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Emerging Perspectives
ep.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca

Land-Based Learning and Indigenous Perspectives in Educational Technology

Razieh Alba*

University of Calgary

The shift to online learning has transformed higher education but raises critical
questions about integrating Indigenous ways of knowing. This paper explores the
potential to bridge land-based learning with virtual classrooms, which centers
relationships between Indigenous peoples and the land. While online spaces often
reflect settler-colonial narratives, they also offer opportunities to amplify Indigenous
voices through multimedia tools and digital collaborations.

Educators can create inclusive, equitable environments by challenging
misconceptions about online spaces as culturally neutral and fostering collaboration
with Indigenous knowledge holders. This approach enriches learning and reimagines
students’ relationships with the land, blending tradition with innovation in education.

Keywords: Land-based learning, Indigenous perspectives, Online education, Digital equity

Alba, R. (2024). Land-Based Learning and Indigenous Perspectives in Educational
Technology. Emerging Perspectives Special Edition: Designing for Digital Futures, 7(1),
1–9.

Introduction

The introduction and accelerated adoption of online learning has profoundly affected the

accessibility of higher education among learners. From erasing geographical constraints to

providing more opportunities for adults to pursue additional schooling later in life and the ability

to engage with a diverse range of peers, online classrooms have led to significant changes in the

education system. While virtual spaces are vehicles for education, we also need to remember that

these environments are still in their infancy and that the changes occurring in physical classroom

spaces need to be extended to the online space. The inclusion of Indigenous ways of knowing

and being is one of the many considerations that we need to make. In recent years, the Canadian

*razieh.hekmat@ucalgary.ca



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 2

education system has increasingly looked toward integrating Indigenous knowledges within

curriculums (Pratt et al., 2018). There has been some concern, however, on how to bring

Indigenous ways of knowing and being to virtual learning spaces (Bujold et al., 2021).. The

inclusion of Indigenous voices and perspectives in the classroom is critical to diversity and

inclusion practices and needs to be integrated throughout all layers of the education system, and

one potential path forward is through the adoption of land-based learning. Land-Based Learning

and Opportunities in Online Education

Creating space for Indigenous ways of knowing and being in the classroom is a

complex practice, and one that requires a significant reframing of the dominant settler-colonial

ideology. For Indigenous voices and perspectives to be brought alongside Western ways of

knowing, non-Indigenous educators must set aside the idea that Western knowledges are superior

to all others (Sam et al., 2022). There must also be widespread recognition of Indigenous

histories, specifically as it relates to the systematic erasure of Indigenous ways of knowing and

being as a method of solidifying dominant colonial mindsets, while simultaneously disrupting

Indigenous knowledges, cultures, and communities (Pratt et al., 2018). A key colonial worldview

that has continued to be perpetuated is “the perception that the land and people are separate

instead of understanding people as an extension of the land on which they live” (Bowra et al.,

2021 p. 133). As we continue to move further into online spaces, particularly in the classroom,

the separation of people from the land becomes even more pronounced.

When imagining the future of education, there is a world in which land-based learning

and online learning can come together. Land-based learning centers Indigeneity, while honoring

the relationships between the land and Indigenous peoples; it “acknowledges and appreciates the

land as its own fundamental, sentient being that has spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 3

physical aspects” (Bowra et al., 2021 p. 134). Land-based learning also centres Indigenous

peoples, as well as centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being (Bowra et al., 2021). While

online learning appears to be the antithesis of land-based learning, there are specific aspects of

the online environment that are conducive to supporting land-based pedagogies. As Bujold et al.

(2021) explains, using online technologies can provide a wealth of resources that allow students

to engage with multiple worldviews and perspectives. The inclusion of different mediums as a

learning tool, “including audio, video, text, graphics, virtual and interactive programs, and even

live chats” can support educators in bringing diverse voices into the classroom while centering

Indigenous ways of knowing and being (Bujold et al., 2021).

We have seen through the rise of social media, particularly during the COVID-19

pandemic, that online platforms can be leveraged to create communities, centre land-based

learning and Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and support students’ connection to nature

(Bujold et al., 2021). How these technologies are leveraged, however, does pose concern. Using

online education and technology tools as a platform to support Western worldviews that do not

“inherently value the natural world could further remove us from it, whereas using technology

with [Indigenous perspectives]… encourages us to seek information relating to the land and our

relationship to it” (Bujold et al., 2021 p. 58). Land-based learning is distinctly different from

Place-based learning, as Place-based education approaches are inherently focused on Western

worldviews, and through this teach “about and within the local community and is rooted in

connecting people with the outdoors… it does not connect to Indigenous history, knowledges, or

stories… [and it] fails to acknowledge that all places were once and continue to be Indigenous

lands” (Bowra et al., 2021 p. 134).

Indigenous Perspectives and Challenges in Online Education



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 4

There are very notable concerns among Indigenous communities, particularly since

online technologies are often framed as Western technologies (Bujold et al., 2021). Given the

historical patterns of claiming, erasing, and/or appropriating Indigenous lands, knowledges, and

cultures, it is crucial that Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and thinking be centred within

online education designs and curricula (Bujold et al., 2021). Today, there are a wide range of

challenges in the physical classroom, particularly among non-Indigenous educators who feel

anxiety or discomfort over the unfamiliarity they have with Indigenous ways of knowing and

being, and these challenges easily translate to the online classroom (Carroll et al., 2020;

McKinley, 2020).

