Pedagogies for Platform Participation

• In Event: Platform Pedagogies: Examining the Public Good in Learning, Schooling, and Educating Across Emerging Platforms

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Framework
In this paper I report on an educational project that sought to develop young people’s critical understandings of platform mechanisms (van Dijck et al., 2018). The pedagogical approach drew on the productive tension between trust and distrust (Benamati et al., 2010) to support young people to evaluate critically how platform mechanisms, such as datafication, personalization and commodification, shape their interactions and participation on the platform.

Social media platforms are integral to maintaining and extending social relationships for most young people today. They provide opportunities to experiment with identities; discover information; learn; engage with civic and political life; and generally, make sense of growing up (Lincoln & Robards, 2017). Drawing on platform studies (Langlois & Elmer, 2013; van Dijck, 2013; van Dijck et al., 2018) and digital literacies (Avila & Pandya, 2013; Pangrazio, 2016) for key concepts and content, the educational program sought to develop young people’s understandings of platform mechanisms, while also acknowledging the prosocial opportunities they offer.

Methods and Data Sources
Drawing on the findings of a larger one-year program involving 84 young people (aged 12-14 years) and four teachers, the paper addresses the following questions:
● What social media platforms do young people use?
● What do young people know about platform mechanisms?
● How effective was the program in developing young people’s understanding of platform mechanisms?

The evaluation design adopted a mixed method approach, involving pre- and post-program surveys, post-program focus group discussions and observations of the program in action. Interviews with participating teachers were also conducted. This yielded fine-grained insights into the experiences, perceptions and attitudinal changes of participating students and teachers through qualitative data gathering approaches, as well as broad sweep data on how participants’ knowledge and understanding had changed.

Results and significance
The pre-program survey revealed that 67 out of the 84 young people had social media accounts, with YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram by far the most popular platforms. While the students had heard of many terms associated with platforms (i.e. algorithms, data metrics, personalization), most were unsure about what these meant and what function they served.
Findings indicate that the young people significantly increased their understanding of key concepts, (i.e. echo chamber, algorithms, personalization, fake news and online coercion) as a result of participating in the program. This would help them to navigate the platform more critically in the future. Fake news and digital identities were considered to be the most valuable topics addressed in the program.
Despite increased critical awareness of platform mechanisms, the findings indicate the program was limited in initiating more critical platform practices and behaviors. This can be explained in two ways. First, platform practices and behaviors are still strongly influenced by social practices and networks. Second, the consequences of platform mechanisms often remain nascent to users through a process of what Langlois and Elmer (2018) call ‘impersonal subjectivation’. These findings suggest a more iterative and cumulative approach might have more success, however, this would take much longer than could be achieved in the timeframe of this program.

Author

• Luci Pangrazio, Deakin University