Tuba City Junior High Partners With ASU Conexiones<br>

By Suetopka Thayer

Tuba City School District

Arizona State University Conexiones technology team comprised of Drs. Angel Jannasch-Pennell and Samuel DiGangi, and graduate students Andrew Wasklewicz, Barnaby Wasson, Ruvi Wijesuriya, Guy Mullins made the 4-hour trip from Tempe to Tuba City School District to encourage and show native students how to use computer technology on an everyday classroom basis.

Conexiones Project’s history is to promote lifelong learning among traditionally underserved minority students. Conexiones has provided educational opportunities for students of migrant workers since 1992. Conexiones students engage in lectures and classes on the Arizona State University campus throughout the year to familiarize them with higher education technology. Students engage in constructivist and project-base learning activities that promote bilingualism as well as proficiency in technology use.

Conexiones projects accomplish their goals by recognizing minority students’ unique educational needs and issues. These include limited English proficiency, few opportunities to develop technological skills and limited opportunities for academic or job training.

Fostering an academic environment of respect and trust by recognizing different perspectives create an atmosphere of less stress and a more conducive learning environment for native students. This in turn promotes student willingness to persist at more difficult academic tasks and develops a positive attitude that contributes to higher cognitive processing. This recognition of perspective differences promotes a higher retention rate for at risk students.

Empowering multicultural students to be fluent users rather than passive consumers of technology, students are able to take charge of their own learning through direct exploration, experimentation, active learning. Students are able to develop skills that enable them to communicate with other students throughout the world as well as scientists, engineers and computer experts.

Conexiones is a pioneer in the use of learning technologies. When the Conexiones Program began, entire families were given access to electronic bulletin boards as a teaching tool. This week in Tuba City, students were given an assignment of creating a short movie utilizing still photos and a story narrative of their own choosing.

A library full of native students learned how to make a movie by utilizing a 3-step method. Tuba City District staff of Sandra Isaac, Nadine Sanchez, Arvis Myron, Nathan Eubank, Carmen Tsingine and Debbie Brodie worked alongside the students to finish a short movie project by the end of the full day workshop. The finished projects included music and computerized graphics as well as starring the students themselves.

The students were also shown an example of a national award winner’s work entitled “Sweatshops” that was done by a junior high school Hispanic student whose family are predominantly migrant farm workers. A final portion of the ASU presentation was discussion on how to utilize computers as a visual aid to give voice to issues close to the minority community.

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