Needs Assessment Results

and

A Web 2.0 and Mobile Technology Learning Proposal

for the Youth in the

Humboldt Park Puerto Rican Community

By

Raye Chiang

Northern Illinois University

Introduction

"It has been said something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can

ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.” - Chaos Theory

Three weeks after the Participatory Action Research (PAR) class in Humboldt Park,

Chicago with the Puerto Rican community, I had the following conversation with a friend who

was in Taipei, Taiwan”

“Julian, what do you think about gentrification?”

“Gentrification? I think it is a good thing. Right? New buildings and new

facilities, who doesn’t like it?”

“Hmm…” I hesitated for couple seconds then asked,

“Have you ever thought about how the low-income families who used to rent

apartments there but lose the place and are forced to move to a possibly worse

environment?”

Julian was silent for a few moments.

“I never thought about it.” Julian sounded like he started doubting.

“That is a problem, right?”

“Yeah. I used to think gentrification was a good thing too, but now I think it is the

source of a social problem.”

As the conversation continued, Julian and I talked about Puerto Rican people, their

history, and their struggles. Later the topic turned to gentrification in Taiwan and other social

problems. It went on and on for hours. The next day, Julian sent me a message that he told his

dentist about gentrification issues and Puerto Ricans’ stories. He wrote, “We now do not think

gentrification is a good thing, it is a critical issue ….” I do not know how long Julian will

remember this conversation, but I do know now that what happened in Humboldt Park, and the

Puerto Rican community has already changed part of my perspective.

Before meeting with people in this community, my understanding of Puerto Rico was that

it was part of the United States (U.S.). My previous supervisor, Ruben, is a Puerto Rican. He

always calls himself “Boricua.” He once said, “All Puerto Ricans were born and automatically

became US citizens. But we are not American; we have our own culture and language.” He

sounded sad, frustrated, and cynical. And I also sensed a mixed and complicated emotional

struggle when he said it. However, I did not understand or feel comfortable asking him for

details at that time. Learning about the Puerto Rican community revealed the sad and ugly

history between Puerto Rico and the US. Now, I have a different interpretation of Ruben’s

words.

Politically speaking, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. and home to

an American military base. During the Spanish colonial period, the Puerto Ricans were forced to

speak Spanish. Over time, Spanish became their native language. In 1917, the President

Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act that gave Puerto Ricans to the U.S. In this Act,

“Puerto Ricans gained only some of the rights, but many of the obligations of US citizenship”

(Matos-Desa, 2010, p.298). The Jone-Shafroth Act gave the U.S. government rights to start a

series of inhumanity treatment among Puerto Rican. Over 34% of the Puerto Rican mothers

between the age of 20 to 49 were forced to have compulsory sterilization before 1965 (Presser,

1969). Puerto Rican men had to serve in every war US had involved after 1917 (Fortuño, 2008).

The colonialism influenced Puerto Ricans deeply. They are identified as a “diaspora people in

the classic sense, coming to escape economic hardship” (Rinaldo, 2002, p.160). Colonialism also

created one of the key conflict factors between Puerto Rico and the U.S. government.

As a consequence of being treated as second-class citizens, Puerto Ricans started to

pursue freedom and independence from the U.S. Activist Oscar López Rivera is one of the well-

known activists. He was a leader and activist who dedicated his life to the Humboldt Park Puerto

Rican Community. The community members looked up to him, even after he was convicted of

seditious conspiracy and in prison for various other offenses. Even today, Oscar is still their

spiritual leader, encouraging the community to recognize their identity and to unite. He is the

symbol that leads Puerto Ricans toward independence. When I walked on West Division Street,

the heart of the Humboldt Park Puerto Rican Community, I saw many pictures, flyers, and

posters indicating the community’s strong will and hope to bring Oscar home. Juan Manuel

Calderón, another activist in the community, stated that rescuing Oscar is the first priority for the

Puerto Rican community.

