Education in a post-apocalyptic world

KATUKU ISLAND: This screenshot from Katuku Island shows the environment players will learn to survive in.Picture supplied

A multi-player survival game with an indigenous overlay co-founded by Gisborne woman Dr Phyllis Callaghan (Ngai Te Rakato), will be launched on July 22.

The game, Katuku Island, will then be free to download on Amazon and Google Play.

As survivors of the apocalypse, players must find a waka and sail across the Pacific Ocean to find Katuku Island, the only uncontaminated place left on the planet.

During their journey players create Maori warrior-inspired avatars, design weapons, build tribes, and escape crumbling cities, while undertaking literacy and decision-making challenges.

The Katuku Island concept evolved from Dr Callaghan and her late husband Craig Callaghan's desire to support Maori education and to learn how culture can create resilience.

Katuku Island encompasses the fun of gaming while promoting cultural elements to push the learner, Dr Callaghan says.

“The virtual world of Katuku Island is aligned to a matauranga Maori and indigenous framework, which shapes tribal avatars, backdrops, creatures, symbols, sound and music to optimise the gaming, cultural, motivational and educational components for the learner.”

Dr Callaghan and Craig initially developed a textbook called 16-year-old Maori Boy to support Maori youth at school and in the justice system. The concept evolved and morphed into development of a 3D indigenous game that supports educational development in literacy.

Students with minimal education can get a second chance at learning, Dr Callaghan says.

“They were able to master cultural talents, which came naturally to them, such as toi (art) or whakairo (carving).”

Katuku Island has a real-time assessment tool to identify areas the player shows mastery and resilience in. This helps them turn negative experiences into positives and they are encouraged to advance.

“The tool also measures ‘culture' from a tech platform, which showcases how culture can increase resilience when used in gaming.”

All artists and graphic designers who have worked on the design of the characters and visuals for Katuku Island have been involved in Gisborne Boys' High School's award-winning whakairo programme that Craig developed.

“That (whakairo) shed sheltered a lot of lost young men and kept us safe so it is a huge honour and privilege to be part of a project like Katuku Island,” former student Eru Brown says.

The July 22 launch will be livestreamed on the Katuku Island Facebook page.