A travelling program which introduces children to the technology of the digital world has returned to Toronto.
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The Indigenous Digital Excellence (IDX) initiative’s Flint program brings technology workshops to regional communities.
Although the program is not exclusively for indigenous children, its focus is on introducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia to new skills and technologies such as computer programming, robotic coding, drones, 3D printing and virtual reality.
Co-founded and designed by the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) and the Telstra Foundation, the IDX Initiative seeks to unlock the opportunities the digital world can provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
IDX manager Delilah MacGillivray said the program has travelled to 22 communities across Australia since 2016.
“Some of the kids are seeing this sort of technology for the very first time,” Ms MacGillivray said.
“It’s about fun, and sparking their interest in technology.
“And this is a really culturally appropriate way to teach these technologies to these communities.”
A major aspect of Flint’s objective is to plant seeds for future engagement with digital technologies in communities while also leaving behind tools, technology and practical know-how to transfer interest into tangible outcomes and projects.
Local facilitators are trained through the program so that when the IDX caravan moves on, the facilitators can continue the program’s work.
Among them is Amos Simon, an Aboriginal education worker at Biraban Public School, in Toronto.
Mr Simon said the Flint program linked Aboriginal Elders to the program as an effective way to link culture to the technology.
The children enjoyed the opportunity to work together on tasks such as using their iPad or laptop computer to program a small Leggo robot to negotiate a given route.
There was only one problem, Mr Simon said.
“At the end of the workshop, the kids didn’t want to go home,” he said.
Ms MacGillivray said the program aimed to make children aware of skills and jobs that they might not previously considered as career options.
“Maybe we can spark something in the children while they are young,” she said.
Children from Biraban Public School recently took part in an IDX workshop at Toronto Library which was followed by a free barbecue.
