Indigenous language. Learning about treaties. There are many resources and teaching kits. On the NCCI website, you can do a search in the resource library for information on treaties. Approach treaty commissioner offices. There are lesson plans and background information available. Basic concepts of treaties, for example, are about people coming together to agree on rules of sharing and living together in peace and what they need to do in times of conflict. Focus on the many contributions made by Indigenous peoples in Canada. Show students about the strengths of the people. Teach them why residential schools were set up and the impacts of these institutions and the lives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people. On the Reconciliation page I mentioned earlier, on the NCCI web page, watch the other video which is about students dealing with the multi-generational impacts of residential schools. Network with other parents that are homeschooling their children. Share ideas of best practices. Listen to one another. Bounce off your frustrations and confidence. It's not easy being a parent and a teacher at the same time. Engage in joint projects. Learn how to use technology to connect one another. Reach out to experienced teachers to get ideas of lessons and activities that can be done at home. Utilize community resources, libraries and museums where they can explore Indigenous artifacts, teachings and stories. I want to thank you very much for taking the time to listen to my presentation. I hope I have been helpful in providing a basic introduction on the integration of Indigenous knowledge and homeschooling. The National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education website is a rich source of information, materials, resources, videos, books and articles, elder teachings, stories, lesson plans and examples of land-based education activities. This website is being used by teachers, teacher trainees and parents across Canada. As part of this virtual conference presentation, you will get to meet Sarah Leah Hindi in another video clip. She will demonstrate and showcase an actual lesson and activity from the NCCIE website. Sarah Leah Hindi is a MiGMAW teacher from Newfoundland. Joining her in the video is her friend Marcus Goss, a MiGMAW artist. Together, they will explore the connection between self and the environment in a hands-on lesson about art. We encourage students to watch their video entitled The Elements of Art to learn about the interplay between art, culture and connection to place. To download this complete lesson plan and many more, visit the Teaching Resource Centre in the NCCIE website. The website is n-c-c-i-e dot c-a. Thank you.


I'm doing fine. I'm doing amazing. Glad to be here. Thanks for the invite. You're welcome. So what do you do, Maena? Maena emo he is a youthful eccentric digital expert. Chinangumungumu. Okay. Digital expert who measures in digital advertising, digital marketing, web development, software development and anything to do with the digital space. You're also a director? Yes, and the director must digital. Yes. Where we majorly work in software and digital. So where did this journey start? Who is Maena? Lusamewa, Wapi, Kampasulifanya, Nimi? Okay. So this digital journey started about... Actually, it started when I was in high school. That is when I got my first blog. I think in FOM2. And in FOM2 I did some poetry here and there, some few articles. Then after school, I found myself really inclined into digital. So I find myself on running people's Facebook pages. Actually, one of the first people who trusted me with their Facebook pages was my English and literature teacher who had a business outside Hustle. So she gave me her page, her business page and I ran it. Got into uni, did film and theater. I have also done journalism and mass communication. So professionally I've done this for the last four years. Okay. Yes. And right now journalism umie kakando you're into the digital space? I find myself rubbing shoulders with journalism because I'm also a creative director at an alternative agency. Okay. Yeah, that is where I practice my journalism skills at. But full time I'm on the digital space and trying to help small businesses improve on their digital presence and try to tell them that there's business in the digital space. Just because I'm a digital expert because Kauna is operating TikTok, Facebook when a digital expert. So who is a digital expert? Trust me everyone will say that they are a digital expert. But trust me there's a lot more to be being on the digital space. There's a lot more to ensuring that you're targeting the right people for your posts and that you're sharing the right message because that is where businesses have a problem in also making sure that you're consistent in making your digital presence felt. You get. Yeah, so that is one of the problems also being a digital expert means that you're able to analyze and get data from your audience. And what your audience would want, what your audience don't prefer and what are the right times and what are like there's a lot to look at. What is the right time to do your post? What is the right time to make this post? And what is what numbers are you getting to? So it's it's it's quite it's it's huge. So is there a cost that Mtu and Ashule kusoma amani YouTube is your friend? Okay, this is how it started. Having studied journalism and film and data. I wasn't taught that in school obviously. So we've digital digital marketing and the internet space also web development trust me itself thoughts and I've sharpened these skills these skills for so long considering eight years like and it keeps changing also so you keep learning in the process. YouTube is my friend. I also do paid courses on Kusera Udemi. You have to like to look for these skills out there. So yourself taught so for someone who wants to become a digital expert can you tell us some some of the places to look for these courses where to learn. Okay, so some of the areas to look for these courses are Udemi offers these courses. Also if you go on to YouTube and search anything to do with digital marketing web developments of the development trust me you will get people who are out there training people for free. Yes, but for you you have to do like an in-depth research. You've already gone to YouTube and you need to get more because YouTube will just do it on atafania juju. Lakinif for you to get deeper and get to know what happens what really happens you like have to go deep into your pocket also and try get some paid courses for that. And what are some of your the tools you use for your work? What tools do you need? Okay, some of the tools that we use they are quite a number and the analytics tool is one important tool to use. Some other tools there are other tools that also help you in getting some target audience. There are other tools you see as a creative. Okay, digital and being a creative also goes hand in hand because whatever message you share out there should be the right message and it needs some creativity. So what happens is you also need creative tools that will help you in at least getting the right message and curating the right message for your audience. Yes.  