Technology Issues

Humboldt Park is not a name of a town. It is a Park. The Puerto Rican community is

located in the Park. As a foreign language learner learning about this community, I naively

picked three sets of the search key phrases: Humboldt Park, Humboldt Park community, and

Humboldt Park Puerto Rican Community. I used the Google search engine because it ranked

highest, with an estimated 900 million monthly visitors compared to Bing’s estimated 165

million monthly visitors. However, the result I found was nowhere near enough. The top five

search results for “Humboldt Park” (see image 1) included two search results from Wikipedia

which had a short introduction to the Puerto Rican community and tour information. Humboldt

Park Portal, which is the community website, was eighth on the list. The key word “Humboldt

Park community” brought different search ranking results. The majority of the search findings

were social service websites, such as Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness, West

Humboldt Park Family & Community Development Council, and Humboldt Park Social

Services. The content that directly addresses the Puerto Rican community is “My Humboldt Park

–Humboldt Park Portal” (on ranking #7; see image 2). The third key phrase was “Humboldt Park

Puerto Rican Community.” The result was more specific and related to the community. I

received much information; some of them were later discussed by José E. López, the director of

the Puerto Rican Culture Center and Juan Antonio Corretjer, the director of the Vida/Sida

project.

Image 1

search keyword: Humboldt Park

Image 2

search keyword: Humboldt Park community

Meanwhile, I was still struggling to find a key phrase to locate more websites about the

community. Later, I brought my questions to Mr. Molina, a lifelong activist and media specialist

in the community. During the interview, I found that there are about six major websites related to

the Humboldt Park Puerto Rican Community: Humboldt Park Portal, the Puerto Rican Culture

Center, ASPIRA of Illinois, Compo High School, and Youth Connections Charter School, and

National Boricua Human Rights. I also learned more about the technology, social media, and

software application issues related to the youth program in the community. I identified three gaps

that slow down the technology integration in the community.

The first gap is about computer issues. It includes the lack of public computers, computer

teachers, and computer lab access availability. I organized current free computer labs in the

community in Table 1.

Table 1

Current Computer Lab in Humboldt Park Community Location Opening Schedule User Eligibility

Association House

1116 N. Kedzie Ave, R522

(773) 772-7170

Mon – Fri 10:00 am – 2:00 pm,

Saturday 9:00 am – Noon

Open to the public

Casa Central

1335 N California Ave

(773) 645-2300

Mon & Weds 11:00 am – 3:30 pm,

Tues &Thur 9:00 am – 3:30 pm,

Fri & Sat. 11:00 am – Noon

Open to the public

Chicago Commons

3441 W. Chicago Ave

(773) 826-0739

Mon & Fri 4 pm – 6:30 pm

Alternating Saturdays 9 am –1 pm

For basic computer classes and

the certification course, learners

can walk-in or call.

Humboldt Park Public Library

1605 N. Troy St.

(312) 744-2244

Mon &Weds 12:00 pm – 7:30 pm,

Tues &Thurs 10:00 am – 5:30 pm,

Fri &Sat 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

Library card

Kelly Hall YMCA

824 N Hamlin

(773) 886-1220

Hours: Tues – Friday (adults only)2:30 –

3:45 pm, Monday – Thursday (teens)

6:30 – 7:30 pm

YMCA membership not required,

but appreciated

St. Joseph Services

2516 W. Cortez

(773) 278-0484

Mon, Tues & Thur 9:00 am – 7:00 pm,

Weds & Friday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm

Open to the public.

Richard M. Daley Public Library

(773) 733 N. Kedzie Ave

(312) 743-0555

Mon & Weds 10 am -6 pm,

Tues & Thurs 12 pm-8 pm

Saturday 9 am-5 pm

Library card

North Pulaski Public Library

4300 W. North Ave

(312) 744-9573

Mon & Weds 12:00 pm– 6:00 pm,

Tues & Thurs 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Fri & Sat 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Library card

The list and the access availability of these computer labs were provided by the

Humboldt Park Community Technology Center. However, this information does not tell users

how many computers are in each lab or what software is installed on each computer. Also, the

schedule does not indicate if this is a year-round schedule or a summer schedule. Moreover, the

computer lab access times are very limited, and the schedules are not user-friendly. It is always a

positive sign when a community has more than one computer lab. However, the confusing

schedules may make it difficult for these labs to serve the community. My theory for why the

labs have such a strange schedule is that their scheduling is based on the availability of

volunteers and existing staff. Thus, looking at the scheduled time, I wonder what the estimated

computer access rates and actual access rates of these labs are. Do computer labs fulfill each

organization’s agenda for setting up the lab?