Educators must also acknowledge a crucial misconception associated with online learning

in the context of Indigenous knowledges, in which it is mistakenly believed that online

environments are culturally neutral spaces (Tessaro & Restoule, 2022; University of

Saskatchewan, 2021). The pervasiveness of settler-colonial narratives embedded within the

education system is present in any Western educational context, regardless of the medium used to

transmit knowledge (Tessaro & Restoule, 2022; University of Saskatchetwan, 2021). Moving

forward with online learning will require considerable work to create online spaces where

Indigenous ways of knowing and being are integrated into course curriculums using land-based

pedagogies (Bowra et al., 2021; Tessaro & Restoule, 2022).

As we continue to explore the opportunities and benefits of online learning, educators

need to confront their own assumptions of what online learning is and what it could be. The

virtual classroom is not limited to a series of modules and short discussion posts each week, but

can instead include spaces where students come together to create community, to explore

different worldviews, and to engage directly with Indigenous perspectives, experiences, and



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 5

histories (Bujold et al., 2021). By applying land-based learning in the online classroom, students

learn to see themselves in relation to the land and to better understand Indigenous ways of

knowing and being (Bowra et al., 2021; Bujold et al., 2021). There will be challenges to

promoting inclusion and diversity in online spaces and combating the dominant Western

worldviews, which require out-of-the-box thinking and experiments in online learning, but the

first step is recognizing that online spaces are not culturally neutral (Blaskovits et al., 2023; Tate

& Warschauer, 2022; Tessaro & Restoule, 2022). How Indigenous voices and experiences are

addressed in the classroom is a critical consideration that educators must make to promote

equity, diversity and inclusion within online environments (Fuentes et al., 2021; Sam et al.,

2022). A significant part of this process is the individual and collective reflection on the

colonial-settler perspective and the inherent inabilities of colonial mindsets to consider different

worldviews as being equally valid as the Western worldview (St. Denis, 2011). Indigenous ways

of knowing and being must be granted the same respect, depth of study, and importance as

Western ways of knowing (St. Denis, 2011).

Opportunities and Challenges for Online Educators

Providing students with Indigenous literatures alongside Western literatures. Inviting

Indigenous voices to speak to students, asking students to reflect on knowledges they are

unfamiliar with. Indigenous students can benefit from engaging with Indigenous ways of

knowing and being, and seeing those worldviews represented in the classroom (Bujold et al.,

2021). Giving non-Indigenous students the opportunity to identify similarities and differences

between their experiences and the experiences of Indigenous peoples, all while linking back to

the core coursework within the curriculum. The inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in the

classroom—physical or virtual—is not without its challenges. The sociocultural issues



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 6

surrounding the promotion of non-dominant worldviews often can create tension within the

education system, as it pushes away from established single-worldview, Western curricula and

challenges the dominant colonial narrative (Carrol et al., 2020; McKinley et al., 2020).

Non-Indigenous educators may not feel qualified to speak to Indigenous ways of knowing,

knowledges, and cultures, due to their own lack of knowledge and experience with Indigenous

knowledge systems (McKinley, 2020).

One way to address this is to invite Indigenous voices to the classroom through guest

speakers or include first-person accounts of Indigenous writers, storytellers, and artists. In online

spaces, the opportunity to bring Indigenous ways of knowing and being into the classroom is

limitless, thanks to a rise in Indigenous engagement online and in social media spaces (Bujold et

al., 2021). By sharing from online sources, or inviting Indigenous voices into the classroom more

directly, non-Indigenous educators reduce the risk of misrepresenting or unintentionally teaching

through a Eurocentric lens while also centering a land-based learning approach (Bowra et al.,

2021; McKinley, 2020). Educators seeking to teach Indigenous ways of knowing in the

classroom must recognize that they are learning alongside students, and that course designs

require collaboration with Indigenous communities (online and offline) and Indigenous

knowledge holders (McKinley, 2020). With the rise of Indigenous-led and Indigenous-created

content online, a new generation of knowledge keepers has begun to share information publicly

that can be brought into online education. The more that educators become comfortable seeking

out, building relationships, and promoting Indigenous voices in the classroom, the more

commonplace the practice will be in the future.

Conclusion



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 7

The virtual classroom has become a permanent fixture in higher education, but it is still

undergoing research and development to identify its areas of weaknesses. By designing

curriculums focused on land-based learning and the inclusion of Indigenous voices, educators

and researchers can use the digital space to continue to push for the inclusion of Indigenous

experiences and perspectives. A land-based approach, one that centres Indigeneity, honoring the

relationships between the land and Indigenous peoples, and centering Indigenous ways of

knowing and being, can provide a means of showing students that reimagining their relationship

and responsibilities to the land is possible (Bowra et al., 2021). By considering the online

classroom as a playground for learning and experimenting with new ideas, we can be excited

about virtual spaces' opportunities. Rather than relegating land-based learning and Indigenous

perspectives to the physical classroom, we should consider online education as a new avenue for

digital equity to benefit all students and the communities that the education system seeks to

serve.



Alba/ Emerging Perspectives (2024) 8

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