BIANCA ALVARADO
Casa Azul Productions
2021 (see original presentation & discussion)
Grades 9-12, Undergraduate
Casa Azul Productions started with a pilot called Casa Azul Productions’ Apprenticeship Program, a program funded by the US State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs through an Alumni TIES grant in 2020.
The project, “La Casa Azul Productions’ Digital Media Apprenticeship Pilot Program,” is working to train Hispanic youth on how to create digital content work in the technology industry. We created a digital program where Hispanic youth from underinvested communities receive training and knowledge on careers related to technology.
As the course is online, it was possible to have national and international reach, enabling, until the present moment, the registration of 422 users on our platform with primarily users coming from the United States and Mexico. Since our initial goal was to impact Hispanic students, we chose to develop the courses in English and Spanish on 1) Website Design in Spanish and English and 2) Introduction to Illustration in Spanish and English along with other supplemental materials such as ebooks on UX Design.
Our first course on Website Development using Wordpress was in Spanish. In this course we have 69 registered users and our data showed us that: 32 students completed the level I part of the course. Of these 32 students, 71.9% identified themselves as university students, 43.7% identified themselves as a person who receives some type of government assistance program, and/or is experiencing financial difficulties, and/or are single and unemployed mothers. Another 68.8% identified themselves as women and 46.9% said that this was the first technology course they were taking.
Finally, it is important to highlight some of the feedback, suggestions, among other information regarding the website course in Spanish and English in the students’ own words:
- “ I generally liked the very practical way of conducting the course. In addition to offering this course open to the public, it is of great help and encouragement to many people, including me. Thanks";
- "I loved it, I never created a website and it motivated me!";
- "It was very fun";
- "Provides the basics for starting a website and using your passions to make it a reality";
- "I liked the funny themes in each video. It was also great how the person explained everything in a simple and easy way."
Learn more at www.casaazulproductions.com
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Chip Bruce
Professor Emeritus
This is very intriguing work, which is especially timely for today's media environment. Have you connected with professionals in the media field as visitors, mentors, or other roles?
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Professor Bruce those are very interesting ideas, we would love to connect with other experts in the field if you know any in your network, please connect us info@casaazulproductions.com
Nancy Staus
Senior Researcher, STEM Education
This project is very ambitious and has the potential to have a large impact on the career trajectories of Hispanic youth. In the future, how do you intend to measure the impact of the project on participants--what are your major measures of success?
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Hello Nancy, thank you for connecting. As an educator, I think that is important to measure any contact that we have with learners especially online. From having them register to taking a course, completing a course, etc. From my experience, I have seen that many programs that serve youth only measure the final impact which can leave a gap where students who were interested in the beginning were lost in the process of completing the program.
We hope to be able to provide more one-on-one support to students as we continue.
Shihadah Saleem
Sr. Manager of Youth Leadership and Alumni Programs
Very cool project. I'm curious to know if the target audiences of middle school, high school and/or adult learners were initially projected as specific users? From the information you provided, it seems more adult learners, specifically those who identified as Hispanic females gained more from this great learning platform. How are you able to encourage more teens/youth to take advantage?
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Great questions Shihadah, I would love to connect with you to learn more about the youth that you serve. I will leave the link to connect with me through LinkedIn below.
Yes, you are right our target audience was female Hispanics especially high school students. We did see other ages join the program. Something that has work for us to invite students has been to build partnership with other schools or programs in the STEM field or reaching out to youth through Facebook groups since they tend to be more in that space.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaradobianca/
Shihadah Saleem
Romelia Rodriguez
This is a nice project. It is important to continue to increase the enrollment of the Latinx population in STEM. I love that you are using instruction in English and Spanish languages. It is crucial to continue valuing the student's background and culture through language.
I invite you to provide feedback to our video: https://stemforall2021.videohall.com/presentati...
Bianca Alvarado
Shihadah Saleem
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Thank you Romelia for reaching out, is so important to use and celebrate Spanish as much as we can as students should celebrate their culture and rich history.
Bianca Alvarado
Wonmai "Maia" Punksungka
Hello, Bianca! This sounds like an interesting project and tool for high school students and the Latinx population who are interested digital production in the technology industry. First, how are you able to retain the student retention on this platform? Additionally, will this project and tool be expanded to include other populations, such as adult learners? Overall, this seems like a great tool that can benefit all age groups in building their digital skills.
I invite you to provide feedback on our video: https://stemforall2021.videohall.com/presentations/2069
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Thank you Mrs. Punksungka for your comments, our best retention effort has been communicating with students through email to remind them to complete the course or let them know that they have an assignment missing.
Bianca Alvarado
Daniel Serrano
This seems like a great resource. I was wondering in what ways you brought awareness to the tool in order to get students to take the courses.
Also, are you planning to expand the courses offered to other topics? It seems like this has a lot of potential!
Bianca Alvarado
Rebecca Bullard-Dillard
Yes, I too would be interested in the response to this question
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Hola Daniel and Rebecca, thank you for your comment we have learned that our best outreach strategy has been social media and partnerships. By partnering with STEM programs and connecting with Facebook groups to inform students of this program.
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Hola Daniel and Rebecca, thank you for your comment we have learned that our best outreach strategy has been social media and partnerships. By partnering with STEM programs and connecting with Facebook groups to inform students of this program.
Bianca Alvarado
Ning Wang
Useful resources! Thanks for sharing!
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Thank you Mr. Wang! :)
Bianca Alvarado
Shihadah Saleem
Sr. Manager of Youth Leadership and Alumni Programs
Hi Bianca, do the students receive a certificate of completion per the course work, or perhaps a digital badge noting levels of completion of some sort? This could be an added bonus to a resume!
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Hello Shihadah, students were given a certificate for completing the course. As our pilot program ended this month, we will not be able to offer other certificates, but I would recommend it for other program leaders to do so as it provides a great incentive for students.
Bianca Alvarado
Jonee Wilson
It is great that you all have found a way to provide support for students in learning how to create content! I think it is also crucial that you all considered language/linguistic differences in designing this type of support.
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Thank you Jonee, of course, our courses in Spanish were created by native Spanish- speakers from Mexico and Argentina.
Bianca Alvarado
Eric Hamilton
It is great to see an effort supported by the State Department and to see how you have produced a means for students in both learning and producing content. Thank you!
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Thank you Mr. Hamilton. I would love to connect if possible. My LinkedIn account is below,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaradobianca/
Bianca Alvarado
Daniel Zietlow
Great resource! One thing my team has been thinking about is creating resources specifically for Spanish speaking audiences (rather than just translating existing English resources) in order to make them more culturally appropriate. What was your experience with creating the English-language versus Spanish-language material? Thanks again!
Bianca Alvarado
Bianca Alvarado
Program Director
Great question Daniel, we collaborated with native Spanish speakers that were knowledgeable in the subject matter. I am happy to share more about my experience and happy to connect.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaradobianca/
Bianca Alvarado
Daniel Zietlow
Great! I've just sent an invite through LinkedIn.
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.