Effectively Teaching Tecnología en Español to

Spanish Speakers

Mario A. MagañaRegional 4-H Educator

Oregon State University Extension 105 Ballard Extension Hall

Corvallis, OR 97331mario.magana@oregonstate.edu

Goal of Presentation

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

Topics

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

Topics

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

Why the Latino Audience…By 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%.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Building Relationships with the Majority Community

Be patient. Be willing to step out of the

norm. Develop allies. Identify funding opportunities. Walk your talk.

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.

Finding Your Computer Lab

Accessible and well known to audience.

Write grants for computers. Partner with public schools and

community colleges for computer labs.

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 can’t

make it, you may hire a substitute, but people may not come.

Trust factor. Reliable and constant instructor.

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.

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.

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.

Teaching Classes

How many students per class? 5-15 and 10-20 with teacher’s

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.

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.

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.

Curriculum

Using existing curriculums. A written curriculum is not the best way

to teach people who don’t 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.

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.

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.

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

Tips To Build Trust

Be honest with yourself. Get to know your audience. Slowly acclimate yourself. Find community leaders. Don’t be afraid. Think of new ways of doing things. Deliberate intent.

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.

Mario A. MagañaRegional 4-H Educator

Oregon State University Extension 105 Ballard Extension Hall

Corvallis, OR 97331Phone: 541-737-0925

mario.magana@oregonstate.edu

“Gracias”