Involving Everyone: Coding and Decoding Languages

Through the use of humanoid robots, a rural school in South Australia has included both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in embedding the “sleeping” language of the traditional owners of the land (the Narungga people) into the classroom. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students worked with virtual and real humanoid robots to develop in parallel both their programming skills and their understanding of the Narungga language and culture. This research is part of a larger three-year study investigating the impact of humanoid robots on students’ learning and engagement and draws on questionnaires, interviews and journals from the educators. The study demonstrated how pride and interest in Aboriginal culture can be partially reclaimed using these inclusive and adaptive technologies. Simultaneously, students and educators were learning two languages; the coding language required to program the robot and the Narungga language.