Producing Educational Learning Media Resources for Karen Children

To create appropriate educational learning media resources for the Karen community in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a project called 'The Research and Development Process of Multimedia Learning Resources' was initiated by a group of researchers from a top-ranked university in Bangkok. It consisted of picture books and an animation film derived from oral stories of the most respected elders in the Karen community. These materials were collated using surveys, photographs, videos, and locally produced arts to create visual representations of learning media resources suitable for Karen children. Of the 97 stories collected, only ten stories and one animation film were published as approved by the Karen elders and experts. Then the produced learning media materials were distributed to children and teachers in seven local cottage schools within the community. Accordingly, the children were 'very interested' in the materials as they are 'familiar with the sceneries and stories' and are able to relate it with their daily life. In addition, the teachers remarked the film as the 'best' multimedia learning resource produced as it incorporated cultural and local ways of life. As suggested by the community, future research projects may include other general to specific topics such as personal hygiene, pesticide effects, environmental science, skill development, among others. In the production of educational learning media resources for ethnic minorities, cultural and local ways of life should be highly considered. [This paper was published in: International and National Conference on Learning Innovation in Science and Technology (ICLIST & NCLIST 2018). p18-32.]