A Clubhouse of Their Own: A Role-Playing Game Society in Scratch Programming Community

• In Event: Examining the Role of Digital Media in Teaching/Learning About Issues of Identity/Diversity

Abstract

Youth participate substantially in online creative communities but how much and who participates can vary dramatically across these spaces. In this study, we examine an emergent and collaborative activity largely maintained by young women in the Scratch Online Community. With over 200 participants, they appropriated spaces on the website to engage in role-playing games, drawing on programming, story-telling, and improvisation, to create their world. We describe the roles, rules, and practices that sustain their activity. We also examine the ways in which they construct their gender and media creator identities. In the discussion, we describes areas for future study to understand what computational and media competencies they are developing and how gender interfaces with participation in this programming community.

Authors

• Ricarose Roque, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Deborah A. Fields, Utah State University

• Joanna L. Siegel, University of Pennsylvania

• David Eric Low, The University of Pennsylvania

• Yasmin B. Kafai, University of Pennsylvania