Posting Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Open Access Biodiversity Platforms: Implications for Learning Design

Johanna Funk; Kathy Guthadjaka; Gary Kong

doi:10.1017/jie.2015.25

Authors

Johanna Funk Northern Institute
Kathy Guthadjaka Northern Institute
Gary Kong Northern Institute

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2015.25

Keywords:

open educational practice, traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge, instructional design, biodiversity

Abstract

BowerBird is an open platform biodiversity website (http://www.BowerBird.org.au) and a nationally funded project under management of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and Museum Victoria. Members post sightings and information about local species of plants and animals, and record other features of ecosystems. Charles Darwin University's Northern Institute Elder on Country researcher, Kathy Guthadjaka, has shared pictures and information about the biodiversity of her homelands in the Yolŋu community of Gäwa, on Elcho Island in north east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The extent to which this knowledge can be exposed in the same way as other open resources, can pose dilemmas about the level of ‘openness’ that is appropriate. Open sharing of educational materials can be promoted as a basic human right. This paper will explore the extent to which traditional knowledge can be made openly available. What are the implications for sharing this knowledge in a westernised context that compartmentalises it, and how can a western academic perspective learn from this knowledge and engage functionally with it for the purposes of learning? The existence of this project on the interface between traditional knowledge and western technocratic information management also has implications for how information is presented and valued.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AikenheadG.S., & JegedeO.J. (1999). Cross-cultural science education: A cognitive explanation of a cultural phenomenon. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(3), 269–287.

AppsJ. (1980). Redefining the discipline of adult education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

BoydR. (1966, November). Psychological definition in adult education, Adult Leadership, 13, 160–181.

BruningR., & HornC. (2010). Developing motivation to write. Educational Psychologist, 35(1), 25–37.

ChristieM., & VerranH. (2013). Digital lives in postcolonial Aboriginal Australia. Journal of Material Culture, 18(3), 299–317.

CumminsJ. (1996). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Los Angeles, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.

CumminsJ. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire (vol. 23). Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters.

EhlersU.D. (2010). Open educational practice - approaching a definition for a new concept. Open Educational Quality Initiative (OPAL), Retrieved May 28, 2015 from http://www.icde.org/filestore/Resources/OPAL/Openeducationalpractice-approachingadefinitionforanewconcept.pdf

FogartyW. (2010). Learning through Country: Competing knowledge systems and place based pedagogy (doctoral thesis). Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University.

FogartyW., & SchwabR.G. (2012). Indigenous education: Experiential learning and learning through Country. ANU, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR).

FordP.L. (2010). Aboriginal knowledge, narratives & country: Marri kunkimba putj putj marrideyan. Brisbane: Post Pressed.

FreireP. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

GadgilM., BerkesF., & FolkeC. (1993). Indigenous knowledge for biodiversity conservation. Ambio, 22(2/3), 151–156.

GeserG. (2012). Open educational practices and resources. OLCOS Roadmap, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2015 from http://www.olcos.org/cms/upload/docs/olcos_roadmap.pdf (Open eLearning Content Observatory Services/OLCOS).

GuthadjakaK. (2010). Teaching when nothing is lying around. In M.Christie (Ed.), Learning communities special edition: Teaching from country. Retrieved August 15, 2015 from http://www.cdu.edu.au/northern-institute/lcj.

GuthadjakaK. (2013). Gurruwilyun yolŋu seasonal calendar. Retrieved September 7, 2015 from http://www.cdu.edu.au/northern-institute/gurruwilyun-yolnu-seasons-poster-gawa

KingB. (2012). Distance education and dual-mode universities: An Australian perspective, open learning. The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 27(1), 9–22.

LaveJ., WengerE. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Le GrangeL. (2007). Integrating Western and Indigenous knowledge systems: The basis for effective science education in South Africa. International Review of Education, 53, 577–591.

LeeA., LauJ., CarboT., & GendinaN. (2013). Conceptual relationship of information literacy and media literacy in knowledge societies. Paris: UNESCO.

MagnificoA.M. (2010). Writing for whom? Cognition, motivation, and a writer's audience. Educational Psychologist, 45(3), 167–184.

MaslowA.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.

McGrealR., KinuthiaW., MarshallS., & McNamaraT. (Eds.). (2013). Perspectives on open and distance learning: Open educational resources: Innovation, research and practice. Vancouver, BC: Commonwealth of Learning and Athabasca University.

MooreM. (1993). Theory of transactional distance. In D.Keegan (Ed.), Theoretical principles of distance education (pp. 22–38). New York: Routledge.

NakataM. (2007). The cultural interface. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36(Suppl.), 7–14.

NakataN., NakataV., KeechS., & BoltR. (2012). Decolonial goals and pedagogies for Indigenous studies. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 120–140.

PriestS. (1986). Redefining outdoor education: A matter of many relationships. The Journal of Environmental Education, 17(3), 13–15.

RigneyL.I. (2001). A first perspective of Indigenous Australian participation in science: Framing Indigenous research towards Indigenous Australian intellectual sovereignty. Kaurna Higher Education Journal, 7, 1–13.

SharplesM., McAndrewP., WellerM., FergusonR., FitzGeraldE., HirstT., and GavedM. (2013). Innovating pedagogy 2013: Open university innovation report 2. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Unesco.org. (2105). What are open educational resources (OERs)? United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved August 13, 2015 from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/.

WallaceR. (2011). The affordances of mobile learning that can engage disenfranchised learner identities in formal education. In N.Pachler, C.Pimmer and J.Seipold (Eds.), Work based mobile learning; concepts and cases. Bern: Peter Lang AG International Academic Publishers.

XiaoJ. (2012). Successful and unsuccessful distance language learners: An ‘affective’ perspective. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 27(2), 121–136.