10/02/2010

The preservation of Indigenous culture is an important issue in Australia, as is the need to ‘close the gap’ in the living standards between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

A recent report found that attachment to traditional culture had an ‘enabling’ effect on Indigenous people and encouraged them to take part in education and training programs. This adds strength to the view that maintenance of Indigenous culture not only has a value in its own right, but may also play an integral role in improving Indigenous people’s participation in mainstream Australian life and their wellbeing.

Those who were more attached to their traditional culture had better education and training outcomes, most likely due to a greater sense of self-esteem and personal identity, and a close network of community support.1

With COAG’s (Council of Australian Governments) target to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework has been working with Indigenous people to use e-learning to sustain their culture and create improved educational opportunities.

Bringing Indigenous artists online

Boolarng Nangamai is an Indigenous art studio which aims to give artists a livelihood. Over the past two years Kiama Community College (KCC) has worked with the studio to take its art and culture online. This allows artists to share their skills and knowledge with other Indigenous communities and potential clients in order to sustain their culture and provide commercial viability for the studio.

With 2008 E-learning Innovations funding2, KCC worked with the artists to develop an online ‘cultural menu’, Connecting Communities, in which each artist represents an ‘educational experiential dish’ on the hypothetical restaurant menu. Through the project artists developed skills in web conferencing and facilitation, enabling them to demonstrate to others the process they use to create their art.

With additional funding in 2009, KCC extended the artist’s range of skills so they could embed web conferencing into their business practices. Through delivery of the unit, Facilitate e-learning, artists learnt to tailor web conferencing sessions for a variety of learners, including professional artists and overseas clients. This enhanced the professionalism and educational soundness of Connecting Communities and increased the commercial attractiveness of the artists’ work.

Learner-generated wiki develops confidence and communication skills

With 2009 E-learning Innovations funding and support, Coonara Community House developed a learner-contributed wiki containing a range of e-learning resources to help learners develop an understanding of the importance of cultural awareness and respect for diversity.

As part of the Work effectively with culturally diverse clients and co-workers unit, Indigenous learners were trained in the use of wikis and tools such as cameras and voice recorders. Learners developed and shared digital content – such as online quizzes, podcast interviews, RSS feeds, photographs and videos – via the wiki, to illustrate their diverse understanding and experiences of culture. This focus on learner-contributed content reflected an adult and community education pedagogy, in which learners play a key role in managing their own learning in a facilitated environment.

In collaboration with Indigenous art workers from Desart (the Association of Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Centres) learners also created digital stories – comprising images, music, and language –  to encourage learners to ‘speak up’ and share their unique experiences of Indigenous culture. Learners further developed confidence and communication skills by presenting their digital stories to an audience.

Learners involved in the project reported that they increased their employability and ICT skills, developed increased confidence in using technology, and gained a range of skills for completing formal assessments. Many learners also said that the hands-on emphasis of the project provided a better fit with individual learning styles.

2010 E-learning Innovations funding will close on 2 March. For more information and application guidelines, visit: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/innovations

1First three paragraphs are an extract from the report, Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in education and training, National Centre for Vocational Education and Training, 2009. 2E-learning Innovations funding and support is provided by the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.

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