Online Courses Hurting Students of Color Most?

From Tech Crunch:Study: Online Courses May Be The Worst For Minorities And At-Risk Students

When Noam Chomsky spoke at the UA, he said that he wasn't really in favor of MOOCs because he said he didn't really believe in that kind of pedagogical dynamic without a teacher in a classroom. A new study out of Columbia affirms Chomsky's doubts, especially with regard to students of color. The research I've read on online courses, specifically Todd Ruecker's study looking at two Latina/o students in El Paso, found there were numerous factor affecting the success of students with courses requiring online literacy--surprisingly, language wasn't as large a factor as the issue of "self-sponsorship," which I believe others might define as agency, when it comes to accessing technology online.

From the article:
"Di Xu and Shanna Smith Jaggars of Columbia University [writes,]“Specifically, we found that males, black students, and students with lower levels of academic preparation experienced significantly stronger negative coefficients for
online learning compared with their counterparts, in terms of both course persistence and course grades.”
The research team controlled for an impressive array of student characteristics, class types and demographics, and found a negative impact across most of their variables. Interestingly, they also looked at courses where more than 75 percent of the students were at risk, and found that the presence of at-risk peers made drop out all the more likely."

 Read the entire article here: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/22/study-online-courses-may-be-the-worst-for-minorities-and-at-risk-students/
 

Tex[t]-Mex Strikes Back: Star War Loteria

Return of the Rascuache Aesthetic: Star Wars Gets the Loteria Treatment

How many puns on Star Wars titles can I come up with? Let's just hope it stops before los ositos Ewok get involved. On SDSU Prof. William Nericcio's Tex[t]-Mex blog, he posted this loteria of Star Wars that he points out having procured from Ph.D. Carlos Amador, UT Austin--a copy of a copy of a simulacra indeed. A testimony to the mainstream recognition of the loteria template, or proof that the Star Wars mythos extends beyond the limits of popular culture that it is enmeshed in non-hegemonic cultural artifacts?

The good news is that yes, Mexican Americans actually make it into space (see Edward James Olmos below.)

Sure, Olmos has made it into the future before, but that was when he was more of a cyber-vato, leaving origami in his wake like some kind of multi-cultural-without-discernible-ethnicity 'Other.'

A clear jpg of the loteria in the screenshot above:

Tucson Migrant Rights Activist Arrested

"This is Supposed to be an Immigrant Friendly City"

Yesterday, there was significant discussion by U.N.I.D.O.S about the arrest of Raul Alcaráz Ochoa, a migrant rights activist. I know some people who were going to the rally held today outside of Tucson Police Department, although the coordination between Tucson Police and Border Patrol demonstrates enforcement of SB 1070, which was supposed to be stripped of power.

From the petition to release:
"On February 17, 2013, Rene Meza was pulled over by Tucson Police, and when he couldn't produce a valid driver's license, Border Patrol Agents were called to detain Rene. Raul Ochoa, a long time resident and immigrant rights activist in Tucson, witnessed the incident and simply tried to stop the separation of yet one more family.    Both Raul and Rene were taken into custody by Border Patrol.  " 

In the meantime, you can sign the petition to release here: http://action.dreamactivist.org/arizona/raulandrene/

 (Photo by Sean Arce)

Excerpts from the Tucson Weekly:
Read the entire article here: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2013/02/18/border-patrol-releases-alcarz-ochoa-rally-at-tpd-today-4-pm

Posted by Mari Herreras on Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 2:48 PM

"As of this morning, Tucson immigrant rights activist Raul Alcaráz Ochoa remained in U.S. Border Patrol custody after being arrested yesterday. However, the Range has learned that Ochoa was released this afternoon and will attend today's rally in front of the Tucson Police Department, 270 S. Stone Ave., at 4 p.m.
The Range first reported on Alcaráz Ochoa's arrest yesterday afternoon and continued to post updates through the night..."