Mr. Molina once said, “You can’t just throw computers to people! That’s not the

answer.” I totally agree with him. People do not know how to use the computers without proper

instruction. The idea is comparable to having a Multimedia room in the Richard M. Daley Public

Library in the Humboldt Park Community. Simply having a multimedia room in the Richard M.

Daley Public Library does not mean the Humboldt Park community has advanced technology

integrated into the community. Furthermore, the gang territory issues may prevent Latino/a

students from going to the library. An unfriendly computer access schedule and gang territory

issues are the reality in the community. Moreover, what can current computers do for the

community? Or, why might the community members need to go to the public computer labs?

Does each computer lab provide service to meet the community’s needs?

One of the current computer labs in the community is set up for the Barrio, Arts, Culture,

& Communications Academy (BACCA) program (sponsored by the After School Matters

Project). There are about 15 to 20 youths who are full-time high school students participating in

the BACCA. The computers can only be used for BACCA curriculum-related subjects. Students

must be under BACCA staff supervision to use the computer lab. During previous projects,

students designed posters for anti-drugs and underage alcohol campaigns for the community.

However, students cannot use these computers to design the political posters or flyers. In

addition, these computers are not open to other community members. Before the BACCA, there

was a Linux-based computer lab in Batey Urbano. However, after the staff left the community,

the program ceased to exist. (see image 3)

Image 4

The advertisement was posted on Puerto Rican Cultural Center http://prcc-

chgo.org/category/bacca/

When I searched Google for “BACCA program,” the information I found was through the

Puerto Rican Cultural Center, La Voz del Paseo Boricua, and BACCA Youth Program on

Twitter. The Internet is a space for people to talk and share. Uploading work is a way for youth

to express them and share with the world. I wonder if it is a good idea to advocate for BACCA

youth to build up website, blog entries or joint blog entries for BACCA campaign posters and

reflections and Betay youth dance performance, artworks, poems, and activities. The idea will be

explained more in the proposed action plan.

The second gap is the ability and knowledge to use a free open resource on PC, the

Internet, and mobile technology. Organizing the information I received from Mr. Molina, most

of the families in the community has a PC with internet (slow but still able to connect to the

internet). About 90% of the youth in the community owns a smartphone and data plan. The data

turnover rate is high due to unstable part-time jobs. Around 60%-65% of community members

have active Facebook accounts. However, most of the youth and members who have access to

using mobile technology and social media just have the minimum knowledge of these tools, to

chat, text, and communicate with friends and relatives. Mobile Apps and Web 2.0 tools are

rooted more deeply in individuals’ lives than most think. Mobile technology apps such as SMS

(sending message service), Facebook Messenger, Google +, LINE, Viber, What’s App, Evernote,

Twitter, Gmail, MSN, Yahoo Messenger are all web 2.0 tools. Even though all people do not

write their own blogs, most of them they view others’ blogs.

Social media and web 2.0 tools play an important role in the community; however, the

community members are not aware of how powerful social media can be for the community. I

believe Mr. Molina handled skepticism and opposition from individuals who believed that it was

unrealistic to integrate technology into a low-income community. Therefore, free open resources

and mobile technology educational apps are relevantly important to the community members.

Online open resources, such Google Drive, are very powerful tools that allow users to create a

website/blog and more. The idea will be explained more in the suggested action plan.

The last gap that I identified is a funding issue which community has less power to

control over. I believe the community spends much time and energy on learning how to write a

grant. After the interview, I searched for some different foundations that provide funding to non-

profit organizations. I am not sure if the Puerto Rican community fits into this category;

however, I believe youth can help to raise the funding through the computer knowledge and

skills they have to build up a funding resources database.

Suggestion Plans

“A Digital device is not about access. It is about the construction of

knowledge…technology must be transparent.” – Alejandro Molina

Mr. Molina believes the browser content viewed by general users on the internet is only

for information or data. A person who views the information online needs to transfer the content

into educational meanings so that it becomes informational to the individual. Many scholars

believe younger generations are more comfortable using technology. Hall (1992) stated that

“Participatory research is based on the epistemological assumption that knowledge is constructed

socially and therefore, that research approaches which allow for social, group or collective

analysis of life experiences of power and knowledge are most appropriate” (p.20). Therefore, in

this Participatory Action Research on technology integration in the Humboldt Park community, I

am proposing two action plans to the community. I hope that, through group learning and

knowledge transforming, both researchers and co-researchers will be able to contribute to the

integration of technology into in this community.

