Technology to help revitalize Native American languages | Cathy Callow-Heusser | TEDxSaltLakeCity
The world is filled with disappearing languages and cultures; over half of the languages in the world are endangered. Dominant languages may be necessary to function in society, but retention of one’s language and culture are crucial for feelings of self-worth, belonging, and competence. In this illuminating talk, Cathy Callow-Heusser shares how, working with Native American tribes, she is creating software these communities can use to create early literacy curricula using stories from their own culture to teach vocabulary, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Cathy Callow-Heusser started her career as a software engineer. She coded expert systems and multimedia applications while earning degrees in Instructional Design and Educational Research and Evaluation. She has worn many hats, but her happy place is teaching math. Cathy prefers to teach students who have traditionally struggled in math because she loves watching attitude changes as students become successful. The best decade of her career involved evaluating the Bureau of Indian Education’s (BIE) Reading First program and subsequent initiatives in literacy and math, as well as providing technical assistance to help teachers improve reading and math instruction. During this time, she and her teams traveled to 86 BIE schools throughout the US, which cemented her passion for honoring cultures and languages. Representation MATTERS! Cathy is the proud mom of 2 biological, 2 adopted, and 3 bonus children. She and her husband Val have 10 grandchildren. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx