Sessions with Grandma: Fostering Indigenous Knowledge through Video Mediated Communication

Indigenous knowledge is nurtured through social, physical and situated interactions among community members. This paper reports on a study with Kenyan indigenous communities on the use of video-based telecommunication to nurture and enact indigenous knowledge. The paper explores how video mediated communication technologies can be used and designed to support indigenous elders to share indigenous knowledge with diaspora youth. Four findings emerged: elders employ certain techniques in order to coordinate the expression of indigenous knowledge as a group; indigenous languages are used to refine the enactment of the sessions; a moving classroom is critical when sharing knowledge; and managing a video conferencing session is a burden to the elders. Discussion of the findings briefly highlights some possibilities for video mediated communication technologies to foster indigenous knowledge. These include supporting hands-free indoor and outdoor movement; enabling remote manipulation of video display and prioritising different affordances.