Latinos and African Americans take more time to complete their graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to a new study from the American Institutes for Research. This trend is affected by whether they had a Master’s degree, funding for their program, marital status and the educational attainment of their parents. The study looked at data from 1990 to 2009 and excluded international students, tracking data for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.… more

The Washington Post recently profiled the top tech trends of 2012. The list read as you would expect, focusing on big data, wireless devices and the cloud. But the story that the list really tells is about the astonishing amounts of information consumers want access to, instantly, wherever they are. The business community has stepped up to deliver. From app developers to the largest corporations around the world, innovators are striving to bring innovative technologies to market.… more

The Next Web had a really interesting list of top Latin American startups to watch in 2013. They created the list not based on monetary concerns, necessarily, but noted that most of them received funding from international investors and worked with business accelerators. The list in alphabetical order:

• Agent Piggy
• Bandtastic
• Cinepapaya
• ComparaOnline
• Cumplo
• Descomplica
• Ideame
• Pagpop
• Workana
• Wormhole IT

The startups come from all over Latin America: Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, etc.… more

By Lena Groeger, ProPublica A year ago I didn’t know how to code. I had a journalism degree and had made some graphics, but I would have been hard-pressed to explain the difference between Ruby and JavaScript, and I was pretty happy when I got the YouTube video to embed correctly. I considered myself pretty technical but generally avoided the command line. When I did start learning, I was amazed by how much was out there: introductory videos, explanatory blog posts, tips and tricks and step-by-step guides.… more

By Yago Cura In 2007, I resigned my high school teaching position in the Bronx and started library school at Queens College. Because my library science degree had evolved to incorporate an invisible “I” (MLIS vs. MLS), I took several classes on web and image design in library school. As a result, the whole Internet-veil thing became demystified and I could clearly see the Mr. Oz in the machine. In 2009, I bought some server space in Canada and purchased a stack of ISBNs from Bowker and started a literary journal, Hinchas de Poesía (www.hinchasdepoesia.com).… more

Google is working to expand the number of Latino-owned businesses using their products to sell their products and services online, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. The company held a seminar sharing how Latino business owners could manage their websites and businesses using Google products in Los Angeles and Miami recently, according to the report. Part of the reason is that Google’s data shows that about “60% of Latino-owned businesses in California don’t have websites.” To read the whole article click here.… more

Slate wrote an interesting piece recently talking about how the immigrant makeup of Silicon Valley startups has begun to change. Specifically, that this change now includes more startups and founders from Latin America. According to the piece:

…some tech insiders have seen Latin American-born entrepreneurs, a previously invisible cohort, begin to make their presence known in Silicon Valley.

…There is, however, a nucleus of innovators from places like Argentina, Chile, and Colombia who have started companies aiming to create customized travel advice, digital wallets, and more.

… more

An analysis by the San Jose Mercury News found that Latino tech workers in Silicon Valley decreased from 2000 to 2010, along with African-Americans. Instead, Asians now make up more than half of the workforce, in large part, according to the report, because of companies’ reliance on importing workers with work visas. White workers in these fields shrank from 50% to just 41%. Latino workers dropped from 4.6% to 4.2% of the Silicon Valley workforce from 2000 to 2010, and these numbers were 2.8% to 2.3% for African-Americans.… more

Mobile Film Classroom is a non-profit organization with the aim of providing digital media instruction to the underserved children of Los Angeles County. Using a bus outfitted with digital technology, this digital media production studio-on-wheels provides educational classes to children of all ages. MFC provides a filmmakers bootcamp, an intro course to digital media for 3rd through 6th graders, an identity film projects for junior high students and a short documentary project for high school students.… more

Rutgers University in New Jersey launched a think-tank dedicated to producing research around social, political and economic issues affecting the Latino community. The Latino Information Network at Rutgers (LIN@R), will be run like something of a news organization, according to a press release. LIN@R’s editor and director will be Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Robert Montemayor, Patricia Munoz will be the managing editor and Jorge Schement, the Dean of the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers University, will also be involved.… more