Youth perspectives on their development in a coding community
| Date | 13 May 2019 |
| Pages | 327-348 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-05-2018-0038 |
| Published date | 13 May 2019 |
| Author | Ricarose Roque,Natalie Rusk |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
Youth perspectives on their
development in a coding community
Ricarose Roque
Department of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder,
Colorado, USA, and
Natalie Rusk
MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Many initiatives are seekingto engage children in learning to code. However, few studies have
examined how children’s engagementin learning and using coding develops over time. This studyaims to
seek young people’s perspectives on what they viewed as important in their long-term participation in a
coding community.
Design/methodology/approach –This study identified youth with a high level of participation and
who demonstrated emergent leadership in the Scratch online community. Using methods from qualitative
research on youthdevelopment, individual interviews wereconducted in which these youth were asked about
memorablemoments in their participation and how these experiencesinfluenced them.
Findings –While each youngperson described a unique pathway and perspective,this study identified key
experiences that motivated their participation, influenced their development and inspired their emergent
leadership. These experiencesincluded opportunities to learn through exploration, to receive feedbackfrom
peers, to engagein creative collaboration and to contributeto the community.
Practical implications –This study discussed these findings in light of previous research on youth
development, and it suggeststhat building on practices and principles from research on youth programs can
help more youngpeople become engaged in developing broaderskills with coding.
Originality/value –Youth highlighted experiences that enabled them to express their ideas, to build
relationships, to help others and to see themselves in new ways. Their perspectives expand beyond the
predominant focusof coding initiatives on computational thinking and problem-solvingskills to also support
social, leadershipand identity development.
Keywords Coding, Community, Leadership, Youth, Scratch, Youth development
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
More and more schools and afterschool programs are offering opportunities for young
people to learn to code. Some researchers and educators argue that as young people are
learning to code, they are “coding to learn,”engaging in computational thinking concepts
and practices that will help them solve problems and understand the digital world that
surrounds them. Kafai and Burke (2016) expanded on these ideas to advocate for
computational participation, emphasizing the role of young people actively engaging and
contributing withina social context to enrich and deepentheir experiences with coding.
This material is based upon research supported in part by the National Science Foundation (Grant
number 1348876).
Development
in a coding
community
327
Received14 May 2018
Revised26 January 2019
Accepted28 January 2019
Informationand Learning
Sciences
Vol.120 No. 5/6, 2019
pp. 327-348
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-05-2018-0038
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-5348.htm
Over the past decade, young people around the worldhave been actively participating in
creating with code within the social context of the Scratch online community. Since the
Scratch programming language and online community launched in 2007, it has become a
dynamic and international community with youth (often between 8 to 16 years of age)
creating and sharing thousands of interactive projects each day. Scratch community
members not only engage in computational ideas but also develop broader skills and
experiences through their deepening participation in the community (Resnick et al., 2009).
Youth have contributed beyond the initial expectations of the Scratch Team at MIT who
developed the platform (Roque et al., 2016a). Many youth are taking the initiative to help
others, such as answering questions, giving feedback, and creating collaborative activities
(Brennan et al.,2010). In this paper, we want to highlightthe ways that youth have emerged
as leaders to help others and to create opportunities for others to learn. They are not only
“coding to learn”but also codingto express themselves, connect with others, and contribute
to the community.
We focus on the perspective of youth to understand what influenced their deepening
participation and emergent leadership.To examine development over time, we interviewed
members of the Scratch communityand asked them to identify memorable moments in their
participation and how these experiences influenced them. Through our analysis, we
identified key experiences that mattered to these youth. These key experiences involved
taking on new skills, relationships, interests and roles. Theirperspectives reveal a trajectory
of participation with key moments that supported their creative process, motivation and
contributionsin the community.
We situate these experiences using literature from youth development, which examines
how to support youth to gain broad skills, including social and emotional development.
Similar key experiences have also been found in research from youth programs and youth
development, which we useto provide a lens in understanding theirdeepening participation
with a coding environment (Strobel et al.,2008). We conclude by suggesting ways to design
coding experiences and environments to better support young people’s meaningful
participationand broader development.
This paper contributes to ongoingconversations on what matters when engaging young
people in learning to code. Our paper contributes to these conversations with the youth
perspective, from youth who have had long-term and active participation in a coding
community with otheryoung people.
Background
Increasingly, educators and researchers are recognizing the importance of young people
going beyond traditional academiclearning to develop broader skills to lead productive and
healthy lives (Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic
Development, 2019;NationalResearch Council, 2013). These life and career skills include the
ability to take initiative, to collaborate well with others and to take on leadership and
responsibility(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2016).
Within the field of youth development, researchers have examined how afterschool and
other youth programs can supportthe development of a broad range of skills, such as social-
emotional, collaboration and leadership skills. Salusky et al. (2014) studied adolescents who
were carrying out projects within community-based youth programs. They found that
youth developed leadership and responsibility skills when they took on roles with some
structure yet in which they were able to make decisions and solve problems. Successful
participation in a role motivated youth to want to take on new roles and responsibilities in
the future.
ILS
120,5/6
328
To continue reading
Request your trial