Effectively Teaching Tecnolog

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Effectively Teaching Tecnología en Español to
Spanish Speakers

• Mario A. Magaña
• Regional 4-H Educator
• Oregon State University Extension
• 105 Ballard Extension Hall
• Corvallis, OR 97331
• mario.magana_at_oregonstate.edu

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Goal of Presentation

• To provide an overview on how to teach computer
  classes to Spanish-speaking audiences.

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Topics

• Why the Latino audience
• Why computer classes
• Getting started
• Recruiting students
• Finding a computer lab
• Scheduling
• Instructors

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Topics

• Retention of volunteers
• Teaching strategies
• Curriculum
• Outcomes
• Challenges
• Trust building
• What we have learned

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Why the Latino AudienceBy the Year 2020 in the
US

• 1 in 4 new workers in the US will be Latino.
• The Latino population will increase by 60
  million.
• This indicates the Latino labor force will
  increase by 56, while the non-Latino labor force
  is projected to grow by 9.

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Latino Population Projections

• Percentage of Latinos in the U.S.
• Year 2010 15.5
• Year 2050 24.4
• Source U.S. Census Bureau. 2004. U.S. Interim
  Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic
  Origin. Washington, DC U.S. Census Bureau.

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Why Technology for Latinos?

• The U.S. workforce will depend in large part on
  Latinos in the near future.
• Military operations.
• Business community.
• Higher education system.
• Political institutions.
• Health care system.
• Religious institutions.

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What Does This All Mean?

• Invest today in the preparation of Latinos for
  the future.
• An unskilled or uneducated workforce cannot
  compete in a global economy.

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Getting Started

• Community Needs Assessment.
• To find out if this is a need or interest.
• Focus groups to identify needs/resources.
• Meet with community leaders.
• Meet well established people.
• Attend Hispanic organizations meetings.
• Collaborate with church groups.
• Partner with public schools, colleges, etc.

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Get to Know the Community

• Are the people immigrants?
• From what countries?
• Mono-lingual parents vs. bilingual kids.
• Low literacy in both languages.
• American born, first/second generation.
• Other differences?

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Building Relationships with the Majority Community

• Be patient.
• Be willing to step out of the norm.
• Develop allies.
• Identify funding opportunities.
• Walk your talk.

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Recruiting StudentsWhat do they want to Learn?

• Door-to-door invitation.
• Connect with organizations and leaders in the
  community to get the word out.
• Promote your classes in churches, schools,
  meetings, on radio, with flyers, etc.
• Offer classes that attract adults and meet the
  needs of their children.
• Classes to meet the community's workforce.

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Finding Your Computer Lab

• Accessible and well known to audience.
• Write grants for computers.
• Partner with public schools and community
  colleges for computer labs.

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Setting the Schedule

• Time of day and days of the week.
• Length of each class 1-2 hours.
• How many classes? 6-8 per session.
• If offer adults class only, arrange (4-H
  activities) for children.
• Be true to the schedule. If you cant make it,
  you may hire a substitute, but people may not
  come.
• Trust factor. Reliable and constant instructor.

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Instructors Staff or Volunteers

• Identify volunteers/staff with teaching
  experience and technology skills.
• Do not accept people just because they want to
  help, unless you plan to train them.
• Extend a personal invitation and be specific
  about your request and their commitment.
• Recruit professionals that want to give back to
  the community.
• College students internships
• For teaching and developing curriculums.

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Retention of Volunteers

• Recognition at the end of the year.
• Support them with materials and as needed.
• Provide training opportunities to build skills.
• Acknowledge their work.
• Treat them with respect.
• Support them when they have problems.

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Teaching Classes

• What are the goals for the classes?
• For adults to find new jobs or to communicate
  with family.
• For youth to gain confidence to take regular
  computer classes.
• Where do you start?
• At the beginner level unless teaching
  professionals.

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Teaching Classes

• How many students per class?
• 5-15 and 10-20 with teachers assistant.
• How many to a computer?
• One per computer or two if they are a married
  couple or a parent of a child less than 12 years
  old.

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What teaching strategies work?

• Hands on activities.
• Separated vs. mixed classes.
• Elementary and middle school kids OK with
  parents.
• High school youth do better alone or working with
  adults NOT their parents.
• Extra help in the classroom.
• Use Spanish, but introduce English terms.
• Students working together.

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Curriculum

• Printed curriculum vs. delivering all instruction
  verbally.
• Spanish vs. English issues.
• Find a bilingual instructor with teaching
  experience.
• All explanations should be done in Spanish.
• But because all the software is in English, teach
  all the vocabulary in English and Spanish.

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Curriculum

• Using existing curriculums.
• A written curriculum is not the best way to teach
  people who dont read, write or know how to
  follow a curriculum.
• Curriculums found to work well.
• Develop your own curriculum.
• What do they enjoy or need?
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, E-Mail, Internet, and
  Publisher.

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Outcomes

• Students gained enough confidence to enroll in
  regular computer classes.
• Adults applied knowledge to jobs.
• Children and youth communicate with other family
  members by email.

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Challenges

• Funding Soft funding issues.
• Retaining volunteers.
• Hard to find Latinos with technology skills.
• Recruiting bilingual teachers
• Scheduling classes
• Evenings and weekends.
• People do not have flexible jobs.
• Transportation only one car in the family.

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Tips To Build Trust

• Embrace the family aspect.
• Look for staff preferably of the same culture.
• Learn some Spanish.
• Value culture, tradition, and language.
• Respect myths.
• Do not use stereotypes

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Tips To Build Trust

• Be honest with yourself.
• Get to know your audience.
• Slowly acclimate yourself.
• Find community leaders.
• Dont be afraid.
• Think of new ways of doing things.
• Deliberate intent.

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We Have Learned That

• Working with Latinos is not easy.
• It can take years to build trust.
• Additional money and energy is needed.
• Personal invitations really work.
• Paperwork discourages Latinos.
• Sometimes a Yes really means NO.
• We need to be sincere, clear, open minded,
  patient, helpful, supportive, respectful, caring,
  truthful, and most of all friendly.

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Gracias
Mario A. Magaña Regional 4-H Educator Oregon
State University Extension 105 Ballard Extension
Hall Corvallis, OR 97331 Phone
541-737-0925 mario.magana_at_oregonstate.edu