Abstract:

This paper will show how Learning Technologies are assisting Indigenous students in remote Indigenous communities in central Australia to successfully navigate teacher education training.

Indigenous students are positioning themselves online in many cultures as the world increasingly fractures into many cultures or tribes.
The Indigenous student's own culture is evolving and the world around is challenging them to incorporate new beliefs, new activities and new ideas as they seek to make sense of an increasingly hostile world.

Providing a brief historical and up-to-date overview of how using Indigenous knowledge and emerging technologies has enabled the present to be informed by the past. The many cultures and learning’s taken up by Indigenous students and the stories left by those who have departed contain lessons for all educators.

Using narratives of frustration, success, hope and pride that resonate around communities there is reflection on 20 years of the use of technology in remote Indigenous teacher education.

Using a qualitative perspective through the use of focus groups and personal reflection incorporating a variety of digital media to focus on the important issues Aboriginal teachers are dealing with in an ever-fracturing future.

The messages from these conversations have implications that are a challenge for teacher educators - how do those who are out come in?

This paper attempts to provide some answers informed by Indigenous teachers' voices in a time when the voices of remote educators are being buried under interventions from outside organisations, including education departments. These answers provide clear messages for Teacher Educators about the struggle by Indigenous teachers to stay true to their culture and to become teachers capable of leading their communities into a cyber world.

References:
[1] Addressing Barriers: Expanding Options, April, 2012 Prepared by Imaituk Inc. http://abe.arcticcollege.ca
[2] Devlin, M., Kift, S., Nelson, K., Smith, L. and McKay, J. (2012). Effective teaching and support of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds: Practical advice for teaching staff. Office for Learning and Teaching, DEEWR, Sydney, Australia
[3] The Education of Nomadic Peoples: Current issues, Future Perspectives, Chapter on Pitjantjatjara Education Bruce Underwood & Bill Edwards, 2006, Berghahn Books, New York
[4] Elliott, A. (2010). Equity, pedagogy and inclusion. Harnessing digital technologies to support students from low socio‐economic backgrounds in higher education. Community Informatics Journal, 6(3).
[5] Engaging Remote and Very Remote Indigenous Students with Education using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Final Report, 2008, Submitted by Ruth Wallace School of Education Charles Darwin University Darwin NT

Power and authority in school and community : interactions between non-Indigenous teachers and Indigenous teacher assistants in remote Australian schools, Warren, Elizabeth and Baturo, Annette R. and Cooper, Thomas J. (2010), In: Zadja, Joseph (Ed) The Politics of Education Reforms. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, 9. Springer, Dordrecht.

Keywords:

Indigenous teachers, technology, teacher education, community development, responsive learning system, remote desert communities.