The programmers’ collective: fostering participatory culture by making music videos in a high school Scratch coding workshop

Abstract

We highlight ways to support interest-driven creation of digital media in Scratch, a visual-based programming language and community, within a high school programming workshop. We describe a collaborative approach, the programmers’ collective, that builds on social models found in do-it-yourself and open source communities, but with scaffolding structures that support students’ learning. We analyze the work of a class of high school student collectives engaged in programming music videos as part of a collaborative challenge in the online Scratch community. Our multi-level analysis focused on students’ learning specific programming concepts, effects of collaborative and task design on learning, and their personal reflections on collaboration and media creation. We address how these overlapping collaborative experiences point to the value of “nested collectives,” or multiple levels of designed-for collaboration. We also highlight a needed shift from a focus on computation to computational participation, highlighting the innately social aspects of media creation.

Keywords:

• learner-centred designs
• programming
• computer science education
• collaboration
• computer supported collaborative learning
• DIY

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the reviewers and editors who provided substantive feedback that helped to shape this paper. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation, Utah State University, or the University of Pennsylvania.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Deborah A. Fields is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Technologies and Learning Sciences at Utah State University where she studies how kids make connections across their everyday lives and institutions like school. Her work focuses on artefacts that students create (like e-textiles) and online communities they inhabit that create intersections between their interests, communities, and identities. Her publications include a book, Connected Play: Tween Life in a Virtual World, and articles in journals such as the International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning; Mind, Culture, and Activity; and Games and Culture.

Veena Vasudevan is a doctoral student in the Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education Program at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on youth media production and the leadership, community building and literacy practices of youth within and outside of schools. She is a member of the Scratch research team at UPenn. Veena holds a master's in public administration. Prior to her doctorate, she worked with local and state districts to create online resources to support educators.

Yasmin Kafai is Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a researcher and co-developer of online tools and communities (scratch.mit.edu, stitchtfest.org, and ecrafting.org) designed to promote equity and diversity in coding, crafting, and creativity across K-16. Her recent books include Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming (with Eric Burke), Connected Play: Tween in a Virtual World (with Deborah Fields) as well as several edited volumes. She is an elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association and a past President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences

Additional information

Funding

This research is based upon work supported by grant [#1027736] of the National Science Foundation to Yasmin Kafai. In addition, the writing of this paper was further supported by grant [#1027848] of the National Science Foundation to Deborah Fields and Taylor Martin.