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Engaging Youth Ethnographers: A Critical Analysis of the Promise and Challenges of Youth Participatory Research

Sat, April 18, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Sheraton, Floor: Ballroom Level, Sheraton V

Abstract

Purpose/Objective
Research on “connected learning” through digital media and the arts has until now relied primarily on ethnography and design-based research (e.g., Ito et al., 2013). Consistent with this session’s 3rd objective (methodology), in this paper we examine critically the advantages and challenges of adopting a participatory action research approach to studying issues related to connected learning. Specifically, we explore the questions: what were the advantages and challenges of organizing a geographically dispersed, digitally mediated participatory research study to understand connected learning? What can we learn from this method for future research about young people’s trajectories in connected learning settings? In what ways do ‘technology inequalities’ among participating sites change the design and implementation of this project?

Theoretical Framework
This paper addresses challenges related to the structural changes that keep youth from connecting to entry points of employment (Heath and Roach, 1999 & Guile, 2006). This study seeks to use the youth perspective to help identify barriers to employment and offer ways that local agencies can empower youth to use learned skills to gain employment.

Data Collection/Analysis
This paper is based on our qualitative documentation of a participatory youth research project, during a 10-week session in the summer of 2014. The University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB) research team collaborated with 4 connected learning youth program sites in Colorado, Philadelphia, New York City, and Minnesota. In addition to the data collected by the youth researchers the UCB research team took detailed notes on each planning meeting, spreadsheets related to youth ethnographer assignment feedback and email contact, digital recordings of each Google Hangout session, as well as design notes related to lesson planning.


Results
This paper highlights the continuous need to modify research projects that attempt to incorporate the perspectives of youth researchers. The design of a project with multiple geographically dispersed sites through digital media is also a challenging process without a set of prescribed methods for future research. The design and application of teaching qualitative research methods were continually modified based on new information about the youth ethnographers’ home sites’ technological capabilities and availability. The unequal technological capabilities of each youth-centered site needs special attention because the project design and communications were impacted by this phenomenon.

Scholarly Significance
This paper contributes to the emerging scholarship on the identification of effective methods for understanding emerging trends in ecologies of connected learning and how these contribute to future pathways. Also, this research finds effective ways to transfer ownership of a research project to the youth ethnographers while dealing with technological resources inequality between sites.

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