Yeah, I'm the director. You look quite young. Okay. Honestly, yes. I mean honestly, yes. That is one comment that I get with most people. Like for you this young you go into a board meeting and they're like okay are you the person we were talking with on phone? You're the person who will do this for us? Yes, and my team. And they're like how did you like it's a story that I have to mention for every person I meet in the business world. Like how did you get here? And how did you get there? Okay, so what happened is starting off at an early age and learning a few things here and there. I was able to meet some few people out here who were in the same space and the first thing that I did is putting myself out there as much as possible. Going for doing those volunteer volunteer programs for people and companies and also projects. That was one of the milestones that I did that I got into this project. I helped in this on the digital space and this is what I achieved. So that helped me to move on to the next step. That also I've also managed to get myself here by interacting and networking with very many people. It's important to network. It's one skill that we as youth need to have. So starting this at let's say 16 now on 23 and starting it officially at 19 I had to put myself out there badly. So the director of Mast Digital. What type of company is Mast Digital? What do you guys deal with? Okay, so Mast Digital is a software and digital company. We mostly deal in software development, web development, digital marketing, advertising, copywriting. Those are our majors. And in doing that we have also measured on SAS. SAS is a software service where we offer solutions for the masses and publics. In the software world we need for companies they need you need to streamline everything that you do in your company. Like you need to streamline from the HR to the digital department, from the accounts to the management and we help companies get softwares that align the whole companies and processes making it easier for them. We have a digital department at Mast Digital. The digital department is called the Brand Energy and that is where I head the digital team. And here we help small businesses, any business, any business that is out there and is struggling to get the space into the digital space. Well, we've had a problem with, you see, we just we just getting into the digital era. Well, it has moved really fast and people are quite, people do not understand what it is. They're like, okay, what will this digital help you with? Yeah, exactly. So I'm just thinking, if mimi nimi anza biesha reyangundogo, so why should I come to you for any digital help when I can just take my phone and press record na Nikolai Facebook, Nikolai YouTube, why come to you? Yes. Okay, so why you should come to us is because we understand what your audience needs. Come in with your business, we'll tell you who are the right people you'll target because you see, when you take your phone, like immediately you take your phone and go live, the things, well, you'll do it, yes, but will you get to the right audience, you as a page or you as an Instagram, as an Instagram company page, you get. Are you getting to the right people? So we help you get to the right people, we help you target, we help you also make ads from your business posts and that we are able to reach to some bigger numbers which will at least convert and get you some money into your company, yes, because not most people that go on live and not most people go on live and make business out of it because you'll see people who get into the digital space and they stay there and they're like, ay, this thing is not working for me, what's happening? Did you buy it? Yeah, so those are some of the things that because you as a business person you believe, you know, trust me, trust me, I learn daily, I go on to Instagram, I go on to Facebook, I go on to Twitter and these things are changing, these things are diverse. I learn a lesson daily from these platforms. So you as a newbie or you as a new person into this space makes it difficult for you to understand what you need to do and how you need to do it, yeah. So when I come to you, when I go to a digital company, what are some of the services that I will get from them? Okay, some of the services that you'll get from us is one, messaging, like copywriting. What message are you sharing with your clients? Two, how are you putting like advertising? Like you see, copywriting, then advertising that for you to get your clients, also analyzing and getting analytics for your company and getting to lower the right market for your company, yes. Apart from that? Apart from that we'll help you manage and take care of your socials that you don't have to worry about your socials at any time. We are the right people to do that for you, yeah. So you have my logings, you have my passwords, you have everything? Yes, I have everything. And I'm safe, like I don't have to worry about... Trust me, you're safe. Trust me, you're safe because you see what we do, we also with the digital space means security. And you see security is one of the, it's one of the key measures that you have to tighten when you're starting your digital journey. And hakas are out here terrorizing people. So you need to make your digital space air tech that no one will be able to penetrate into your space and share their content or get hold of your accounts. So we also help you with security on your digital space. Okay, so I'm just wondering how the structure of a digital company is. So what's the structure of the company, the kind of professionals that a digital company has? Because I want to believe that there's so much work and you cannot be the only person who is working. Exactly. So when it comes to a digital company, obviously there has to be the management and the management for our companies, the directors and for each director is in charge of each department, for every department. We have a director who leads on the software development sector. We have a director who heads on the website, the software and the website are together and when it comes to the digital space, this is quite wide. We have the designers, the graphic designers. We have the social media people, people who handle your social media, the postings and all that. In that social media also we have people who come up with a copy, copywriters. In that space also we also have people who do analyze data and analytics, people who bring all the data collected together and tell you that this is what you need to do for your business. Yes. So if I wanted to start a digital company, is it expensive because I'm thinking about the space, the equipment you need, the employees, so how is the capital like? Honestly, it may be expensive but trust me if you have the skills, this is what I tell people like success makes preparedness. So what you need to do is you need to push and make sure that you're ready. You have your skill sets.  