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@oregonstate.edu
Goal of Presentation
To provide an overview on how
to teach computer classes to
Spanish-speaking audiences.
Topics
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Why the Latino audience
Why computer classes
Getting started
Recruiting students
Finding a computer lab
Scheduling
Instructors
Topics
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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
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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
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Percentage of Latinos in the U.S.
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Year 2010: 15.5%
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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?
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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?
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Invest today in the preparation of
Latinos for the future.
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An unskilled or uneducated workforce
cannot compete in a global economy.
Getting Started
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Community Needs Assessment.
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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
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Are the people immigrants?
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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
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Be patient.
Be willing to step out of the norm.
Develop allies.
Identify funding opportunities.
Walk your talk.
Recruiting Students
What do they want to Learn?
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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
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Accessible and well known to
audience.
Write grants for computers.
Partner with public schools and
community colleges for computer labs.
Setting the Schedule
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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At the beginner level; unless teaching
professionals.
Teaching Classes
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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?
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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
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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.
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But because all the software is in English, teach all
the vocabulary in English and Spanish.
Curriculum
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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:
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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.
“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@oregonstate.edu