Edith Lando VLC Graduate Research Assistant, Nora Perry, is currently completing her Masters of Education in the Department of Language and Literacy Education (LLED). Her interest is in digital literacy with a particular focus on video game education and play-based learning. Originally from the Bay Area in California, Nora came to Canada to pursue her undergrad in Education. During her studies, she taught at Science Venture, a STEM Summer Camp at the University of Victoria. After completing her degree Nora worked as a teacher in the Sooke School District, filling a variety of contracts like music and drama, before coming to Vancouver to pursue her Masters Degree.
Earlier this month, Nora had the opportunity to present at the Digital Research in Humanities and Arts (DRHA) Conference at the Kingston School of Arts in London, England. This interdisciplinary conference showcases a range of research from art-based to quantitative. This year’s focus was on digital sustainability and resilience, with discussions around the impact of COVID-19 on creative and cultural industries and how the world has been adapting. Nora’s paper, which she co-wrote with her graduate supervisor Dr. Jennifer Jenson, is called Show Me the Money: Mapping STEAM Programs for Low Income Canadians. For their paper, Nora and Dr. Jenson created a map of Canadian STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) extracurricular programs, such as summer schools and clubs, in order to find out which programs offer bursaries or other similar options for students from low-income families. Nora notes that “Extracurricular programs have been documented to support student’s graduation rates and linked to lower juvenile crime rates by a recent study in Winnipeg.” Their findings, unfortunately, indicated that not many programs of this nature offer many resources to support low-income students, and Nora and Dr. Jenson are currently interviewing others who work in the field in order to better understand the situation. Nora says she has been lucky to be able to focus on this type of research with her supervisor Dr. Jenson.
When I asked Nora if she was interested in pursuing her PhD she said “Oh man, that’s a big question. Maybe? I love research and this work I have been doing, so exploring that further would be a dream. I may apply… but don’t hold me to that!”
Although Nora is very busy studying, doing research and working for Edith Lando VLC, she still finds time to have fun. She likes to hike, try out local breweries, eat good food and play board games with her partner!
