Partnerships
There are half a billion indigenous people on our planet. That’s as many folks as the populations of Mexico, Canada, and the United States combined – with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark tossed in for good measure. A huge group of people, who generally are among the least connected in the world. We believe passionately that has to change. To help make that so, ILC is forging appropriate relationships with leading technology companies. The goal? To provide every indigenous person, regardless of geographic location or socio-economic status, with the means and ability to make effective use of new and emerging technologies – on their terms.
Who are we talking to at the moment?
INK-Media
INK is the developer of a highly robust, very low-cost laptop, particularly well suited for use in situations where cost, ease of use, and reliability are crucial factors. ILC will be testing the first INK demo machines in the field as they become available, likely in Q2 2007. Should testing prove positive, there are various opportunities to structure an extremely advantageous relationship between the two companies.
Animikii
Animiki, based in British Columbia, is one of the world’s leading Aboriginally-owned web development and design companies. Animikii has done a great deal of work for a wide variety of Aboriginal and governmental organizations.
ReadRight Systems
This Shelton, Washington-based company has been in business for over 15 years. Read Right has emerged as a leader in the field of reading remediation. The traditional Read Right program, which is very labor-intensive, has proven successful in a number of U.S. and Canadian reservation/reserve school settings as well as in public schools with Native American students. ILC and Read Right have agreed to collaborate in developing a web-based complimentary program that will allow Read Right’s approach to be accessed by a much wider audience of learners and instructors through ILC’s web-based applications.
TeachingMatters
TeachingMatters is an influential, New York City-based educational technology organization. ILC and TeachingMatters are exploring various levels of collaboration, ranging from the inclusion of TeachingMatters web content during ILC’s proposed expanded Washington pilot, to a large joint project that would see the development of comprehensive curriculum-specific web-based learning and instructional programs designed to meet the needs of Native students and teachers nationally, and their peers in New York City’s public schools.
Language Learning Solutions
Based in Eugene, Oregon, LLS is a spin-off from an advanced applied research project at the University of Oregon. LLS has become a world leader in the development of web-based language learning and assessment solutions. ILC and LLS have agreed to explore how LLS developed language programs might be integrated into ILC's overall K-12 programming.