Engagement and Personal Curation in Interest-Driven Learning Environments

• In Event: Design of Informal Learning Environments

Abstract

This paper develops a grounded theory of engagement and ‘personal curation’ supported by a representational system and technology to understand and map interest-driven and connected learning (Ito et al., 2009; Crowley & Barron, 2014). The empirical basis and setting of this research is a two year ethnographic study to understand how visitors cultivate interests in and learn about the diverse historical and cultural heritage of American Roots music while visiting a nationally renowned museum located in the mid-South region of the United States. Our analysis and findings reflect a growing body of research focusing on how learning can depend on or arise from making places for engaging with entities or phenomena that genuinely interest learners (Lave, 1984).

Authors

• Ben Shapiro, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• Rogers P. Hall, Vanderbilt University