"According to a statement last night from immigrant rights organization Corazón de Tucson, Ochoa, a community organizer with the Southside Worker Center and Corazón, placed himself under a Border Patrol vehicle to prevent BP from detaining and deporting Tucsonan Rene Meza Huertha.
Meza Huertha was reportedly stopped by TPD at 1:30 p.m. and was unable to produced a valid driver's license. TPD called Border Patrol to detain Meza Huertha. Ochoa witnessed what was taking place, noting that Meza Huertha's six children and his pregnant wife were with him when he was stopped by police.
At least six Border Patrol agents and four TPD officers on the scene when Alcaráz Ochoa was pepper-sprayed by Border Patrol, dragged out and then arrested.
Although Ochoa was released today, Meza Huertha remains in custody, and supporters at today's rally are calling for his release and an immediate halt of the cooperation between TPD and Border Patrol.
"This is supposed to be an immigrant friendly city," Garcia told the Range this morning. "TPD didn't have to call Border Patrol. They are going against their own counsel. We can no longer point fingers at Pearce and Arpaio. It's here, too. It's TPD. These kinds of actions are damaging to Tucson."

The Poetics & Politics of Hip-Hop Cultures

 

 

 

I tried my hand at live-tweeting the opening remarks and presentation by Susan Somers Willet. Not sure how success I was, but experimentation is part of the application of technology--I do see some connection with the fragments I tweeted and the appropriation that is discussed with regard to the aesthetics and practices of hip hop.

 

1. 7 Feb Cruz Medina ‏@AcademiadeCruz
   Live tweets from The Poetics & Politics of Hip Hop Cultures: "Hip Hop is...cultural representation, technology, intertextuality, discourse..

From the opening of the Symposium:

"Q. How would a Frenchman become the head of minor in Hip Hop Studies? A: Community."

 

The Dean of the Humanities spoke:

 

"Hip Hop is...a force to be reckoned with & to be taken seriously" #Hip Hop Symposium at UA live tweets

 

"Hip Hop is...business, cyclical, transgressive, poetry, fun, tragic..."

 

 Susan Somers-Willett's "Poetry to Oversee the Dance Floor and the Streets': Saul Williams and the Hybid Lyric": how&why artists acting as...

 

"acting as citizens of Hip Hop nation & United States of poetry."

 

"Chuck D said poetry makes the beat come to it & rap more subservient to beat."(Somers-Willet)

 

 A discussion followed about the question of authenticity in Hip Hop, and Somes-Willet made a poignant argument about the theoretical self who argues there is no authentic self in opposition to the non-theoretical self who reads the authenticity of others based on speech, body language, and characteristics related to performance of identity.

 

Technical writers who can create instructional video content

Tom Johnson's I'd Rather Be Writing's: "Four Less Common Types of Technical Writers Companies Are Looking For"

Tech writer Tom Johnson spoke with someone interviewing Silicon Valley companies about the technical skills they will need, which remain somewhat uncommon. Because of my interest in digital storytelling, of course I was interested by "Writers who can create instructional video content"--the skill acquired through digital video editing, scene-sequencing, and narration transfer over to this kind of tech communication.

In addition, my interest stems from an upcoming edited collection on the intersection of race and technical communication in which I have a chapter on the use of Twitter by Latin@ students as a response to the growing attention of the Latin@ marketplace. More on that collection later!

 Johnson identifies all four skills as:

• Technical writers who can write documentation for APIs and SDKs.
• Technical writers who can write with brevity for mobile devices.
• Technical writers who can create instructional video content.
• Technical writers who can interact with the community about products.

Read the entire article here: http://idratherbewriting.com/2013/01/24/four-less-common-types-of-technical-writers-companies-are-looking-for/

My Prezi Rhetorically Analyzing Memes

Familiar Symbols, Embedded Assumptions, and Illogical Enthymemes

Some of the material I have posted on memes previously has found its way into a Prezi I put together to teach the rhetorical analysis of visual rhetoric.

Of the more salient points I make during the presentation have to do with how potentially prejudicial assumptions about race, class, and gender transmit through images juxtaposed with seemingly logical arguments that are little more than enthymemes with embedded ideological assumptions communicated in so-called established "universal truth," which results in many times offensive punchline arguments.

