Peyina Lin
ABSTRACT
With the increasing use of the Internet and social media for knowledge and social connections, we might expect that people more easily expand their opportunities for new learning through social relationships online. Yet, this mixed methods study of teens' use of technologies (e.g. YouTube and social media) in informal learning contexts reveals that, in teens' preferred learning activities, few interact with new ties outside their immediate networks (school, family, and friends). Given the value of social interaction and weak ties for learning new knowledge, this research investigates teens' use of networked technologies with people and resources outside their immediate networks. Based on 23 semi-structured interviews, we describe teens' informal learning activities and technology practices, from which we identify design opportunities. To inform these, we examine teens' paths into extended networks, including the role of digital skills, technology access, intrinsic motivation, and sense of relatedness. We find that relatedness both motivated and inhibited teens to reach beyond immediate networks into extended networks for informal learning activities.
Supplemental Material
Available for Download
Supplemental file
- Atkins, D. E., Bennett, J., Brown, J. S., and Chopra, A. Learning Powered by Technology. Department of Education, 2010.Google Scholar
- Arafeh, S., Levin, D., Lee, R., and Lenhart, A. The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap between Internet-savvy Students and their Schools. Pew Research Center, 2002Google Scholar
- Bailenson, J. N., Yee, N., Blascovich, J., and Beall, A. C., et al. The use of immersive virtual reality in the learning sciences: Digital transformations of teachers, students, and social context. J Learn Sci17, 1 (2008), 102--141.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Barron, B. Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of development: A learning ecology perspective. Hum Dev 49, 4 (2006), 19.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Blumer, H. What is wrong with social theory? Am Sociol Rev 19, 1 (1954), 3--10.Google ScholarCross Ref
- boyd, danah. Friendship. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. The MIT Press, 2010, 79--115.Google Scholar
- Bruckman, A. Community support for constructionist learning. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 7, 1 (1998), 47--86. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Buechley, L. and Hill, B. M. LilyPad in the wild: how hardware's long tail is supporting new engineering and design communities. In Proc. DIS, ACM Press (2010), 199--207. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Burt, R. S. Structural holes and good ideas. Am J Sociol 110, 2 (2004), 349--399.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Colley, A. M., Gale, M. T., and Harris, T. A. Effects of gender role identity and experience on computer attitude components. J Educ Comput Res 10, 2 (1994), 129--137.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Cross, J. Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Performance. Pfeiffer, 2006.Google Scholar
- DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W. R., and Robinson, J. P. Social implications of the Internet. Annu Rev Soc, (2001), 307--336.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Epstein, A. L. The network and urban social organization. In Social Networks in Urban Situations. 1969, 116--132.Google Scholar
- Gillet, D., El Helou, S., Yu, C. M., and Salzmann, C. Turning web 2.0 social software into versatile collabora-tive learning solutions. Adv Comput-Hum Int, IEEE (2008), 170--176. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Glaser, B. G. The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Soc Probl 12, 4 (1965), 436--445.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Granovetter, M. S. The strength of weak ties. Am J Sociol, (1973), 1360--1380.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Greenhow, C. and Robelia, B. Informal learning and identity formation in online social networks. Learning, Media and Technology 34, 2 (2009), 119--140.Google Scholar
- Hargittai, E. An update on survey measures of Web-oriented digital literacy. Soc Sci Comput Rev 27, 1 (2009), 130. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Horst, H. A. Families. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. The MIT Press, 2010, 149--94.Google Scholar
- Isaacs, E., Szymanski, M., Yamauchi, Y., Glasnapp, J., and Iwamoto, K. Integrating local and remote worlds through channel blending. In Proc. CSCW, ACM (2012), 617--626. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Ito, M. Gaming. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. The MIT Press, 2010, 195--242. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Johnson, R. B. and Onwuegbuzie, A. J. Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educ Researcher 33, 7 (2004), 14--26.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lange, P. G. Creative production. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. The MIT Press, 2010, 243--293.Google Scholar
- Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Smith, A., and Macgill, A. R. Teens and social media: An overview. Pew Internet 2009.Google Scholar
- Lin, P. Information literacy barriers: language use and social structure. Library Hi Tech 28, 4 (2010), 548--568.Google ScholarCross Ref
- MacLaurin, M. Kodu: end-user programming and design for games. In Proc. FDG 2009, ACM Press (2009), 2. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Monroy-Hernández, A., Hill, B. M., Gonzalez-Rivero, J., and boyd, d. Computers can't give credit: how automatic attribution falls short in an online remixing community. In Proc. CHI 2011, ACM Press (2011), 3421--3430. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Muuss, R. E. Erik Erikson's Theory of identity development. In Theories of adolescence. McGraw-Hill New York, 1996, 42--57.Google Scholar
- Norman, D. A. Affordance, conventions, and design. Interactions 6, 3 (1999), 38--43. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Pascoe, C. J. Intimacy. In Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. The MIT Press, 2010, 79--115.Google Scholar
- Patton, M. Q. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Sage Publications, Inc, 2002.Google Scholar
- Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. Am Psychol 55, 1 (2000), 68--78.Google ScholarCross Ref
- van Dijk, J. A. G. M. The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society. SAGE, 2005.Google Scholar
- Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard Univ Pr, 1978.Google Scholar
- Wasserman, S. and Faust, K. Social Network Analysis Methods and Applications (Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences). Cambridge University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Opportunities via extended networks for teens' informal learning
Recommendations
Teens and Social Media: A Case Study of High School Students' Informal Learning Practices and Trajectories
SMSociety '18: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and SocietyThis study is a segment of a larger investigation of high school students' use of social media platforms and networks. In the spring of 2017, the researchers conducted detailed, individual interviews with high school students (10th and 12th grade) about ...
Social media in everyday learning: how Facebook supports informal learning among young adults in South Africa
Koli Calling '13: Proceedings of the 13th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education ResearchSocial media has in the recent years become a part of people's daily lives, and with it has come a new way to communicate and interact. The functions of social media in formal and non-formal learning are well studied, but much less attention has been ...
What do teens ask their online social networks?: social search practices among high school students
CSCW '14: Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computingThe majority of American teens use social network sites (SNSs) but little is known about how they leverage their online social networks to find information. As part of a larger study on social media and information behaviors, we surveyed 158 high school ...
Comments