From there, make sure that you get your clients that you're able to push and make sure that you're reaching to as many people as possible and telling them this is what I do. Yo, make noise as much as possible. Yo, I'm a digital marketer and this is what I'll help you with. Do it for free. I don't care. Just do it. Just make sure that you're out there and people get to know about you. On the part budgeting and all that because you see with digital it's vast and it grows daily. Yeah. So another investment that I'd ask people people who are looking to get into our space is get as many skills, get to widen your skills as wide as possible. Get those cost era courses. You then go on to YouTube and make sure that you learn. It takes time before you get to open an office and get employees on board. Yes. And that's quite expensive but for you to get there you must have built gradually. You get. It may take an year or two but you'll get there eventually as long as you're consistent. Trust me, the digital space is one area that really pays. People don't know that. Let me tell you the truth. How well does it pay? Outa kula shina, baby. It's outa kula shina. Outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina. It's outa kula shina, baby. Okay, talking about employees I'm just thinking you just can't take anyone from outside and bring them into your company. So what kind of professionals does a digital company have? Okay. So when it comes to the digital space actually we've had interviews from last year, from last year February. We've had about three interviews in between the year and we honestly don't look at papers. What we look at is what you've done. What projects have you been into? What do you know about the digital space? How good are you at it? And how good are you at your skillset? Are you a copywriter? How good are your copies? That is what we look at. Are you a digital marketer? How good are your organizational skills? Are you able to handle one Facebook page? Are you able to... What lengths can you go to with digital space? We also need people who are creative. So it's one of those things that you can do without a degree? It's one of those things. Well, most companies get people with degrees but you see it's not in scope. So it's people who have sat back and have been doing it for some time and have gained some skills out of it. So you just get them on board and tell them, this is your description, this is your job description and this is what you have to do for us. That's all. That's quite interesting. I think I'll get into it. I mean... Please, please... See, we're kind of visual. Thank you very welcome. Okay, so who are your clients? Who do you guys target when it comes to digital? For the past few years, we've worked for anyone and any person you think of out there. Starting from the small businesses, starting from going to the middle-sized companies and also corporates and big organizations, also the government. We've been able to offer solutions for the government also, which means that for... What would you call it? That we've been able to serve all these people starting from the software development services, digital marketing services, web development services. We have served everyone in the industry. Currently, we have about three major clients who we are serving starting from... We used to be the major clients and the big organizations. They come in with... They want a whole package where you offer all the services at a go. So we do software development, web development and digital marketing. Digital marketing in this case is social media management. That is what most clients want. So these three services are offered as a package for for those big organizations and companies. For small traders, what we do is we help them start off the... What do you call it? They are digital journey that if you need... If you're starting a company, we'll set up a company for you. You don't need to stress about anything. We'll get your company registered. We'll get you branded. We'll get you a logo. We'll get your images out there and we'll do the right branding for you. Yes. Okay, that's really interesting. So what are some of the good characteristics of a good digital company? Like how do I differentiate from a good digital company and a work one? A creative aspect. Because you see, we sell emotions and we sell an image. You got it. So if you look at a digital company, you need to look at... What do you call them? The companies they've worked for before. You need to analyze their portfolio and get to know how did they handle these clients and how they manage into also work for these clients. Like how creative are they inserting their message and how resourceful are they and how fast are they also. And you... But the creative aspect is one of the major places you should look at. How creative are they?  You just don't want to... We just don't want content. We want some eye-catching content. We want some glusome content. Content that you look at and you're like, okay, let me read through this. Let me get to know what they're saying about their product, yeah. So and if I wanted to like start a digital company, what are some of the requirements that I need? One of the requirements that you need which you could do after you've made some money here and there is register as a company. Yes. You also need to get yourself tools and softwares to get you started on the digital space. You also need to get a budget for the little things. You see, starting a company, starting a digital company also needs that also means that you need to go out there and get clients. And you see with clients comes customer acquisition costs. So you have to get yourself a budget to at least convince a client here. Come on, bud. I'm the right person for this. Yes. So as a director, what are some of your responsibilities? My responsibility is to make sure that things are done and they are done in the right way and are done on time. That I have to ensure that my team is working and they have responsibility. Like whatever is given to them is delivered and is delivered right. Before it gets to me it has to go through them that they have to agree that is this right? Do you feel that the message we are sharing here is okay? Then for me is just ah, go ahead. You feel this is good? You feel this is the right message? Then yeah, let's go ahead. It also means that I have to check up on you see, in business one of the lessons that I have learnt with time is to take care of your people. I need to take care of my people. I need to take care of everyone that is under me. I need to make sure that they are mentally okay and I need to make sure that we are all doing well financially in India. You get that? Yeah, that you are comfortable in your space. Yeah. Yes. As a director also I have learnt that for creatives we need creatives need their space. So actually we don't have any roles at our office. If you feel like you work best at night please come to the office at night. Okay. If you feel that you work best at 2pm please come to the office at 2pm. No one will ask you because you are a creative because I have been a creative before and the employment entrust me getting to getting to work in a very tight environment makes things hard for you. Yeah. So as a director I must make sure that the company is running. And what are some of the challenges that you have faced as a digital company? Woof! Clients. Oh yeah, getting a client on body's head. Like we call it custom acquisition and custom acquisition is a whole process that you've already identified a client and you have to follow up on the client. Trust me it may take you a month well from a day to almost a year because I've had clients that have changed for a whole year that you must keep calling the client. Hey, hello. My name is Alfred. Do you remember me? Hey. Alfred here. Hey. You remember me? Yeah. So you have to make sure that you're following up on your clients.  