Michael Mieni starts his talk recalling the great Aboriginal inventors of the past, discusses the lack of Aboriginal students at tertiary levels studying IT and then speaks about the importance of digital literacy in order to address social inequities in access to information, education and opportunity.

Follow this link to watch the talk.

We recommend viewing this video and reflecting on how to improve digital literacy skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students may be Teacher Identified PD and align with Standard Descriptor 1.4.2 "Design and implement effective teaching strategies that are responsive to the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students".

Commonground.org.au

This initiative is Aboriginal led and works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia. Their aim is to capture and share stories, as well as create learning material.

In June 2019 they have released the First Nations Bedtime Stories Challenge. They’re asking that in the week of 17-21 June 2019 Australian families would share five short films with their children recorded in Central Australia. Whilst mainly in English, the films feature rarely heard languages such as Eastern Arrernte, Luritja and Pitjantjatjara.

You need to sign up to the Challenge to access the five films. Signing up is free and you’ll have access to learning resources to help reflection processes and build a stronger understanding of First Nations People’s diverse cultures and histories. There are info packs available for teachers.

The initiative is running a fundraising program associated with this challenge but it is possible to use the other resources of the website for free, but it would be good to see school fundraisers committed to the preservation of culture and histories!

Common Ground can be found on Facebook here.