Teaching and learning Indigenous Australian Studies online: 'The subject being held online was destructive to my learning'

Is online learning all it's cracked up to be? What kind of experiences do students and teachers actually have online? Does the technology enable or constrain effective teaching and learning? And can it be harnessed to teach Indigenous Australian Studies online?School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS) are a team of Indigenous and non Indigenous academics designing and teaching Indigenous Australian units across all faculties at Charles Sturt University (CSU). CSU's commitment to Indigenous education requires the incorporation of Indigenous Australian content (guided by a cultural competence pedagogical framework) embedded in all CSU undergraduate programs. Given this, our students include those from nursing, allied health, social work, psychology, IT, business and communication & journalism. Together and individually we offer key insights into our teaching experiences, highlighting what works and what doesn't for us in the online learning space. This paper explores how students learn best about Indigenous Australians, communities and organisations and the challenges online learning poses for Indigenous Australian studies units where relationships, empathy and personal & cultural contexts matter.