RESOURCE
Online Resources Support Inuktut Literacy Development Adapt. Innovate. These are words that many people and businesses have had to embrace on a much grander scale over the past few months as the current pandemic causes a major shift in our systems, businesses and daily lives. Nationwide school closures have brought to light many societal and economic issues, one of the most apparent being interrupted learning and access to educational materials for much of the world’s student population.
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n response to the current COVID-19 crisis and the system-wide school closures in Nunavut, Canada, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) and Inhabit Media have partnered to launch online resources encouraging ongoing Inuktut literacy development. In a world where digital learning is at the forefront, both organizations are committed to ensuring that Inuit children and youth have access to high-quality Inuktut books and educational resources to support language learning from home.
“NTI is proud to contribute to Inuktut learning, connecting families and enabling all of us to stay at home as much as possible,” said NTI President Aluki Kotierk. NTI is working with Inhabit Media and Inuit educators to create new educational resource packages, some of which include literacy activities and downloadable audio books, to support Inuktut literacy development. Each week this crisis continues, new books and resources are added to support Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut), ensuring their language remains strong. “We want to support learning from home, and to encourage people to use this time to come together and strengthen our language,” said Louise Flaherty, Co-Founder of Inhabit Media. Thanks to NTI and Inhabit Media, a variety of Inuktut books, for toddlers to teens, are readily available online at nti-inhabit.com, along with tips on teaching kids how to read.
About Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
NTI coordinates and manages Inuit responsibilities set out in the Nunavut Agreement and ensures that the federal
Inuktut books and educational resources support language learning from home.
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and territorial governments fulfill their obligations.
About Inhabit Media
Incorporated in 2006, Inhabit Media is the first Inuit-owned, independent publishing company in the Canadian Arctic. Its goal is to promote and preserve the stories, knowledge and talent of the Arctic, while also supporting research in Inuit mythology and the traditional Inuit knowledge of Nunavummiut. For over a decade, Inhabit Media has worked with Elders and storytellers from across the Canadian Arctic to ensure that the region’s unique Inuit oral history is recorded and not lost to future generations.