This five-year research
project is designed to contribute to a basic understanding of how aspects
of technological fluency develop in both formal and informal settings.
In the first phase of the research, the studies will define profiles of
student fluency and examine how these profiles are associated with learning
ecologies constituted by the interweaving contexts of classrooms as well
as informal learning communities situated at home, with peers, and in
neighborhood institutions. I will investigate students’ access, interest,
and experiences with new technologies—with an emphasis on identifying
barriers to equity as well as revealing learning resources. My survey
and focus group studies will document how creative learning opportunities
are distributed across different communities and how they contribute to
interests. The second phase of the work will use what I have learned to
design courses and course units appropriate for middle school and high
school students in both formal and informal settings, and will be carried
out collaboratively with teachers, researcher-designers, and students.
A core guiding principle of these courses will be a primary focus on the
student as designer, and a learning goal will be to help students understand
design as a human process in which everyone can be involved. In the third
phase of work, I will test the conjecture that with appropriate support
for productive interactions, design activities can minimize barriers to
equity that have been identified in the literature and open up developmental
pathways for students’ future learning. By explicitly uncoupling the common
confounds between demographics and experiences, I will investigate conditions
that yield equity in technological fluencies. The teaching and learning
processes in these courses will be studied systematically, with a particular
focus on collaborative design work.
View entire proposal [203KB]
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