All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address FEATURE usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. < Expressing Youth Vid through and 50 Knowledge Quest | Power to the Pupil: Student Agency in the School Library All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. Voice eo Games Coding /> CCCCrrryyysssttlllleee MMMMaaarrttiiiinnn Volume 45, No. 4 | March/April 2017 51 All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. Introduction These benefits were evident in production, such as coding, young the professional wrestling-ori- people are able to express their voice. A growing body of research focuses ented community I’ve called the on the impact of video games and Wrestling Boards (a pseudonym for In the process of my recent research, coding on learning. The research the community), in which youth I’ve found numerous examples often elevates learning the technical express their identity as profes- of young people who, through skills associated with video games sional wrestling fans, inhabiting the participation in face-to-face or and coding or the importance of personas of professional wrestlers online activities, have developed and problem solving and computational as participants design a fantasy evidenced a greater sense of their thinking, which are, of course, wrestling federation (Martin 2014a, own agency. necessary and relevant. However, 2017). In this fantasy wrestling Methods the literature less often explores how federation, participants create young people use and develop voice their own wrestlers that fit genre I recently performed two large through these interests. Being able conventions and role play as these ethnographic studies. One is of to express themselves and explore wrestlers. This role playing not Scratch and its implementation in different identities is important only helps young people understand library programming. The Scratch for young people’s development. To the genre of wrestling deeply and community was chosen because it create a context for this discussion, actively participate in fandom but has low barriers for participants’ I will locate the topic in existing it also creates opportunities to entry. The second study is of the research. To expand the discussion understand social boundaries and MMOG World of Warcraft; that I will focus on Scratch, a free visual how to civilly disagree with someone. study followed the play habits of coding language, and World of The community has very strict rules male teens who were struggling and Warcraft, a massively multiplayer about acceptable treatment of other disengaged with school. online game (MMOG), and bring in people, and yet, when in character, examples from ethnographic studies feuding with others is required. So Research Context: Scratch of the Scratch and World of Warcraft the youth who participate actively communities. The feature will switch between being themselves Scratch is a free online visual conclude with an implementation and playing personas, developing coding language used for authoring section for school librarians who a voice for each situation. Online multimedia projects. Coding occurs want to apply the findings to their environments create opportuni- through “snapping” together block- practice. ties for people to create multiple based elements that interlock like representations of themselves and Legos. Scratchers (those who use Youth Identity and Expressing to explore new aspects of themselves Scratch) code by dragging blocks Youth Voice in Interest- (Turkle 1997; Reid 1998). from a palette and attaching them in Driven Activities. a jigsaw-like fashion. Youth who participate in online Participating in interest-driven communities—especially when Scratch has been designed with this communities—whether physical or creating and not just consuming— easy-to-use interface to remove virtual—offers participants more use their voice to express their barriers to entry into coding; than just community; participa- identity. According to Elisabeth people can code without knowing tion is about the creation of identity. Soep, “In participating in the kinds the syntax of any programming Those who participate in interest- of conversations I have spotlighted language. Scratch has a low floor driven communities develop a here, young people are continually and a high ceiling (Papert 1980), sense of themselves within the producing and shifting situations meaning that it has easy entry and contrasting social situations of this for their own learning, using yet has a lot of room for growth and supportive community and in the language, and specifically crowded expansion. While Scratch has been larger, oftentimes unsupportive, speech, to do so” (2006, 209). designed primarily for ages eight to world (Holland et al. 1998) and Creative media production also sixteen (MIT Media Lab n.d.-a), the use multiple identities to navigate empowers youth. Yasmin B. Kafai online community hosts partici- the complex landscape (Weber and Kylie A. Peppler described pants younger than eight through and Mitchell 2008). Participants creative media production as “an retirement age. As of August 2016, express identity through their appropriate and healthy counter- the community had nearly thirteen creative media production. point to a culture of consumption” million registered users, more than (2011, 113). Through this creative sixteen million projects shared, 52 Knowledge Quest | Power to the Pupil: Student Agency in the School Library All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. < Creative media production also empowers youth. /> and more than eighty-five million a player can use sscchhooooll//aafftter-school groups that comments posted (MIT Media Lab completely public use Scratch to teach coding, and n.d.-b). channels, such as thee workshops facilitated in conjunc- chat channels in towns and the vast tion with librarians at two public Research Context: World of Warcraft number of WoW-related resources library systems (see my feature available on the Web. Many times in the January/February issue of At its peak World of Warcraft (WoW) players feel that the most-trusted KQ). Recruitment locations were had about twelve million subscrib- sources of information are other diversified to capture the breadth of ers. The community is continually characters with whom the player has entry points for youth into Scratch. engaged in producing resources, made a personal connection in the The criteria for participation were creating fan materials, and building game or members of the player’s not prescriptive, but I actively collective knowledge. When creating own guild. Character creation, sought girls and youth of color for a character in WoW, a plethora of play style, and preferred channel interviews. The participants needed choices are available on the char- for information seeking are all to self-identify as being a Scratcher acter-creation screen. At the time reflective of the voice of the player, or being engaged with Scratch. of data collection a player had the and are tied into motivation and Because Scratch offers many