Blake Ellis/The Independent

The Lambton Kent District School Board is using technology to teach Indigenous languages in the classroom. 

Trustees heard at its meeting on Feb. 24, that the school board launched an app for Anishnaabemowin and Lenape languages to assist in the learning of the language. The school board offers Anishnaabemowin as a second language and Lenape as a second language at both the elementary and secondary school levels across the district, and this new app will help in furthering that learning, said Lambton-Kent Superintendent Eryn Smit. 

The app contains 30 units of study in each language, including vocabulary practice, listening and reading comprehension and writing tasks. The app is just available in the classroom at this point as it was just launched in January, but the school board hopes to have it eventually available to the First Nation communities as well as the wider community. 

It is hoped the app can be expanded to other subjects and not just be literacy based. 

“I could see where it could revitalize languages beyond the classroom,” said Lambton Kent School Board Chair Kelley Robertson, saying she was impressed with the initiative. 

This is part of the school board’s commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Call to Actions in affirming the rights of Indigenous people to speak and learn their language.