For examples of the more offensive and prejudicial messages transmitted through the visual images and discourse, see the Don Draper and Mexico's national sport memes.



I think the next stage in the revision of this Prezi would either include the transfer to video format with actual narration, or at the very least the inclusion of more text to further analyze the images for an audience not listening to the actual presentation.

Video for CCCC Presentation

A Digital Narrative

Inspired in part by past students and Natalie Martinez's guest post, I created my own digital story based on a forthcoming small scope narrative in the Sept 2013 CCC journal. Since the digital narrative is only two minutes, I was not able to include everything from the text; however, the ability to include my own voice and family video provide additional rhetorical strategies that highlight the persuasive power of multimodal composing.

on the profession edit with video 0001 from Cruz Medina on Vimeo.


In part because the personal nature of my narrative, I have been interested in investigating the intersection of digital storytelling and the Latin@ storytelling genres of cuentos and testimonio. On the Ohio State site for "Testimonio and Argentina," they provide a definition for testimonio that identifies some of the intersecting strategies with digital storytelling:

"One strategy to improve our understanding of this period is through the use of testimonio. Testimonio is a genre of literature that retells historical events using literary elements such as dialogue, poetry and metaphors from an eyewitness perspective...Testimonio blends two traditionally distinct academic disciplines, history and literature, to help relay historical experiences." ("Who is the Subaltern and What is Testimonio?")

Issues of identity, ethnicity, race, and gender can be addressed in these storytelling genres that resist and challenge dominant narratives. In the case of my family, the story has been passed down orally as something of a cuento, a story recounted in the margins. Like the testimonio, the digital narrative makes use of an eyewitness perspective, while also incorporating music, narration, and carefully sequenced images that embody the aesthetics of the literary elements associated with testimonio.

It's Never Too Early...

...To Think About CCCC 2013
Regarding CCCC 2013, I got this postcard/flyer in my email that I thought I'd post. Hope to see y'all in Las Vegas, where 'what happens while we're there' becomes experiential knowledge when made sense of and mediated through narration, ha!

This may sound like a silly title and subtitle, however, I have actually been giving serious thought to my CCCC presentation, tweaking a digital story to go along with my written presentation. Fortunately, the digital storytelling I'm experimenting with stems from a small-scope narrative coming out in the Sept 2013 Special Issue of CCC on the profession, so the narrative is not from whole-cloth.

Still, the piece is personal narrative, so there are rhetorical considerations as to how much I want to express, and the genre of digital storytelling adds the additional questions of modality in terms of which media do I want to employ to communicate my message. One of the major advantages of the genre that I've noted from my research is the ability to add voice to narratives that are traditionally silenced, although there is something bare and exposed about recording voice to accompanying images.

Positive News Regarding Tucson MAS

MAS for College Credit I recieved this news earlier today from former MAS teacher  Curtis Acosta with great news about former TUSD MAS  curriculum being offered for college credit.   Curtis Acosta (right) and I LA LUCHA SIGUE Although we have suffered through the pain and indignity of losing  Mexican American Studies in Tucson, today serves as the beginning  of a sea change in this struggle. In response to the Tucson Unified  School District dismantling our MAS classes, I started Chican@  Literature After School Studies (CLASS), which meets at the John  Valenzuela Youth Center in South Tucson and is free for all students  who attend. We meet for at least two hours each Sunday, and  sometimes my students and I lose complete track of time because  of our intense conversations inspired by how this amazing literature  relates to our world and our lives. It is the highlight of my week and  has kept my spirit and love for teaching alive during these dark days.  MAS GOES TO COLLEGE Our dedication and love of learning has been rewarded thanks to the  amazing people at Prescott College in Arizona. In an incredible show  of respect for the quality and rigor of our former MAS classes in TUSD,  Prescott College will be offering college credit to these students for  our Sunday classes. We are humbled and excited for this partnership,  but now we need your help to make this dream become a reality. "While TUSD banned the teaching of Chican@ literature, we recognize  the rigor and importance of the former MAS classes, and therefore  Prescott College will offer students the option to enroll in Curtis  Acosta's Chican@ Literature class for college credit.  We hope this  will not only be an incentive to attend this weekend class but will  also send a strong message that this knowledge is highly valued,"  said Anita Fernández, a Prescott College professor.   Investing in the future of Chican@ Studies  It is incredibly important for CLASS to remain free for this small  group of young scholars. Thus, we have established the Chican@  Literature And Studies Scholarship (CLASS) Fund in order to raise  money for the students to receive college credit for their  participation. Will you invest in these amazing young people  by donating to CLASS today?