The first plan, the FIND plan, aims to allow the youth to learn and discover the

technology resources they currently have, helping them understand how powerful these resources

are and what they can do with them. The prerequisite skills are experiences using a PC,

Microsoft Office or Open Office, and the internet. Participants may also have a knowledge of

using Google Drive (Google Docs), skill to create video, audio, flash, or experiences of using

other social media and web 2.0, but these skills are not required.

Step 1: Form a group

The estimated meeting will be three times. Each meeting will take about two to three

hours. Youth who are interested in participating in this project are welcome to join these

meetings. They can ask questions, self-discover their computer abilities, and also learn

new apps from their own smartphone. In this step, I will be able to understand each

individuals’ strengths and comfortable of using open resources and mobile technology

through observation and chatting with them. We will discuss a time frame for the project

and how to run the project according to participants’ schedule. The online Google drives,

Google drive App, Google Map will be introduced to the youth in this step. Participants

will learn to sue online Google Drive or Google drive app to collaborate their future

findings. The outcome of this step is to form the first introduction page of the website.

Step 2: To Investigate

The estimated meeting will be three times. Two meetings will be face to face, another

meeting will be an online discussion. The Smartphone app Taptalk will be introduced in

the fourth meeting for online discussion purpose.

In this step, the team should start investigating three subject areas: the accessible

availability of the computers in the computer lab, to locate people in the community who

learned open resources before, and to investigate other website/blogs and critic these

websites/blogs. All team members have to participate in investigating which computers in

the community Open Office have and browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox that

would allow the participants to work on the project. Additional information about the

computer software and wireless access will help. The location should be documented. I

will work with the team to create a chart of the actually accessible computer in the

community. After complete this step, participants will have a better understanding of the

current technology integration progress in the community.

All team members also have to find the individuals in the community who have the skills

and experience to access open resources such as Google Site or Weebly.com. The formal

Betay Tech program participants may still remember these skills. The teams are

recommended to reconnect with formal Betay Tech participants.

The teams should also investigate other websites/blogs and discuss and analyze the

reasons the website is succeeded or failed. After the discussion, the team should list down

the criteria and potential contents they want to add to their website.

In this step, I will provide a list of free web 2.0 resources including creating a website,

animations, video, and audio tools. The Smartphone App Evernote will be introduced to

help individuals keep electronic logs and reflections. Participants will continue using

online Google Drive or Google drive app to collaborate their findings.

Step 3: To Negotiate

In step, the team should contact with other community youth or other individuals for

uploading their works on the website. It is to develop communication and negotiation

skills. Some people love to share their works freely, some people are shy and not willing

to share their works, and some people may ask something in return. How to convince and

negotiate with people is the key point on this step.

My role will be conducting interviews, participating in discussions, helping to locate

resources, providing offsite suggestions, and documenting students to follow the

development of negotiation and problem-solving skills as well as website critique skills.

I will also provide application instruction and/or workshops to assist youth in utilizing the

open resources. The smartphone app Mindjet will be introduced to assist for

brainstorming.

In this step, the teams should still follow up with the online open resource experienced

people and be tutored on how to use open resources. They continue to use the Evernote

app to keep their written blogs, vblogs, and image blogs in this step. Participants continue

to use online Google Drive or Google drive app to collaborate their findings.

Step 4: To Design and Develop

A good website must have as many useful resources as possible. In the design phase, the

team will decide the useful resources to put on the website and how the youth-lead

website should look. The content could be BACCA youth campaign posters and their

reflections, Betay youth dance performance, artwork, poems, and activities, college

applications, or other high school activities.

In the development phase, the team will break into three smaller teams according to their

interests and learn information/data management skills. For example, a research team can

work together to examine if the links and resources they found are relevant to the

community. The team will also maintain the links. An image design team can select

images that are appropriate for their target audiences as well as manage the

images/documents/photos. A web design team will decide the holistic theme of the

Website, which will attract youth to bookmark the page and revisit often.