That's another tough meme because I don't have a history in finance like clients who's here. I don't have a history that so you have to learn in the process you have to get the right people. Also so another challenge is are you making the right decision? Okay. So we'll go for a short break but we'll be back after a few minutes so usyende pa hali. Yeah. Why 254 Imagine Mua kupatao fanisi Deville takaviufu rahi bada kufanikiwa usi subirikus kumonamtu jitume moineu. Ili kupataos kizatun hi boneza star 8 1 1 star 9 6 3 hush star 8 1 1 star 9 6 3 hush Waiter remuka 2 chini. At watwa nangotya eh? Una se maunya? Ah, si nina kwa nandia ukucha eh kucha nina kwa nana. Yo hi. Imi puitama nangangapikei. This is the nisan note. Indio motoka. Note that this is the nisan note we are giving out. Nani reisi sana kwa ekelea bid unena kwenye lipa na empesa uneka pay bill number 403 2353 kisha unekelea account number ya nisan note ni note N-O-T-E namba una penda labduna penda 100 labduna 200 wa ekelea note 100 note 200 alafu chutakuitisha shilingi arbaini pekea ke 40 babonili wakapini ya kwa uta kwa mekelea bid ya hi nisan note ina kungoja webe mahali po pote u lipo mi mi namutubishi nutakupia Every Sunday comes with a fresh energetic and nourish inibai. Makes sense Kali Kali from DJ Nick's The Spring Doctor. Enrico siza kwa zote tunazi sort hapa hapa and play them like as they come. Lively one on one guest interviews with the amazing rising stars in your favorite gospel artisti in the game. Alafuna wapakulia fresh and new music straight from Jikoni wakatitu zina tokea hiviyo hiviyo. He gets spicy with trending stories on gospel industry with Linda Branden. Your Sundays will never be the same. Again. Get us all nourish through inspiration vibe. All this comes to you live at 11 a.m. Only on Y244 Asking my friend here if they work with influencers and celebrities aren't you know kaniwa ujiongezeo holluaz amayoni kaziya digital company. Okay. Yes. We do work with influencers and the people who have some high numbers and yes they do need a digital expert for their spaces. Building an audience on social media trust me it's quite a hassle. It's quite a task. So you at least need some people who will guide you on the content that you share and who'll be able to analyze what your platform looks like and what your audience looks like. Yeah. And when it comes to charging them I'm a charging a company for your digital services how do you go about that? It cuts across well we have a standard package but it cuts across different clients. You see there's a small business that we not be able to afford your standard package. So what we do is we customize a package for them that this is what we will be able to do for you at your cost. You guys and with the there are these other the standard package is mainly achieved by the by these big organizations and companies but also we have been able to bring these small companies on board and tell them yeah please come on board we'll help you with this and we'll do it for you at your affordable at an affordable rate that you will be able to raise. Yes. So every business has a risk so what are some of the risks that are digital company experiences? Sharing the wrong message. You've gotten a client a high-end client and on this particular day well you've really shared the calendar with them and they looked at it and you delivered already and they looked and they said it's okay you can go ahead and post then it gets to the audience and it is clapped back on you so you have to handle such fires also with creatives dealing with creatives can be hard because you see we also get mental breakdowns there are these moments where you totally can't think of a thing like you're blank you're totally blank so that is also another problem that we face another risk that we face is clients failing to pay for services you've already offered a client a service and they just just goes to me so it's it's quite tough yeah so you have to keep following up on the client hey where is the money hey you we did this service for you it's it's it's a problem that we are we are facing as a company also business people also are facing this challenge that they do not know where is the right who's the right person trust me if out of every five business startups or companies are three of them will admit a company that will not deliver so it's one of the challenges that we get well you get a client they tell you hey i won't trust you because you know i gave someone else the job and they didn't deliver you know i paid this person the whole amount and they never delivered my website they never delivered the services they just they just sold me some hot air those are some of the challenges so you have to like bring this client on board and tell them hey trust us we've got you trust us like we're the right team to go to we'll solve your problems so no worries just chill let's do it let's get it done for you so you've said you've talked about being the right team yes so what makes you as mass digital the right team we are agile and eccentric you see we are abnormal you see when it comes to when it comes normal is boring so we want to be we want to be that company that will do what people fear and we'll mass ourselves into it we'll take up those challenges and we'll get it done for you yes so what do people fear you see when you come when you bring in a client most clients are like eh is is my business even doing it okay should I even get into the digital space is it even the right space to get into why am I even getting into this like those are some of the fears people have am I doing it right so those are some of the fears that we solve for our clients and also get ourselves into some challenging situations and see how we come out and do you have a physical office am I your yes so you have a physical office we have we are located on Mombasa Road semi business park block bit free yes that is where we are at yeah you can also find us on social media at mass digital Africa mass digital Africa on Facebook on Twitter on LinkedIn and on Instagram yes okay that's really interesting so what piece of advice will you give a young person like you who wants to start