EDIT 6600 Project Update

As I have developed the website on Haiti, I have really used the Noel article to help me think about the important aspects of the Haitian culture that I should share. Noel says in the article, Developing Multicultural Educators, "Although earlier definitions focused more on artifacts and customs, current conceptions of culture have looked at the underlying beliefs and perspectives that give rise to those manifestations of culture. This way of looking at culture move the focus away from the surface, outward aspects of culture and points our attention to the deep structure of culture, to people's beliefs and understandings of the world." This struck me as being so true about what we typically think of when we hear the word culture. In school, growing up, we would make food eaten by a certain culture, or maybe wear clothes that resembled those of a particular culture. We rarely talked about how a group of people might view the world differently.

Through my Haiti website, I would like for people to be able to experience Haitian culture a little more clearly. I have developed a few questions that will help people begin to shift the way they view culture. The questions present a situation and ask the user how they would respond in their own life. Then they go to the next screen and see how someone from Dolval, Haiti might respond. As Noel says, though, "There is always a concern with assuming that a culture can be characterized by a few characteristics. The danger is that stereo types about entire groups of people will be formed." To help and avoid creating stereotypes, I have tried to only list characteristics that cannot be seen in a right or wrong way. They are just common differences that someone would notice if they visited Dolval.

I have also added many links to videos taken in Haiti that show everyday life. They show them worshiping at church, building a school, and kids singing and playing. The videos shows how they interact with each other. I hope that seeing them move, and laugh, and sing, and build will help others to have a view of Haiti that is different than what is portrayed in the media. There are places of hope in Haiti, where people love each other, work together, and love to learn new things about people who are different from them.

As the website is being completed, I would like to use the website with a few people from my church, friends that supported us when my husband and I visited, and other people that are associated with the organization, Haiti Cheri. I will ask the users a few questions before they view the site, and then ask them a series of questions afterward. The questions before will focus on their prior knowledge of Haiti. The questions afterward will focus on what their impressions are of the people of Dolval. I would like to see if their thoughts changed after seeing the videos, the photos, and the questions. The people that will be using the website have access to up-to-date computers with high speed internet. They should be able to view the videos without any problems. Several people have already accessed the videos to make sure that software downloads would not be a problem. After more testing is complete, I will be interested to see what changes need to be made. Will I need to add additional questions? Should I add more descriptions to the photos or are the broad descriptions for each category enough? There will also probably be changes that need to be made that I cannot even foresee. I look forward to showing others what I have created!