CulturePad: Linking indigenous communities to schools Campbell, Pagram & Cooper 9 CulturePad: Linking indigenous communities to schools and education through the use of mobile technologies Alistair Campbell Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA Jeremy Pagram Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA Martin Cooper Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA Abstract: Information and communications technologies (ICT) are seen as crucial in improving educational opportunities and outcomes for children in remote communities. Yet these technologies are often viewed with suspicion by Indigenous communities in allowing access to material seen as potentially damaging to local culture such as gambling and pornography. This paper will discuss a project that attempted to forge strong links between community and school by engaging Indigenous children in literacy learning activities aimed at preserving local Indigenous culture through the use of mobile technologies. The results indicated that to achieve these aims the key school personnel were the Aboriginal Education Workers as they form the link between the school and the local community. Introduction and Background This study investigated the potential of linking local Indigenous communities and schools in an educational project designed to preserve aspects of Indigenous culture through the use of mobile and online technologies. Students and teachers in two Kimberley communities were engaged in the project that made use of text, pictures, audio and video files collected using a mobile device. The overall aim was to enhance the education of young children in remote communities through purposeful, appropriate use of information and communications technology (ICT). The intention was to build stronger connections between school and community through the targeted implementation of a custom-built Filemaker Pro database on the Apple iPad tablet computer that would enable students to use visual, artistic and storytelling activities to engage with and record cultural knowledge and artefacts within their local community whilst also building crucial skills in ICT and literacy. Technology has sometimes been viewed with suspicion by Australian Indigenous people as potentially damaging to their culture by allowing access to unwanted services such as gambling and pornography. Hence, the linking of community and school in order to gain support for technology is key and this was a major part of this study. It was anticipated that the results would help to determine the ways that technology can be most effectively integrated into remote schools. Literature review Closing the gap between the lives of Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population has been a high level priority of Australian Governments for a number of years. Education plays an ongoing and vital role in working to achieve this goal. Families, particularly parents and carers, are the most important influence in a child’s life and instil critical values that encourage them to fully engage in schooling and contribute to their communities. Therefore partnerships between students, parents and local communities have the potential to maximize student engagement and achievement. With regard to Indigenous young people, the MCEETYA Four Year Plan (2009- 2012) stated: …the development of partnerships between schools and Indigenous communities, based on cross cultural respect, is the main way of achieving highly effective schooling for Indigenous students (p. 5) The report goes on to say that the Australian Government would support projects that facilitate school- community partnerships, particularly for schools that have a low socioeconomic status and high numbers of Indigenous students. These school-community partnerships have the potential to help students better understand