At the end of the development phase, the research team should follow up with the online

resources, whether it is an organization, local newspaper, or personal blog, and ask to

exchange links with these websites. In this step, the Google Site and smartphone app QR

code will be introduced as well.

The second suggestion plan is to establish an online resources database for youth and

community members. The database can include several categories such as grants and funding,

scholarship resources, or job aids. Depending on the category, youth can also use Google

spreadsheet to establish an online collaboration database. The information can also be retrieved

and re-posted on Puerto Rican Cultural Center as well as any related website. The prerequisite

skills are the participants’ needs to have experience using a PC, Microsoft Office or Open Office,

and the internet. Participants may have skills using Microsoft Access, but this is experience is

not required. For example, from establishing a funding database, youth will learn how to:

1. use different keywords to search for different foundations and organizations that

provide funding;

2. use the online Google Drive or Google apps to create a link with a brief introduction

to each foundation and organization;

3. keep alphabetic or State by State logs for this database; and

4. maintain and update the database regularly.

In building up an online database, the online Google Drive and Google Drive app will be

introduced. The Evernote app will also be introduced for participates in keeping their personal

blog while doing research.

Mr. Molina shared with me during the interview that one of the BACCA students had

purchased a camera and intended doing something for/in the community. The student does not

have a plan yet, and this may be an opportunity for a new project. I would personally be

interested in following up with his study (possibly with other youth as well) to observe on how

they transfer their knowledge from the BACCA program to their community.

Reflection

In the Participatory Action Research (PAR) project, it recalled my memory from my first

job as an instructional designer in a chained beauty salon Taiwanese local company. The new

environment had a totally different cultural climate and communication language I had back to

graduate school. In the first couple month, I participated in every single meeting, conducted

training program according to branch managers’ description and requirements. I still did not

understand front-end employees’ needs, their thoughts, and their capabilities. I questioned my

training materials if they are authentic and useful. Later, I volunteered to visit branches in Taipei

City and Taipei County for a whole day to observe front-end employees’ work, to talk to them,

to listen to them. I gained a better understanding of their perceptions of the shops, company’s

core value, co-workers…etc. I built a relationship with people who took my training sections. I

feel I was a step close to meet their needs. PAR gave me the same idea and concept.

Before knowing the community members, I had a few questions. After a first field trip to

the community and Vida/Sida, I have more questions. Meeting with Mr. Molina was an eye-

opening experience; I had a frame of how technology integrates into the community. However, it

triggers me more questions that I don’t even know where to start and ask. At one moment, I felt I

am useless for this community. My expertise was built up upon well and resource rich

environment: high-speed internet, laptop access, tablets, mobile technology, and countless mac

computers. I never felt so limited and helpless when I know many of my application skills will

not be able to apply to this community because the community simply does not have the

resource. However, on the other hand, I was touched by many of activists on how hard they are

trying to integrate technology into this community. I respect a lot of their attitudes and passions

for the community.

I don’t know if my plan sounds too naïve or too unrealistic because when I look at it, it’s

still a hole on every step. However, I am hoping that if it is a plan that can advocate youth to

participate technology integration into the community, I would love to participate in it.

References:

Fortuño, L.G. (2008) Letter to the Editor, Puerto Rico’s Status, N.Y. TIMES, May 22, 2008, at

24 (quoting former President George H.W. Bush). Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/opinion/l29puerto.html?ref=opinion

Hall, B. L. (1992). From margins to center? The development and purpose of participatory

research. The American Sociologist, 23(4), 15-28

List of Free Computer Labs in community (2012) Retrieved on July 15th, 2012

http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/Digital-Resources/Tech-Resources/List-of-Free-

Computer-Labs-in-community.html

Matos-Desa, M.(2010) Second Class Citizens: the case against unequal military healthcare

benefits for Puerto Rican veterans. Cardozo women's law journal, v16, 291-313

Presser, H. B. (1969). The Role of Sterilization in Controlling Puerto Rican Fertility. Population

Studies, v23(3), pp. 343-361 Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2172875.pdf?acceptTC=true

Rinaldo, R. (2002). Space of resistance: The Puerto Rican Cultural Center and Humboldt Park.

Cultural Critique, 50, 135-174.