The South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC) is betting that investing in some new technology will mean it can put more books in more peopleSA国际影视传媒檚 hands SA国际影视传媒� digitally.

The SSDEC put out three versions of its First Nations Storybook app on June 5 SA国际影视传媒� one each in Bush Cree, South Slavey and Chipewyan SA国际影视传媒� and posted 45 books to each language version. The apps can be downloaded onto any smartphone or tablet for free. For example, theySA国际影视传媒檙e available both in AppleSA国际影视传媒檚 App Store and on Google Play.

SA国际影视传媒淓veryone has a story to tell and this just gives us another avenue by which we can share those stories,SA国际影视传媒� said retired assistant superintendent Brent Kaulbeck, who headed the project.

The books are narrated by fluent speakers in the three languages, so people who are eager to learn the languages can follow along.

SA国际影视传媒淭he whole idea was the fact that we have published over 300 books through the (SSDEC),SA国际影视传媒� said Kaulbeck, SA国际影视传媒渁nd we realized that even with this massive amount of publications that we had, we still weren't getting the books into the homes of our students.SA国际影视传媒�

Kaulbeck said that even when some students brought them home, their parents were not able to read the books.

SA国际影视传媒淲e (set the app up) so that parents and children could have a nice interactive story-reading session together,SA国际影视传媒� said Kaulbeck.

He said there is also capability for downloading books through the app and sending the book to others through email or social media.

Beyond the broader reach available with the app, Kaulbeck said the project also made sense from a budgetary point of view.

While it cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to develop each of these three apps SA国际影视传媒� mostly funded by the GNWT SA国际影视传媒� it would cost the SSDEC $7,000 to $8,000 to print 500 copies of one full-colour childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 book.

The SSDEC will now be able to publish more books, paying local illustrators and translators and get more of its existing stock onto the app.

Kaulbeck, though retired, couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 resist staying on to see this project through.

SA国际影视传媒淭hese times are so exciting in terms of Indigenous languages in the North and even throughout Canada,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淪o even though I retired a year and a half ago, or more now, I still had a yearning to stay connected with some of the projects that we're working on this, this being one of them.SA国际影视传媒