a digital company just get started any he doesn't doesn't help to sit back and say no gopa any you need you need to push yourself out there you need to put yourself out there and you need to meet people you need to network that is the only way out of poverty interesting and what's the vision like for you as a person and you as the director of mass digital we are looking at making it public for everyone we are looking at being the go-to software solution company in the country and in Africa that is why it's called mass digital Africa that if you need any service any digital service any software service that you are the company to go to and we are also looking at maybe in some few years make it public and people will come by shares yeah never know as a person I want to be known as the best that ever was in the digital space okay thank you thank you so much thank you very much thank you for taking your time and educating us on the digital space and showing us the importance of actually coming to a digital company I am so that was Mai Namwangi a digital expert and we'll be right back after the break


Think Tech Away, civil engagement lives here. It is a noon hour on Thursday folks. Ted Rawson here, downtown Honolulu, our Think Tech Studios where we have our show where the drone leaves for every week or two weeks. We bring to our trusted audience information and views, facts and issues associated with the emerging world of unmanned air system, drones, remotely piloted aircraft, whatever you want to call them. One thing about this show that's really incredible is the people you get to meet that are already involved in the business and the way we can work together on bringing ideas together that work on the future of education, the future of problem solving and such like that associated with drones. Today we have two newcomers on the show, Dr. Zach Trimble, right down the street from UH Manaw, mechanical engineering department. Thanks for coming on Zach. Thank you Ted. I'm definitely nervous are you? Yeah of course I am nervous. You said first, first time right? First time, right. Thanks for having me on. So here across the country here, across the Pacific and across the country in St. Evine, Salem, Massachusetts is Bob Gellar. Bob you there? Yes, hello. You are? Thank you Ted. Okay and Bob is coming to us as an aerospace expert and a small unmanned air systems pilot, operator, designer and such and as a practitioner of the trade and what's most interesting I think is that both of our guests look at the problem of UAS from the inside out as perhaps more than from the outside in. And that's what I wanted to bring to our discussion. I think so much of the time we see our people we work with thinking about it from the outside and you open the box, take the thing out and you get amazed and amused by what you've got. But what we don't understand is what's inside, what makes this thing work. And so from a perspective of a practitioner such as Bob and from an educator such as Zach, we've got to somehow break through that and get the kids interested and get even the users interested in operating from a perspective of what's inside and how can we make that inside better. So Bob let me start with you. Give us your kind of background on where you come from and how you enter the UAS mix and how we might take this issue of understanding what the computational software and mathematics are that make these things work and how do we stand that tall in our educational outreach. And I realize that's a lot. So I'm just tossing it your way, sir. Okay. Thank you. I'm really glad to be here today. So just a little bit about my background, you know, loved aviation for a very young age. Gone to air shows. I always wanted to be a pilot. Got my private pilot license about ten years ago, fixed wing, single engine land and then I was also getting into the remote control aircraft as a hobby. And in conjunction with that, work in the aerospace industry and get in business for about 15 years, working with regulators and understanding kind of the safety practices that go along with manned aviation and kind of coming along in parallel and my free time was the unmanned stuff. So starting with fixed wing and then helicopters, multi rotors when those first came out and very early stages of that when they are still taking apart Nintendo remote, they get the accelerometers out that make the flight controllers. They've come a long way in the last five or six years and just learning more about, you know, the programming that goes into that, the TID tuning, we'll talk more about that later. But to touch on your other question about how to bring that to the forefront of the schools, I think there's a huge STEM opportunity with UAVs because it touches on everything. It touches on mechanical engineering. If you want to design the structures and the mounts that hold the components on the aircraft, it touches on electrical engineering. You have to understand circuits and control laws and soldering and dirt flow, voltages, watts, all those things. And it touches on your science. You have to know how to code and how to write software and different parameters through command lines and other functions. And it also touches on physics. You know, as you tune these things through the control laws and as you fly them and understanding the relationships and the trade-offs of, you know, torque versus top speed versus power, different propellers, different motors, the effect of center of gravity, you know, all those things can be learned by anyone, really, and especially students. And so getting those things and again, 3D printers as well have a huge role in UAVs because a lot of the stuff just doesn't exist. You can't go buy parts for these things. You have to make it. Thinking creatively on how to design a 3D model and then make that into a product that you can put on your aircraft. So getting those things into the schools, I think the cost has come down quite a bit. It used to be a pretty high barrier to entry from a cost standpoint.  