Teachers can now create their own games, stories and resources to teach the Ojibwe language to a new generation of learners.
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. When teaching a First People’s language like Ojibwe, teachers have a limited choice of learning resources and often struggle to find suitable materials for their learners. We want to help bring equality of opportunity to under-served learners. Teachers use Seedling to solve this issue so they can offer their indigenous language students access to online resources that combine web technologies and modern pedagogical practices, all tailored to their culture and heritage.
Any Indigenous Educator can create wonderful, engaging learning materials in the Ojibwe Language.
Did you build this platform just for Ojibwe language teachers?
No, we do not just cater to the Ojibwe language, we are passionate about all Indigenous languages. We are committed to encouraging culturally mindful learning that is driven by the latest technology and pedagogical thinking. For centuries the First Peoples lived in harmony with the land and its wildlife. We believe everyone should aspire toward those values. We want the revitalization of Indigenous languages to help revive cultures and values that put the planet first.
Why use Seedling for Ojibwe Language Learning?
Mainstream educational publishers broadly ignore the needs of Indigenous language learners. This is driven by economics because the number of potential students is usually relatively small compared to those studying mainstream languages. Indigenous educators, such as teachers of Ojibwe, face the daily challenge of being able to devise and publish learning materials for their pupils.
Creating your own paper-based learning materials is very time-consuming and expensive. The end results can appear less than professional. Learning from lower quality materials can negatively impact students. Modern learners prefer a “digital-first” approach and we believe this should include resources that help them learn their own indigenous language. With Seedling, your digital Ojibwe learning resources will look as good as anything produced to teach European languages.
Can we produce digital-first learning materials for our language?
Yes, you can easily produce digital-first interactive learning materials in Ojibwe. Seedling has devised a series of activities and games that can be tailored to any language. Our platform enables educators to produce high-quality digital learning materials quickly and at a 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. You can display your Ojibwe language content is whichever Ojibwe writing system you prefer, it works equally well displaying Syllabic and Roman fonts.
Some of the advantages Seedling offers Ojibwe language educators include:
- Build your own library of games and learning activities that reference not only the Ojibwe language but also your culture, landscape, heritage, history, elders and even the pupils themselves.
- Every game built can be edited at any time or duplicated to create a new variation.
- Games are stored within our platform forever, never degrading, never being lost or forgotten.
- The Ojibwe educator’s collection of learning content is only limited by their own time, knowledge and enthusiasm.
How long will it take to set up and start using Seedling? Is it a long-term solution for our Ojibwe Language community?
We can set up Seedling for your language community in hours and you can be creating learning materials in your the Ojibwe language instantly. Every Seedling installation comes pre-loaded with 10 game templates, specifically designed for indigenous language learning. Seedling 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 we will schedule a one-hour training session with your team as soon as is convenient.
Seedling is designed to grow with your needs over a number of years. We understand the complex challenges that many Ojibwe language teachers must overcome. You have been tasked with devising modern teaching strategies for an ancient language that has been rarely documented. The flexibility of Seedling 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 costs. Our game templates allow you to evolve the learning materials you create as successful strategies and themes emerge.
If we want to use Seedling how much does it cost?
Seedling is offered as an affordable annual license. Pricing is dependent on a number of factors including the size of the overall language community, the number of teachers and learners who are likely to be using the system and the length of the license agreed (1, 2 or 3 years). 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.
We would be delighted to demonstrate Seedling and build a set of sample games in the Ojibwe language for your school to try.
