Seminar: Educating About and With Technology: Empowering Indigenous Students and Communities
Program: TLSI
Subject Area: English Language Arts
Grade Level: 8th
Year of Publication: 2025
Abstract
“From Slides to Sound: Enhancing Canva Presentations with Audio Narratives,” is designed for 8th grade Career Exploration students at San Carlos Middle School where almost 100% of the students are Apache students and most of these students grow up within the San Carlos Reservation, located in the heart of the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona, USA. This community is still wrapped with their beliefs and traditions, and the reservation is still headed by their Tribal Leaders. At San Carlos Middle School, our students come with powerful stories, strong voices, and deep connections to community and culture. “From Slides to Sound: Enhancing Canva Presentations with Audio Narratives” is a culturally responsive curriculum unit designed to tap into that strength by allowing students to explore their future aspirations while honoring who they are and where they come from.
This unit is embedded within the 8th grade Career Exploration curriculum and centers on a
creative, student-led project: designing a Canva presentation about a career of interest, then adding an audio narrative to bring that story to life. Students will research potential career paths and reflect on how those careers connect to their personal strengths, community values, and long-term goals.