Our Neighborhood, Our Story: Youth Creation of Virtual Field Trips Within Out-of-School Learning

• In Event: The Out-of-School-Time Sector: Alternative and Expanded Conceptualizations to Design, Analysis, and Evaluation

Abstract

One of the many goals of informal learning today is to provide youth with opportunities to develop personal connections and skills that complement their experience in school, work, and beyond. We describe a case study of a fourth-month pilot program around collaborative creation and sharing of virtual field trips for high-schoolers, co-designed by out-of-school learning practitioners and a university learning scientist. Goals of the program included: to empower youth voice, to foster connection to community, and to provide an opportunity to engage with innovative technology. Analyses of youths’ final products and post-program interviews indicate that the cohort enjoyed actively engaging with the technology in unique and diverse ways to showcase their neighborhoods, their community, and their personal interests.

Authors

• Rachel Wolf, Stanford University

• Kristen Vogt Veggeberg, Boy Scouts of America

• Jesus Magallon, DePaul University