Library in the Clouds is a part of ING DIRECT’s Dreamstarter initiative which provides funding support to selected StartSomeGood campaigns. Dreamstarter is ING DIRECT’s way of getting behind some of Australia’s most inspiring
go-getters who are eager to make a positive change in Australian communities. Learn more about Dreamstarter at our website.
OUR CALL FOR CHANGE
In our remote Indigenous communities
• 80% of children don’t have basic reading skills and access to books
• Only 36% of people in remote communities have access to a library
By the time many Indigenous children are of school age, they are already well behind in the development of their pre-literacy skills and will continually struggle to reach literacy benchmarks.
• 60% of Aboriginal children are significantly behind non-Aboriginal children by the time they start year one!
LIBRARY IN THE CLOUDS
We want to build a Library in the Clouds which will provide a wide range of Indigenous eBooks to children in their classroom and at home through mobile digital technology. If children have access to books that they enjoy reading, they will want
to read and will read regularly.
With the technological shift of learning from traditional books to eBooks, children now have the opportunity to engage and create sounds, animations, games and activities.
Objectives of Library in the Clouds:
• To provide the opportunity for children to create and upload their own stories and share them with others
• To create an online platform featuring eBooks, literacy games and activities for children and book creation software
• Reate an online platform featuring eBooks, literacy games and activities for children and book creation software
• Help to improve school attendance rates, another significant issue in remote indigenous communities
OUR IMPACT
This project, through the use of 21st Century technologies, will provide a wide range of books and literacy resources to some of Australia’s most marginalised and illiterate children, especially those in remote indigenous communities.
This project will support children who would otherwise be trapped in a cycle of illiteracy and limited in their learning and development opportunities due to remoteness and disadvantage.
The project offers some of the latest and best educational resources for children to use at home and school for free.
We have tested the technologies and witnessed firsthand how Indigenous students are more engaged using digital technologies. They are spending three times more time reading and using the learning games.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Having access to books, listening to stories, dreaming and using our imagination, hearing and recognising words are all fundamental first steps in early childhood literacy development and they form the foundation for success in education. There are many
barriers to engagement and participation in reading including access to books and literacy resources that are culturally relevant. Even though schools are able to provide computers and tablets for children to use, they are limited in their ability to access
eBooks that reflect their local culture and heritage.
On a final note..
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO CLOSE THE GAP
We are committed to closing the “literacy” gap in Australia by providing Indigenous children with new and exciting education and learning opportunities despite their geographical location.
This is a crowd funding opportunity – so every donation – big and small will help us to
achieve our goal and get this exciting new project off the ground. By supporting this project, within 12 months, we will have a fully operational, easy to use online library ready to go! It will have the capacity to provide thousands of e-books
to thousands of indigenous children in remote communities throughout Australia and it will provide the opportunity for children to be creative and ‘publish’ their own books. Imagine their excitement when they successfully write, illustrate and upload their
own story for others to enjoy!
What is also exciting and very rewarding about this project is that it will be of
ongoing benefit to the community. Once the ‘Library in the Clouds’ is created, it will grow in content and popularity naturally through the contributions of the children themselves and established authors and illustrators. A real community
initiative that will also promote indigenous culture and stories!
So let’s join together and get Indigenous children reading!
