Building community by building digital skills
Main Street Project interviewed practitioners and institutions with successful track records in training non-English speakers in digital literacy skills. Organizations in Chicago, Philadelphia and Minnesota shared their experiences with engaging whole communities in addressing the digital divide.
Read the nine best practices they recommend. (PDF)
Digital skills training resources
There are many available computer and Internet curriculum resources, with a variety of strengths and advantages, and accessible for Spanish- and English-speaking trainers and learners. Consider this list a starting point as you evaluate the needs of community members, and your training goals and capacity.
SPANISH-LANGUAGE RESOURCES:
Project Fine Spanish Curriculum
http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/_uls/resources/Beginners_Guide_to_Computers-Project_FINE-Espanol.pdf
The 27-page report focuses on learning hardware and software components of a PC-based computer. There are also tips on Internet security, virus protection and some general guidelines to developing secure passwords. The report provides an index to Internet hotspots and computer based services in the Winona, MN region. It includes a summary of Internet-based tutorials, and terms and references that is comprehensive and useful to users.
Computer Basics
http://fastforwardnm.org/sites/default/files/HablidadesBasicasdeComputacion.pdf
Introduction to the Internet
http://fastforwardnm.org/sites/default/files/Introduccion%20al%20Internet.pdf
Teaching Email
http://www.connectcommunity.org/2010/10/27/spanish-module-web-based-email/
Teaching Keyboard Basics
http://www.connectcommunity.org/2010/10/27/spanish-module-keyboard-basics/
Teaching Microsoft Office-Spanish
http://www.connectcommunity.org/2010/10/27/spanish-module-microsoft-office/
Online Health Resources for English Speakers Serving Spanish Speakers
http://nnlm.gov/training/nocomprende/
Includes cultural competency standards and basic statistics on barriers to health literacy among non-English speakers.
Slide Share - Online Spanish slide show tutorials
http://www.slideshare.net/ebayonet/aprendizaje-movil-aplicado-en-la-educacion-qr-code
These slide shows are user friendly and address topics from media usage to media justice and literacy, the digital divide, e-learning, tutorials, implementation, and many more. Multiple Spanish dialects are available.Each presentation also contains extensive slide notes. Options range from very basic tutorials on how to send an email orbasic Internet use, to very complex business and government topics.
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE RESOURCES:
Blandin Broadband Toolkit
http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/toolkit/applications.php
Great list of education tools and learning language websites.
Blandin/MIRC digital literacy curriculum
http://www.bit.ly/mircmenu
Fast Forward New Mexico: Computer Basics
http://fastforwardnm.org/sites/default/file/Level%20I%20Basic%20Computer%20Skills_0.pdf
Basic Microsoft Word Exercise
http://fastforwardnm.org/sites/default/files/Basic,-Word-Exercises,-handout-2.pdf
Introduction to the Internet
http://fastforwardnm.org/sites/default/files/Level%201%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Internet.pdf
Minnesota Literacy Council
http://www.mnliteracy.org/educators/adult/technology/computer-skills
Broadband Access Project
The Broadband Access Project offers a variety of workshops including online Photo Editing, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Word Press Basics and Online Video Editing.
The program ends December 2012, but until then, they can:
- Train interested community members
- Offer train-the-trainer sessions to individuals interested in providing training to community members, non-profit organizations, and small business groups
- Share curricula
- Translate materials
Contact: Broadband Access Project Curriculum specialist, Cheryl Vanacora vana0043@umn.edu
Institute of Museum and Library Services: Building A Digital Community
http://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/BuildingDigitalCommunities_Framework.pdf
Great community planning tool that takes a broader look at what is needed to fully address the digital divide. It is organized around three themes: Access, Adoption and Application.
MEDIA JUSTICE/LITERACY TRAINING RESOURCES:
There are a variety of resources available to teach the principals of communication rights and critical thinking about media.
PBS: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/digital-media-literacy/
User-friendly digital media literacy curriculum available online for a variety of school ages, including links to additional resources and toolkits. The following section includes a list of ways to integrate digital tools and content in practical ways. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/digital-media-literacy/integrating-digital-tools-and-content/
Read, Write, and Think: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/critical-media-literacy-commercial-97.html
Has a digital media literacy lesson plan that uses some of the PBS resources but also has others. This lesson plan is comprehensive and detailed, making it easy to reproduce for any classroom. Suggested age range is 6-8 grade students, but the lesson plan can be adopted to suit other groups.
Understand Media: http://www.understandmedia.com/ml-spanish/32-recursos-en-espanol “Recursos en Español” page lists a variety of Spanish resources, lessons, and curriculum for media literacy.
Frank W. Baker: http://www.frankwbaker.com/teach.htm
This site has a lengthy list of media literacy training resources and websites. There are links for Spanish and well as English resources and many links contain full lessons and curriculum.
Media Literacy Project: http://medialiteracyproject.org/store/free
This site has a variety of resources for training in media literacy. The link above goes to the free online resources. There are also resources available in Spanish for a fee.
Controle Su Televisor: http://www.controlesutelevisor.org/Intro.aspx
Controle Su Televisor is a project of Cable in the Classroom and The National Cable & Telecommunications Association. They focus on education for parents and children about parental controls via V-Chip and other education training. Their website has information in Spanish and contains videos and other resources for responsible television watching, responsible digital citizenship, and safety on the Internet.
Alfabetización Mediática/ Media Literacy Blog: http://medialitmexico.wordpress.com/
This is a blog in Spanish that covers some 101 discussions on media literacy and has videos to reinforce topic discussions.
The Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME): http://acmecoalition.org/essential_resources
This site has a lengthy list of organizations and groups that provide media education and media literacy training. Some of these sites also provide resources in Spanish and also provide online education resources like videos and tool kits.