Developing Culturally Inclusive Educational Multimedia in the South Pacific

Abstract

This chapter explores how educational technology can be developed according to indigenous learning approaches of the South Pacific. It is based on an expansive research and development project conducted 2003-2004 at The University of the South Pacific (USP). After an introduction to several aspects of indigenous South Pacific learning approaches and their usage in the formal learning sector, I make several recommendations for instructional technology design based on these principles, illustrated with examples of educational technology projects that apply these recommendations. Specifically, we follow educational multimedia efforts at USP that enable learning in wholes, encourage observation and imitation and utilize vernacular metaphors and languages. This includes recommendations for interface design, interaction design and decentralized content localization.