Bilingual Digital Literacy Program Fosters Creativity

Ten-year-old Miguel is putting his new digital literacy skills to an unexpected use: writing stories about his need for a brother. “It is boring only having sisters,” Miguel, who has four sisters, explained. Miguel and his mother Maria teamed up to take bilingual digital literacy classes through the University of Houston-Downtown's (UHD) e-library program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded UHD more than $2.4 million dollars from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program to support literacy awareness and connectivity among the local Hispanic community. UHD partners with elementary schools in the surrounding area so families like the Alvarez can improve their technology and literacy skills in both English and Spanish. When Maria learned about the bilingual e-library program during a back-to-school night, she decided to enroll them both. “I’m helping my son so that he has a successful future, but I’m also helping myself because I have access to these stories,” Maria said. “I’m very interested in learning English, and the program helps me to recognize words in English and become fluent.” Thanks to the program, Maria has learned PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. She is also collaborating with Miguel on a book about his dream: having a brother and being a math teacher.