So I think getting those into the hands of young students and letting them kind of learn and grow with that is the way to get them thinking about those parts as opposed to buying an off-the-shelf product that has all those things already done for you and all you have to do is charge the battery and take off. So starting at the point of level and understanding those trade-offs, I think it's important. So we have the inside outlook that you just expressed and then we know we have the outside outlook that all of our peers and folks who work with drones normally come from. The concept of a drone is really that of motion management and position measurement and somehow putting those two together in some kind of a software orientation that achieves the right positioning in some efficient way. So Zach, how do we take what Bob just said and think about packaging that certainly at a graduate level, undergraduate level, and even down to the elementary school level? How do we take an IMU and hold it in your hand and have somebody understand what that's all about? Not feeling any pressure? Well, certainly we need the outside in look. We need people to be able to look at drones and imagine what I can do with them. Imagine what new data I can get. Imagine what new mission I can do. We need people to do that to drive a desire and end use. But as you just mentioned, it's an issue of do I know where I am? Do I know where I'm going? Am I under control? I'm doing the drone. Yeah, I'm being the drone. Am I going where I am supposed to be going? And we need people to see that from the inside. And as you said, do I understand that IMU in my hand? Do I understand its limitations? Do I understand the GPS signal? And do I understand all of that? Yes, it's giving me a position in a location, a pose estimate. But there's an error in that. And we need people to imagine those new uses of drones, as I said, from the outside in. But understand that I need to advance the insides to get to those new ones and get excited about advancing those insides. And I think we're being relatively successful that at the University of Hawaii. We've got a fairly large contingent of students running in what's known as a VIP program. And I know that you're familiar with that. But for the audience, it's known as vertically integrated projects. And what happens is we get together as was mentioned, we get together mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, all working together at various ranges, from freshman up through doctoral students, on these insides to say, OK, how do I get it, the drone, it being the drone, to have better location to be able to do the next mission better? So we can imagine the next. So we're actually putting a screen on there and saying, hey, can we see the stuff that falls through the screen and fix it? Is there better ways to do motion management? Better ways to do the math of projecting the right trajectory and that kind of thing? Better ways to look at fault propagation? If we can find a way to make that what is the takeaway out of these projects and out of the education system, that is the place where the future lies right there, getting all that. I mean, as an educator in mechanical engineering, I can't agree with you more. That's why I say, this program, we get to get people who think I like together a lot. They don't generally pick people on a show who don't agree. Bob, what do you think about that from your experience in industry and your perception of what operates successfully and what doesn't operate successfully from an operator perspective? And I'm really thinking here of fault accommodation, symptom identification, and what to do about it. As we all know, we're all three of us airplane pilots. And you have 30 seconds from the time, the first indication of something to fix it. As long as you have a lot of altitude and a lot of ideas, you're probably OK. In drones, you have five seconds. And you may not have the proper knowledge of what the fault symptom is and what the indication is and what the consequence is. Therefore, you don't know what to do about it. So Bob, from your operating experience, how do we tie that all together? Yeah, so a couple of different ways. One way is to reactively to through the telemetry data that you're being sent from the aircraft while it's in the airport, and you're going to get alerts. So depending on the flight control system that you have in the ground control system, so the ground control system being the laptop, if you're using a laptop to control the aircraft, some systems are quite sophisticated. You might just only have a handheld remote, but maybe you're getting audible or visual cues from the aircraft through flashing lights or buzzing cones. But however it comes to you, you're getting some feedback that there's an issue, whether that be you've lost GPS, the battery's getting too low, other things like a multi-rotor, if you start losing travelers or motors, things like that, usually that departs controlled flight, and there's not a lot you can do. But things like batteries getting too low or GPS failure reacting to those things at the pilot. So if you have, are you getting too low, you land it. A lot of times there's things you can do ahead of time, and your configurations that set fail-safe. So when those things happen, they're dealt with automatically. So when the battery gets too low, it turns around and comes back and lands. If you choose, you can switch into manual mode and do that yourself. Whether the industry's really heading is trying to get more proactive. And so by that, I mean looking at flight log. So in performing statistical analysis, I've been trying to forward-look and forward-project on anomalies. So as you see, vibrations start to increase. Maybe you've got a motor that's about to go bad or a bearing that needs maintenance. Or as you see, current draw starts to increase. Maybe you have some electrical issue or other issues that are presenting themselves before the failure, so that you can do that maintenance proactively before you have the problem. Because as you mentioned, you don't have a lot of time when the failure occurs, especially the more catastrophic one. So trying to get ahead of that is really the way that the industry is trying to trend and drive what's through software and data analytics. That's interesting to know. And that also brings up a question. If some element of ministry or some element of academia comes up with a bright idea, you mentioned forecasting and potential failure, if there was a brilliant solution that showed up somewhere, how would we, as the larger industry, capture that and find a way to employ it widely, as opposed to have it controlled by some proprietary means by which you have to buy it? Because this whole industry is based on sharing a lot of information, a lot of capability. Do we have any kind of a commercial advisory group that takes out those kind of bright ideas, Bob, and does something to standardize them? They're in the process of being informed. So there's lots of different groups that are trying to shape some of that through either legislation or just through guidelines and guidance. There's a couple of those. There's also quite a bit of open source in the industry. PIXHawk is one example through Archipilot, so there's conduits to kind of get things out there that in a way that'll be broadly shared in a kind of commercial fashion. So that would be one conduit. And then I guess kind of integrating it into software platforms that are existing. So there's some web-based tools that are used for logbook analysis and data log analysis that are trying to do some of these things, and that would be the place to kind of inject and infuse some of the students' work potentially in a broader sharing of that knowledge. So it sounds like, Zach, we need some students involved here on the websites all the time, hitting different websites for different information and pulling this insight together. It's all over the place. Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think it is the student-built websites that actually are an interesting repository for this type of information. There are many universities, probably all of them, that have some form of a UAV program going on, and nearly all of those UAV teams maintain some sort of a website. And so the hard part is, is how do I check them all? So much information. Yeah, it's an information overload to an extent. But yeah, the student teams themselves building up their websites and sort of monitoring what's out there. Now, there's a challenge, right? If I come up with something very novel, do I really want to just go open source on it? Bob, close your ears. Right. And that is a challenge. And we do have students that struggle with that. This idea of, do I really want to do this while I'm at school, or I have this great idea, and should I wait another year and then try to... When I'm out of school, I can make some money on this thing. That's correct. Instead of working and having to do it as part of my schoolwork. Yeah. We do struggle with that a bit, not a ton, to some. Well, most interesting. Well, let's get back to where this all fits into education when we get back from our first and only one minute break today. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea is on Think Tech Hawaii every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join me where my guests talk about law topics and ideas and music in Hawaii Ana all across the sea from Hawaii and back again. Aloha. Hi, I'm Bill Sharp, host of Asian Review here on Think Tech Hawaii. Join me every Monday afternoon from 5 to 5.30 Hawaii Standard Time for an insightful discussion of Contemporary Asian Affairs. There's so much to discuss and the guests that we have are very, very well informed. Just think we have the upcoming negotiation between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. The possibility of Xi Jinping, the leader of China remaining in power forever. We'll see you then. It is still the noon hour on Thursday, folks. Ted Rawson here and Zach Tribble, downtown Honolulu. Zach, thanks for coming on the show. First time from UH Manoa and Far Across the Sea over in Salem, Massachusetts. We have Bob Gettler waiting to come back on. There you are, Bob. So we were talking before the break about education and such and how critical that is to all of this and there's so many elements to that. We could never exhaust all the time we have and still be talking about education. But about problem solving. We were talking about the information, there's so much information everywhere in terms of different methods that have been put together for the technical elements of drones and such. Bob, you from an industry perspective, how do you make sure when you generate a solution to a problem, you've taken advantage of whatever's out there? How do you package up a solution when somebody comes to you with an operational or a design problem? If you just take us through that, we really need to import that into our educational process. One of the things that I try to do is stay up to speed on the different trade journals and news feeds, websites, follow a lot of different companies on LinkedIn just to kind of keep my fingers on the pulse of the new products that are coming out. Also attend trade shows at Xfinancial this past spring. Interest to see, talk to the different vendors and look at their product. To try to have a catalog and a roll deck in my mind of what's out there. Also it's a very good relationship with the different vendors and suppliers that they kind of give me ideas on things they're working on. We collaborate on a few things if there's something that's not currently in their catalog but maybe it's something that they could develop to fill a niche. And as much as possible is because of the speed that everything moves in this industry. We try to use integrating off-the-shelf product just because the product lifecycle and the development cycles to develop something brand new and do an MPI are often too long. And so knowing what's out there and what you can use in a somewhat creative way to meet the needs of your application is very important. The combination of that and then also just kind of collaborating with my peers in different industries to understand what they know. So that's kind of the first step. If we can't find anything that currently exists then we start thinking about what can we quickly wrap the prototype or make if necessary. Okay, that's interesting. So you basically think of object-based integration. You have a bunch of objects that you can integrate if somebody provided the API or some other integration ROS or something format for you to follow. Let me throw one at you just to hear how you think about it. Say you have a need to get a drone or a UAS that operates outdoors in clear air and clear signals, has to operate also in an urban canyon with a lot of potential signal reflection or signal blocking and has to operate undercover somehow that is under a roof or in a tunnel. So you have these transitions from the quality of the GPS for example is going to be quite varied across that range. How would you think through putting together a solution to that particular problem? So for that particular problem, and this is a new thought for me, this particular application I have had to deal with this, but what I would start with is for the canyon side is probably some kind of mesh network. Either that or look at what kind of data do we need to send back? What bandwidth do we need? And are we okay with just having the command and control or C2 which doesn't take a lot of data? Is that's going to help the system network that we need to build or take advantage of? So if it's low data rates, maybe you can get away with SACCOM if it's or lower frequencies which tend to have better object penetration in longer ranges. If you need high data rates, you got to go to the higher frequencies that you're going to need to probably have some additional radius placed strategically. And you'd want to do some analysis looking at spraying and doing some measurements and some testing to see where the optimal place is at, if you're essentially building a cellular network in a way or a Wi-Fi network with these repeater stations along your route. Once you get to the tower or the tunnel where you're going to be GPS denied, you almost need to have a second navigation system on the aircraft to switch to when you get to that environment because you're not going to have clear view of enough satellites that have accurate positioning. So that's where you're probably going to need to move to either like an obstacle flow, using camera systems or some kind of localized-based positioning system with some nodes in the tunnel and making that transition from it almost had two separate flight paths where the aircraft would fly to route through the canyon on GPS. And then once you get to the tunnel, it would switch over to a new flight plan with the GPS denied navigation system. So what Bob's outlined by going through that thinking process is something really, I think, instructive and useful to us. It makes me think that in the buildup of instruction and educational themes