Sunday, November 24, 2019

donate to the Kumanjayi Walker fundraiser

How to donate to the Kumanjayi Walker fund: Justice for Yuendumu: Inquiry on Police Shooting

The police appear to be commenting on this case (here) although others have stopped or have been told to stop since murder charges have been laid

More information about who might represent the Walker family

It's time to brush up on your history if you are not aware of it:
(1) Coniston Massacre 1928
(2) Cameron Doomadgee killed on Palm Island while in police custody, 2004 (wikipedia account). Read The Tall Man, a magnificent book.

UPDATE (27/11/2019):
Read Rolfe bail application under exclusion of the public by ERWIN CHLANDA.

This article points out how this police charged with murder obtained bail without public scrutiny, whereas an aboriginal person, Julian Williams, charged with murder in 2009 (and later found to be innocent) was locked up for 2 years awaiting trial.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Kumanjayi Walker rally

I've posted it below but best to watch on YouTube: Walker Rally 14th November. For commentary by the producer, Erwin Chlanda, see Mass rally shows fury, distrust for police, government



More: Scott McConnell is the Independent Member for Stuart (formerly was Labour Party but quit following disagreements with the Chief Minister)

Government fails bush on health, police: McConnell
The under-resourcing or closing of bush police stations and the shutting down of clinics over the summer period in several communities of the NT, including Haasts Bluff, west of Alice Springs, need to be examined.

The two failures are clearly inextricably linked: If people don’t feel secure they will not take jobs in remote health services, a problem Health Minister Natasha Fyles has failed to cope with “from the get go” of this Parliamentary term, says Mr McConnell

The killing of 19-year-old Kumunjayi Walker by a police officer last week was immediately preceded by the evacuation of the entire NT Government health service from the 800-strong community. And this in turn had been caused by the alleged attempted break-in into the home of a health staff member earlier last week.....

A long-time Yuendumu resident, speaking to the News on the condition of not being named, says the break-ins, car thefts and stealing from the stores, mostly by young people, some operating as gangs, have been out of control in Yuendumu for months.

Sunday, November 03, 2019

The Three Game Changers and Disadvantaged Youth

This is my response to the Mparntwe / Alice Springs Youth Action Plan 2019-2021, see some extracts from this plan below.

The computer revolution powers ahead and conventional institutions, such as the education system, struggle to keep up.

The goal here is to identify the 3 game changers in modern computer technology and outline how they can be used to engage disadvantaged youth. The 3 game changers are coding, physical computing and maker spaces / fabrication. All of them have become far more accessible to users.

Coding: Block coding languages such as Scratch or MakeCode are far easier to use than text based languages. The ready access to multimedia (simple animations and sounds) in the design of Scratch allows a lot to be achieved quickly and engages new users.

This writer has developed outlines for a variety of projects with indigenous themes (1)

Physical computing: New microcontrollers such as the micro:bit (2) or Circuit Playground Express are inexpensive and combine programmable sensory input and output in an appealing, portable / wearable package.

Maker spaces and fab (fabrication) labs: Maker spaces can be constructed relatively cheaply. Buy a few craft items from Mad Harry’s and a few tools from Bunnings, do a little coding, connect with the Hummingbird Bit robotics kit and you can make a variety of projects that are both educational and entertaining (3, 4)

Fab Labs are more expensive. The underlying idea here is to provide the tools, such as laser cutters, for users to be able to make (almost) anything. Fab Labs are growing exponentially around the world. Some of them have been developed to operate in Disadvantaged communities. A Fab Lab can be used for training, making things useful to the user or for making things commercially.

ALICE SPRINGS YOUTH ACTION PLAN 2019-2021
Some extracts ...

The youth survey and summary data …. show that 30 percent of participating youth surveyed in Mparntwe / Alice Springs are disengaged from school

GOAL 5: IMPROVE EDUCATION, TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES FOR DISENGAGED YOUTH
  • Provide learning opportunities for disengaged young people through the evenings and night. Investigate funding options to support community based education responses in both the urban and remote context
  • Build collaboration between the youth sector, NT Government, Department of Education and schools to support professional development of staff and case management support for young people
  • Consider gender issues when developing strategies for re-engaging young men and women in schools and education pathways
  • Improve access to education and training for young people in detention
  • Strengthen pathways to real local employment opportunities such as … Aboriginal and Islander Education Workers ...
Other goals of the plan which could be impacted by these ideas are:
Goal 2: Improve outcomes for young people in the youth justice system
Goal 3: Better support for remote communities
Goal 4: Support the development and implementation of mentoring programs for aboriginal young people
Goal 6: Develop integrated programs for young people who are out late at night

REFERENCE:
Mparntwe / Alice Spring Youth Action Plan 2019-2021

Bill Kerr articles
(1) Integrating the digital technology curriculum with indigenous knowledge systems
(2) making sense of the microbit
(3) bee waggle project with the Hummingbird Bit
(4) would you like to see a toilet roll dance?

BOOKS
Dougherty, Dale with Conrad, Ariane. Free to Make: How the Maker Movement is changing our schools, our jobs and our minds (2016)

Gershenfeld, Neil; Gershenfeld, Alan; Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld. Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution (2017)

Graves, Colleen and Aaron. The Big Book of Maker Space Projects (2017)

Graves, Colleen and Aaron. 20 Makey Makey Projects for the Evil Genius (2017)

Martinez, Sylvia and Stager, Gary. Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom (2nd Edition, 2019)