Toolkit to democratize the computational exploration of data

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-95).This thesis explores the space of programming with data, focusing on the data-ecosystem opened up by the Internet and Cloud technologies. The central argument of this thesis is that the act of democratizing programmatic access to online data can further unleash the generative powers of this emerging ecosystem, and enable explorations of a new set of concepts and powerful ideas. To establish the validity of this argument, this thesis introduces a learning framework for the computational exploration of online data, a system that enables children to program with online data, and then finally describes a study of children using the system to explore wide variety of creative possibilities, as well as important computational concepts and powerful ideas around data.by Sayamindu Dasgupta.S.M

Designing for Critical Algorithmic Literacies

As pervasive data collection and powerful algorithms increasingly shape children's experience of the world and each other, their ability to interrogate computational algorithms has become crucially important. A growing body of work has attempted to articulate a set of "literacies" to describe the intellectual tools that children can use to understand, interrogate, and critique the algorithmic systems that shape their lives. Unfortunately, because many algorithms are invisible, only a small number of children develop the literacies required to critique these systems. How might designers support the development of critical algorithmic literacies? Based on our experience designing two data programming systems, we present four design principles that we argue can help children develop literacies that allow them to understand not only how algorithms work, but also to critique and question them

Wikipedia Edit-a-thons as Sites of Public Pedagogy

Wikipedia edit-a-thon events provide a targeted approach toward incorporating new knowledge into the online encyclopedia while also offering pathways toward new editor participation. Through the analysis of interviews with 13 edit-a-thon facilitators, however, we find motivations for running edit-a-thons extend far beyond adding content and editors. In this paper, we uncover how a range of personal and institutional values inspire these event facilitators toward fulfilling broader goals including fostering information literacy and establishing community relationships outside of Wikipedia. Along with reporting motivations, values, and goals, we also describe strategies facilitators adopt in their practice. Next, we discuss challenges faced by facilitators as they organize edit-a-thons. We situate our findings within two complementary theoretical lenses-information ecologies and public pedagogy to guide our interpretation. Finally, we suggest new ways in which edit-a-thons, as well as similar peer production events and communities, can be understood, studied, and evaluated

Extending Scratch: New pathways into programming

We present the Scratch extension system, a toolkit that enables anyone to extend the vocabulary of the visual Scratch programming language through custom programming blocks written in JavaScript. The extension system is designed to (i) enable innovating on the Scratch programming language itself, in addition to innovating with it through projects, and (ii) enable the creation of new interest-driven pathways into Scratch programming. In this paper, we describe some of the prior work done in this space, our design and implementation, open questions and challenges, and some preliminary outcomes.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1002713)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1027848)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number 1417952

Gender, Feedback, and Learners' Decisions to Share Their Creative Computing Projects

Although informal online learning communities are made possible by users' decisions to share their creations, participation by females and other marginalized groups remains stubbornly low in technical communities. Using descriptive statistics and a unique dataset of shared and unshared projects from over 1.1 million users of Scratch-a collaborative programming community for young people-we show that while girls share less initially, this trend flips among experienced users. Using Bayesian regression analyses, we show that this relationship can largely be attributed to differences in the way boys and girls participate. We also find that while prior positive feedback is correlated with increased sharing among inexperienced users, this effect also reverses with experience or with the addition of controls. Our findings provide a description of the dynamics behind online learners' decisions to share, open new research questions, and point to several lessons for system designers

Explorations in creating, thinking, and learning with data

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-166).Data is a powerful lens for learning about the world. Driven by advances in computational technologies and methods that make it easier to collect, store, and analyze vast amounts of data about our world, data science has emerged as a new discipline with immense possibilities for discovery and learning. However, these possibilities are primarily accessible for adult experts - in this thesis, I examine pathways to support children as data scientists. In the first part of this thesis, I study children's use of variables and lists in the Scratch programming environment. I quantitatively study the ways in which children use variables and lists in Scratch (e.g., to keep score in games), as well as factors that foster this engagement. I find support for the theory that children learn to use data-structures through remixing their peers' works, as well through looking at source code of projects created by their peers. I also find evidence to suggest that providing more powerful uses of data-structures (such as data-persistence) leads to children using more data structures overall. In the second part of the thesis, I introduce a new system, Scratch Community Blocks, that enables children to create projects that access and analyze data from the Scratch online community (e.g., creating visualizations that show which programming blocks they used in their projects or analyzing trends in the popularity of their projects within the community). Through artifact-based case studies, interviews, and survey responses collected from a group of children using the system, I show how children use data and programming to answer their own questions about learning and social behaviour within the Scratch community. I find that children use Scratch Community Blocks not only to create with data through stories and games, but also to think with data by engaging in self-reflection about their own learning and social participation, and through critical conversations about the role of data within the culture of the Scratch community.by Sayamindu Dasgupta.Ph. D

Children’s Civic Engagement in the Scratch Online Community

In public discourse, and in the governance of online communities, young people are often denied agency. Children are frequently considered objects to protect, safeguard, and manage. Yet as children go online from very early ages, they develop emergent forms of civic and political engagement. Children appropriate the affordances of digital platforms in order to discuss, connect, and act with their peers and in their communities. In this paper, we analyze civic engagement in Scratch Online, a creative community where children from around the world learn programming by designing and sharing interactive media projects. We explore the ways that young Scratch community members connect with issues of global importance, as well as with local topics and questions of community governance. We develop a typology of the strategies they use to express themselves, engage with their peers, and call for action. We then analyze the reaction of the community, including other Scratch members and adult moderators, and draw key lessons from these examples in order to describe guidelines for educators and designers who would like to support children’s rights to civic engagement in online learning environments

Children’s Civic Engagement in the Scratch Online Community

In public discourse, and in the governance of online communities, young people are often denied agency. Children are frequently considered objects to protect, safeguard, and manage. Yet as children go online from very early ages, they develop emergent forms of civic and political engagement. Children appropriate the affordances of digital platforms in order to discuss, connect, and act with their peers and in their communities. In this paper, we analyze civic engagement in Scratch Online, a creative community where children from around the world learn programming by designing and sharing interactive media projects. We explore the ways that young Scratch community members connect with issues of global importance, as well as with local topics and questions of community governance. We develop a typology of the strategies they use to express themselves, engage with their peers, and call for action. We then analyze the reaction of the community, including other Scratch members and adult moderators, and draw key lessons from these examples in order to describe guidelines for educators and designers who would like to support children’s rights to civic engagement in online learning environments