Teachers of Indigenous Languages often struggle to find suitable materials to assist them. When teaching Lakota or a similar language, teachers do not have a wide choice of learning materials, unlike those who teach Math, English and other “mainstream” subjects. That is why we developed the Game Changer platform. Our system enables Indigenous Educators to create highly engaging digital learning materials in their own language. Now, students studying Lakota can benefit from the latest technologies and pedagogical practices, all tailored to their specific cultural experiences and heritage.
It is not just Lakota, we are passionate about all Indigenous languages. We value the pivotal contribution to the retention of culture that language plays. We see the revitalisation of minority and Indigenous languages as playing a significant role in reviving cultures and values that put the planet first and encourage humans to live in closer harmony with the land and the wildlife we share it with. It has been proven that learners who grow up with a strong understanding of their language and cultural heritage are better engaged with education throughout their lives. We are committed to encouraging culturally mindful learning that is driven by the latest technology and pedagogical thinking.
Mainstream educational publishers broadly ignore the requirement of minority and Indigenous language learners because the numbers of potential students (and therefore the amount of potential profit) is usually limited to thousands rather than millions.
Indigenous educators, such as teachers of Lakota, face the daily challenge of being able to devise and publish learning materials for their pupils. This is time-consuming, often expensive and the end results can appear somewhat amateur. Learning from materials that lack polish when compared to the sophisticated technologies available in mainstream products can negatively reinforce the perception among young learners that their Indigenous language is somehow substandard or inferior. Modern learners prefer a “digital-first” approach and we believe this should include resources that help them learn their own language.
Yes, you can easily produce digital-first interactive learning materials for Lakota. The team at Jetpack Learning have devised a series of digital activities and games that can be tailored to any language. Our platform, Jetpack Game Changer, enables educators to produce high-quality digital learning materials quickly and at low cost. Each of our educational games can be adjusted to use the written text, recorded audio and visual imagery of the Indigenous language being taught. Educators can build games that look and play as well as comparable off-the-shelf products designed to teach other modern languages.
Some of the advantages the Game Changer platform offers Lakota language educators include:
The Jetpack platform is designed to grow with our customers’ needs. We understand the complex challenges that many of the people using Game Changer have to overcome. Often they are tasked with devising modern teaching strategies for ancient languages that have been rarely documented before. Our game templates allow teachers to evolve their learning materials as successful strategies and themes emerge. The flexibility of Game Changer means that if an Indigenous community’s understanding of their language system changes, their teaching materials can be easily altered with no reprinting or distribution expense.
We can set up the Game Changer platform for your school in a few minutes and you can be creating learning materials in your own language almost immediately. Every school set up comes with 10 pre-installed game templates, specifically designed for indigenous language learning. Game Changer is so easy to use that most people are able to build their first game after just 10 minutes of video instruction. However, we love to get to know our customers personally and so our team will schedule a one-hour training session with your teachers as soon as is convenient.
Pricing for Jetpack Game Changer is dependent on a number of factors including the size of the overall language community, number of teachers and learners who are likely to be using the system and length of usage license we agree. Our team can also tailor the game templates to better work for your culture and location. So, if there are particular landmarks or animals that are important to your community, our team can adjust your game templates accordingly.
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