Indigenous educational technology is not yet a universal term in the ed-tech field, but it soon could be with the help of Mikaela Jade. Jade is an Indigenous Cabrogal woman from Australia who has deep connections with the land (Ball, 2022). Her initial career was as a park ranger in Australia where she soon realized that many visitors were unaware of the significance of the land from a First Peoples’ perspective and wanted to share this knowledge with others in a meaningful, relevant way. Her experience at university led her to an interest in augmented reality (AR) and the development of Indigital, an “Indigenous Edu-Tech company” (Indigital, n.d.). Indigital uses technology to educate and connect with both indigenous and nonindigenous people, focusing on a First Peoples’ cultural knowledge of the land (Questacon, 2017). Indigital’s goal is to also provide opportunities for indigenous peoples to gain access to a digital world (Indigital, n.d.).
Image retrieved from https://indigital.net.au
Jade illustrates the importance of perspective in a digital world. She identifies as both woman and indigenous, two relatively underrepresented groups in the ed-tech field (Lynch, 2018). Jade discusses her female leadership role, amongst other topics, in the podcast “The Leadership Lessons”, a series that showcases successful and influential women (Chowdry, 2021). As part of an underrepresented group, she shows the potential to provide unique perspectives, address potential biases, and illustrate that marginalized groups have a place in technology (Mone, 2017). There is evidence that diversity in technology can allow for innovative, creative, and effective problem-solving, and Jade illustrates this as the founder and CEO of Indigital (Mone, 2017).
Jade’s innovative work with AR to share Indigenous knowledge can serve as an example for other countries to follow (Questacon, 2017). She discusses AR in an interview with NEC’s ‘Women in Technology” series (Ball, 2022). By implementing technology to share stories, Jade is marrying old-world knowledge with new-world technologies, bridging the gap between ancient and modern. Digitizing indigenous knowledge also helps to preserve history and allows easy access to key information (Lodhi & Mikulecky, 2010). Jade’s work with Indigital provides a template for others to build upon, an important first step in being able to share indigenous knowledge using relevant technologies.
References
Ball, C. (2022, March 6). NEC Women in Tech Series – Mikaela Jade, CEO and Founder, InDigital [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvk6xFbYTnA
Chowdry, S. (Host). (2021, July 1). Pursue the big idea regardless of your previous experience (Season 4, episode 4) [Audio podcast episode]. In The Leadership Lessons. Agenda Media. https://shows.acast.com/the-leadership-lessons/episodes/pursue-the-big-idea-regardless-of-your-previous-experience
Indigital (n.d.). Indigital. https://indigital.net.au/
Lodhi, S., & Mikulecky, P. (2010). Management of indigenous knowledge for developing countries. In V. Mladenov, K. Psarris, N. Mastorakis, A. Caballero, & G. Vachtsevanos (Eds.), Communication and management in technological innovation and academic globalization (pp.94-98). WSEAS Press. https://www.wseas.org/multimedia/books/2010/Tenerife/COMATIA.pdf
Lynch, M. (2018, Dec. 11). Analyzing ed-tech’s diversity problem. The Tech Edvocate. https://www.thetechedvocate.org/analyzing-edtechs-diversity-problem/
Mone, G. (2017). Bias in Technology. Communications of the ACM, 60 (1), 19-20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3014388
Questacon (2017, July 6). Indigital-using AR for Aboriginal storytelling [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noPFpWMdWcA
Hi Terry,
So enjoyed your introduction to Mikaela Jade and her impactful work, so much so I have her down on my list to see if she would consider being part of our MALAT virtual symposium next year so thank you for the introduction!
Having a multiplicity of voices in the edtech/instructional design/learning sciences space is critical to moving this field forward – something that Catherine Cronin, Francis Bell, Helen Bentham and other speak about in their paper – thanks Jessica Gemelli for finding this gem for us!
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2022.2041830
One thing I am curious about is what if any changes you have made in your professional practice as a result of researching Mikaela Jade?
Thanks, Elizabeth,
I also value diverse voices and have done my best to introduce my students to authors from marginalized groups. When I found out about Mikaela, I immediately thought about this technology for Canadian First Peoples; the idea that we can use AR to create an interactive experience while also bringing attention and importance to First Peoples’ knowledge holders is truly remarkable. I plan on bringing up her site at our next staff meeting!