Executive Summary
The staff and students at Victoria University of Wellington, School of Maori Studies, believe in educating students to strengthen their Maori roots and identity. Dr. Ocean Mercier, a senior lecturer in the School of Maori Studies created the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas for this purpose. This Atlas is an interactive geo-biographical tool containing student-produced work.
As part of her proposal to fund interactive technology in the School of Maori Studies, Dr. Mercier says, “[I]ndigenous identity is inextricably tied to land but the narratives that express those relationships are passing with kaumatua [tribe elders], are not always as accessible, nor are they as widely understood.” This project aimed to reverse the disappearance of these narratives as generations of storytellers pass. We recommended the creation of “… a location-specified digital interface that reveals multiple narratives related to a physical place[.]” Dr. Mercier believes this technology “… could radically reshape the way we view, understand and teach history.”
While Dr. Mercier has created the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas, she hoped to incorporate more interactive technologies, namely Augmented Reality, into the school’s curriculum. Augmented Reality displays digital information over a physical space, therefore it could be used to maintain the locational nature of Maori history. This project had three main deliverables to address the development of both interactive technologies and implementation into the classroom:
- Recommendations to improve usability and effectiveness of the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas.
- Create a development plan for an Augmented Reality application for Maori cultural education.
- Develop a plan for the School of Maori Studies to increase awareness of the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and a hypothetical Augmented Reality application.
To guide our research efforts for these deliverables, two sets of objectives were developed. The first objectives were to define the most engaging aspects and biggest challenges when using the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and represent the lecturer’s view on the use of the Atlas in the classroom. To complete these objectives, we used three methods. First, we surveyed students and staff at the School of Maori Studies to evaluate their current use of the Atlas. We emailed a questionnaire hosted by Qualtrics, an online surveying tool. We then used this data to shape our next two methods, faculty interviews and a student focus group. These interviews and focus group identified more specific improvements and uses of the Atlas.
The second set of objectives was to evaluate the hypothetical use of an Augmented Reality application for Maori cultural education. In a separate section of the survey used above, we showed a prototype and video explaining Augmented Reality. This section was sent to students and staff in several departments at Victoria University. Additionally, we discussed possible uses and adaptations of the technologies with lecturers in the School of Maori Studies. We then interviewed Augmented Reality expert, Professor Mark Billinghurst, to evaluate the development of a Maori culture-based Augmented Reality application.
Classroom Implementation
Adapt Technology to Maori Culture
Awareness
Conclusions & Deliverables
Overall Assessment
Classroom Implementation
Students and staff are interested in using the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and a hypothetical Augmented Reality application in class. Of the Maori Studies students who took the survey, all rated their interest in and relevance of the Atlas to their studies as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Additionally, the majority of Victoria University staff and students have the technological capabilities to use an Augmented Reality application. Over 90% of the students and faculty at Victoria University own or use smartphones or tablets and two-thirds of this population feel comfortable using those devices.
Furthermore, lecturers in the School of Maori Studies were excited by the idea of incorporating both the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and hypothetical Augmented Reality application into their courses. While none of the interviewed lecturers had used the Atlas in their courses, they all want to incorporate interactive technology in future classes and listed several ways to integrate the technology.
Adapt Technology to Maori Culture
Any interactive technology used for Maori cultural education must be adapted to suit this culture. Traditionally, Maori educators pass on their wisdom through spoken stories. Many research participants mentioned concerns regarding the loss of Maori traditions. As recommended by an interviewed lecturer and students in the focus group, this could be addressed by including orators’ recordings of Maori history.
The other major concerns identified were content privacy and accuracy. The iwi, or Maori tribes, are keen to share and preserve their stories; however many stories must be kept within that iwi. Since the content used for interactive technology in the School of Maori Studies is mainly student-produced, participants raised concerns about conflicting interpretations of history from iwi to iwi.
Awareness
Awareness is the greatest challenge for the success of the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas. Over half of the students in the School of Maori Studies are unaware of or have never used the Atlas. Furthermore, only half of the surveyed Maori Studies lecturers used the Atlas in class and none of the interviewees used it in class. The best way to acquire new users of the Atlas is for lecturers to require students to use it for coursework. Therefore, the success of the Atlas relies on the lecturers’ willingness to modify their curriculum to include the Atlas.
Conclusions and Deliverables
We developed three main conclusions based on the background research and methods conducted:
- The School of Maori Studies and Victoria University support using interactive technology for Maori education.
- One must consider values, needs and sensitivities of Maori culture when developing technology.
- Few students and staff of the School of Maori Studies are aware of interactive educational technology.
These conclusions shaped the team’s deliverables to help the School of Maori Studies develop and implement interactive technologies.
The team’s first deliverable was to improve usability and effectiveness of the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas. We worked with software services company, SQUIZ, to add a tutorial and legend to the Atlas. These additions will reduce confusion with the large number of pins. SQUIZ also created a ‘read more’ option to standardize the content of all pins. Lastly, the team recommended adding audio capabilities to the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas. This feature would engage students more effectively and mirror traditional Maori educational methods, namely storytelling.
Next, the team created a development plan for an Augmented Reality application for Maori cultural education. We interviewed Augmented Reality expert, Professor Mark Billinghurst to evaluate a prototype application and develop funding options for our sponsor. If granted the Marsden Proposal, the School of Maori Studies would be able to create a custom application. If rejected, the school could use crowd funding to create an application using a default Augmented Reality browser.
Lastly, we developed an awareness plan for the School of Maori Studies to use to increase knowledge of the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and a hypothetical Augmented Reality application. This plan relies on the Maori Studies lecturers increasing the use of interactive technology in their courses. We suggested a faculty seminar to help lecturers understand how to use it in their curriculum. We also recommended using social media and advertising tools on television screens across campus.
Overall Assessment
Maori culture is strongly tied to its locations and storytelling, yet modern society often challenges its traditions. Interactive technologies, such as the Te Kawa a Maui Atlas and a hypothetical Augmented Reality application, have the capabilities to compliment traditional Maori teachings by preserving stories to be accessed in the future at the convenience of the user. Proper use of these interactive technologies will successfully allow the School of Maori Studies to educate students to strengthen their Maori roots and identity.