here, we have what we just thought of maybe as a positioning aspect. That is the position feedback, the GPS. You have to know your position regardless of what the mission is. And so the different environmental conditions determine what systems you're going to have, what electronics and what software to do that positioning work. We have position. So position management or position measurements, one thing, position management through motion understanding, motion modeling and motion compensation is another category. The transitioning from one of these modes to the other, the failure modes at a company and what the indication is and the response and what kind of training we go through in simulations. You can think of four or five major categories into which the technology is starting to collect here, buckets of technology. Is that how you guys look at it from an educational construction perspective? Yeah, I think so. I'm known for having a couple of different sayings that I repeat many, many times to students. One of them, the first one being, define what success looks like. That's great. Just hold that for thought. Define what success looks like. How do students react to that? Can they define success very well? It's a big challenge at the first. It is very much a challenge at the first. Once we've had them for a year, they're getting much better at that. But being able to just, in very simple terms, state to somebody, if I have to prove to you that my system works, what are the steps I have to take? What does success look like? What does this machine, this drone, this item look like when I'm done? And more importantly, I somehow have to prove to you that it solves your problem. And so I have to think about what are the tests I have to go through to do that? And then it very much defines what are the things I need to do. So even for the subject that Bob just described, that is the position identification, you could even define a success parameter for that. And a response to challenges or threats, electrical storms, for example, or heavy rain or whatever it might be that degrades signals. So you could think of a measurement of success and you could think of the challenges under which the thing has to survive. And that would structure the thought, wouldn't it, in terms of what the elements of the technical solution are? That's correct, yeah. That's exactly right. And by knowing what it has to look like at the end, it's much easier for me to find what I have to work on now. And then the other keyword is, what's your most critical module? And I think that's what you've just identified from what Bob was talking about is the most critical module. As a previous engineer, your mind just did it. And that most critical module was, okay, you gave me a mission and flying was pretty easy and communicating was typical, but localizing was hardest. And so I've defined the thing that I gotta focus on and I've gotta get that taken care of first because unless that doesn't work, I might as well not do the rest of it. And so that's the next thing that we talk about is once you've defined what success looks like, dig out of that the thing that everything hinges on, the most critical module. The reason I thought of that example is because we're getting into UAS integration with manned airspace. We have the FAA IPP program, which we're actually part of, to Alaska. That's dealing with 400 feet and below. And we have the NASA SOI or SIO program, which is dealing with 500 feet and above. So it's two different programs looking at integrating with manned aircraft. That means detect and avoid, it means remain well clear, it has all the proper terms, but that's gonna require precision information about location that works bar none. It has to work at all times or you haven't got to say system. And we think in terms of drones as positioning within two or three feet, if you wanna get up near a building or wanna get near a tree to look at what the bird's nest egg looks like or something like that. And these are really precise positioning issues in complex environments. And yet in our airplane experience, we have nothing like that. I mean, 100 feet goes by in the altimeter, you don't even notice it. And so we think of 100 feet is a positioning precision. Well, we're talking about a couple of feet in the world of drones. So this issue of integration is gonna define or drive a lot of these needs for thinking about these parametric issues, measures of success. And then the testing required to get to that point and the proof that you're done. Well, you've also hit on another thing that's important here. And that is the idea that oftentimes I can't get it done with one technology and that's really where the systems thinkings come in again. I can't get it all done with GPS. I have to coming in to be next to this building. I can't have enough GPS accuracy to be next to that building. So I still need GPS to get to where I need to be, but then suddenly I need to switch to a LiDAR or radar or something to give me that very fine precision. So again, now suddenly I have to start mixing systems together and we really need students that are interested in. That's interesting. And you talked about the school, the educational environment where you have a chance to speak about these things up front. You have a semester orientation so things aren't done till the end. Bob in the commercial world, you have to go through these discussions pretty quickly and get to a solution plan and a critical path that's gonna work for you in order to survive and make money. So do you have that same orientation that Zach has in terms of a wide open conversation about the various issues before you hit a actual execution path? Yeah, so I think what Zach touched on is an important part of the thought process of thinking about your kind of critical path and in your hinging point or your most difficult part, make sure you solve that. Because the last thing you wanna do is do all the easy stuff and then get to the hard part and not have a good solution. And either the other thing to think about too is if you're doing things that are gonna require a waiver so you get a back off of that all of the review cycle time for the FAA. So not only do you have to move fast in general but now a lot of your time is consumed with the regulatory agencies approving your solution. So part of that measure of success then that Zach talked about is having something that the regulators can understand and can find compliance with. So that's another whole dimension here. And we're about out of time. We didn't get to your favorite subject, Bob, of PID loop tuning and we'll have to hit that on a follow on conversation but I wanted to thank you very much for your insight from a commercial perspective on this emerging game of optimizing micro technology into successful drone operations. So Bob, once again, thanks for coming on from over in Salem, Massachusetts. And Zach, thanks for coming on down the hallway from Manoa to be part of this. Have a long drive. Have a long drive. Thank you, Ted. And we'll see you all next week.