A scholarship fund has been set up in the hopes that most  students will be able to earn college credits free of charge.   To make a tax-deductible donation to the Chican@ Literature  and Studies Scholarship (CLASS) fund, please send a check to: Prescott College 220 Grove Ave. Prescott, AZ 86301  Please write in the memo line: CLASS fund In Lak Ech, Curtis Acosta Chican@ Literature Teacher Chican@ Literature After School Studies (Acosta and I at Librotraficante Event)

To learn more about the curriculum of Tucson's famous Mexican-American Studies program, the 93% graduation rate for their students, and the controversy surrounding the now banished classes you can online order the PRECIOUS KNOWLEDGE DVD. If you have any questions about purchasing your DVD, please contact us at:dvd@preciousknowledgefilm.com

UA News on Adela C. Licona

Zines in Third Space: Radical Cooperation and Borderlands Rhetoric

From the UA News article:
“Zinesters" are engaged in critical and creative work, challenging dominant knowledges and normative misrepresentations of groups and working to build coalitions, Licona said.
"The zinesters challenge dominant knowledges in their daily activist practices, in their commitment to community education and community literacies, in their anti-normative gender performances, and in their inquiries and engagements with contested knowledges."

A Reminder of the Fallacies

Got turned onto this from past guest blogger Enrique Reynoso. It reminds us how prevalent fallacies are in many arguments, which is too bad that all of the election debates are over because I'm sure "binders full of women" and other such statements would provide multiple examples of the below mentioned fallacies.

Luis Urrea Celebrates Dia de los Muertos

From Hopeless Situations, Miracles Happen

Before Luis Urrea’s reading, there was a Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos event in the UA Bookstore, MC’d by my academic-compa Kathryn Ortiz. The event included altars from Dr. Cintli’s upper-division Mexican American Studies students, a mariachi performance by an elementary school group, and a folklorico dance put on by UA’s ballet folklorico group.

I had the chance to speak with Urrea—he signed my copy of The Devil's Highway and I apologized that there were notes I’d taken inside of it, but I explained that I’d taken part in the summer Banned Book club. He then recounted when he had first heard of the proposed book ban years ago when a news reporter asked him about Tom Horne's desire to ban Ethnic Studies, and Urrea's complete disbelief.

Urrea began by professing to be a “proud veteran of Mexican American Studies.” He commented that in California, where he studied, they don’t experience the same scrutiny as in Arizona, but the MAS program he participated in produced “countless authors, PhDs and scholars.”

He read from Nobody's Son , which was published by UA Press, so he was bringing it home to read. Urrea explained that while he lived for some time in Tucson, he was nomadic enough that he was leary to talk about Arizona or on behalf of Arizona, though Arizona gave him his “best books.”

On the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos when honoring ancestors, he remembered all of the people who have gone before him: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and several of his nephews and cousins who were gone—and he’d be damned if someone regarded any of them as less than human, or stopped them in the street to question them about their citizenship, or tell them that they couldn’t study about their culture.

From Nobody's Son , Urrea read a passage about moving from Tijuana as a child with skin problems and had no place to go while his parents worked, and being raised in the home of two of his female relatives who he described in rich and humorous detail. 

Urrea described the time as hopeless, however adding that when the  “situation was hopeless, that’s when miracles happen.”

He explained the differences in the worlds of his home and that of the relatives who cared for him, watched La Jesse in their soap operas, and made tortillas by hand. In the description of these homes and love, Urrea explained that there was a particular “way a family shares one bathroom that says love.”

Read my past post on Urrea: http://writerscholarprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/05/luis-alberto-urrea-addresses-tucson-ban.html