Indigenous Language Institute wins Verizon award

The Indigenous Language Institute’s (ILI) Intergenerational workshop series is the national winner of the Third Annual Verizon Tech Savvy Awards.

Through the workshop, entitled Ancient Voices, Modern Tools: Native Languages and Technology, the ILI instructs families, students and teachers on how to use technology to develop print and audio books to teach Native American languages at school and home.

The ILI, which is based in Santa Fe, N.M., and serves 2,000 Native Americans annually, will receive a $25,000 grant to continue and expand its program.

The workshop series was developed through the generous corporate sponsorship of IBM and the members of the ILI Technical Advisory Community who represent Microsoft, IBM, Languagegeek, Cherokee Nation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Oklahoma Native Languages Association.

“Indian Country has never shied away from using new tools, and the Indigenous Languages Institute regards the incorporation of modern technology and related training as essential and natural in our work to help bring our heritage languages from the brink of extinction,” said ILI President Gerald Hill, who is a citizen of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin. “We have found that joining intergenerational experiences and using the symbiosis of old knowledge and new tools are working.”

The Indigenous Language Institute received its award on March 2, in Orlando, Fla., during a banquet at the 18th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy hosted by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

The Verizon Tech Savvy Awards are a joint creation of NCFL, former First Lady of Iowa Christie Vilsack and the Verizon Foundation. The awards, the first of their kind, are designed to provide an incentive for grassroots, community-based nonprofit organizations and schools to create programs that demystify technology for parents, enabling them to better guide their children in the use of new media.

“In the past, technology has caused a digital divide, but with programs such as the Indigenous Language Institute, technology is becoming a powerful key for learning across all socioeconomic groups and asserting its potential as a great equalizer in education,” said Vilsack.

In addition to the ILI, four other programs were selected as regional winners, and each will receive a $5,000 grant.

“Technology is a tremendous tool in efforts to expand educational opportunities for all children and improve literacy,” said Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston. “To truly improve educational achievement in the 21st century, learning must stretch well beyond the school day and into community programs and homes.

Details of the ILI program and the other programs honored at the Verizon Tech Savvy Awards will be added to the Verizon Foundation’s Thinkfinity.org  Web site to serve as an educational resource, highlighting best practices and approaches for technology literacy for people of all ages.  The free, comprehensive site contains thousands of educational resources including K-12 lesson plans, online educational activities, videos and other materials to enhance teacher effectiveness and improve student achievement.          

“Education and literacy are more important today than ever, especially in light of our current economic challenges,” said Sharon Darling, president and founder of the NCFL. “The Tech Savvy Awards recognize exemplary efforts and best practices that expand parents’ and children’s learning with 21st century technology.”

The Indigenous Language Institute (ILI) was founded in 1992 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and its Board of Directors is majority Native American. The staff of ILI provides vital language related services to Native communities so that their individual identities, traditional wisdom and values are passed on to future generations in their original languages. ILI works in partnership with national Indian organizations, including National Congress of American Indians and National Indian Education Association at www.ilinative.org

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2008, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $68 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. 

The National Center for Family Literacy is the worldwide leader in family literacy. More than 1 million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL’s work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. For more information, contact 1-877-FAMLIT-1 or visit www.famlit.org.