option of choosing between two engagement. different avenues of participation, I factions, two genders, seven races, did not impose specific limitations, and ten classes, each of which had Participants for Scratch Study which could privilege certain types the option of three specializations. of participation over others. For the Scratch study, using ethno- Along with creating a character, graphic methodology (Hammersley Participants for WoW Study WoW players develop their own play and Atkinson 2007), I conducted style and seek information to help interviews over an eighteen-month For the World of Warcraft study the them advance in the game. Methods period with youth who live in the data originated from an afterschool for improvement include trial and United States and Western Europe. lab. The lab ran for two years with error, which involves wandering Each participant was interviewed nine participants in the pilot year around looking for vendors in once with follow-up questions and twenty-two participants in the cities, some of which are spread conducted through e-mail. (All formal program year. The partici- out and confusing for beginners. participants’ names have been pants of the lab were thirteen- to Using in-game chat within a city replaced by pseudonyms.) Twenty- eighteen-year-old males from rural or town allows a player to seek seven females and forty-three males Wisconsin. The lab met monthly in advice from other people who are participated in this study, for a total a face-to-face setting in a game lab currently playing. At any point in of seventy interviews. The partici- on a university campus, as well as the game, in-game chat can be used pants ranged in age from eight to online during regular collaborative to communicate privately with an twenty-one. gaming within WoW. Communica- individual, with a small group, or tion also took place asynchronously with a “guild” (medium to large I recruited Scratchers from three on forums created on a guild website group with which the player has different spaces: the online Scratch set up for the study. For both studies, become affiliated). Alternatively, community, existing out-of- analysis entailed qualitative coding Volume 45, No. 4 | March/April 2017 53 All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. < Youth who participate in online communities— especially when creating and not just consuming— use their voice to express their identity. /> 54 Knowledge Quest | Power to the Pupil: Student Agency in the School Library All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. (Saldaña 2016) with a priori and Observation and Interviews for felt that he had the agency to suggest emergent codes. The a priori coding World of Warcraft curriculum modifications, has run drew codes from computational the computer lab for the school, and thinking (Brennan and Resnick Data for the World of Warcraft study helped the school find and apply 2012) and connected learning (Ito came from an eight-month eth- for grants to pay for technology et al. 2013) for the Scratch study. nography of the online community, upgrades. Being involved and Coding was undertaken using the as well as data and observations helping out were part of both his online qualitative research software collected from an afterschool lab. gamer and his everyday identity. He Dedoose. For the WoW, codes were The afterschool lab served high- really enjoyed helping those around drawn from a range of educational school-age male youth, many of him who were learning the game or areas, including information whom were struggling in school. had questions about higher-level literacy, science reasoning, and The main objective of the after- content. “There is a lot of peer-to- epistemology. Both coding schemes school lab was to provide resources peer interaction in WoW and players had codes that related to identity. In for academic growth and trace indi- like to work together as they play this paper, I share examples related viduals’ learning trajectories and the game. I like to help others level to the themes of voice, identity, interests throughout the duration of up instead of playing end-game engagement, and motivation. participation in World of Warcraft. content, because it is fun to watch The youth were interviewed about them get better.” Noel expressed his Observation and Interviews for their participation in the lab as voice through the help he provided Scratch well as their participation in WoW. to others and his supportive interac- The youth who participated took tions with other players. He also Data collection for the Scratch study on leadership roles in the guild, felt that he developed leadership included ethnographic fieldnotes supported each other while playing, qualities through his game play (Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw 2011) and developed their own voices that translated to other parts of his and interviews (Hammersley and through their play style and interac- life. Helping others, both at his Atkinson 2007). I conducted tions. alternative high school and in WoW, interviews over a two-year period contributed to his motivation and with youth who participated in Discussion engagement with developing skills the library workshops. I inter- both in and out of school. viewed each participant once. WoW The interview recordings were At the time of the interview, Neil, a transcribed by a professional tran- Identity development occurs white and Native American fifteen- scriptionist. Once the interviews for players in World of Warcraft year-old and expert player, was had been transcribed, I assigned (Martin 2012, 2014b), development the opposite of Noel. He was a very each participant a pseudonym. The that can also be seen with youth who solitary player who did not like to interviews were conducted using a participate in Scratch as is detailed ask other people for help. He also protocol that I developed based on below. Players are able to develop a did not offer help to others. As computational thinking (Brennan voice based on their play style. When his main source of information he and Resnick 2012) and the asked to describe their informa- used a website designed specifi- connected learning framework (Ito tion-seeking process, youth would cally for expert players; on the site et al. 2013), which focused on equity describe their process in terms players debated nuances of the game in learning to code. Since this was a of their player identity: casual to and broke down spell rotations by semi-structured interview protocol, serious, novice to expert. They used statistics. Noel expressed his voice questions and order were dynami- their identity as a type of player to through his high quality of play and cally changed based on context situate themselves in the vast infor- the level at which his collaborators and the unique experiences of the mation world of WoW. could rely on him in cooperative respondent. (For more information play situations. “I only use players Noel, an expert in WoW, was a white about interviews with participants in my guild and a [website for high seventeen-year-old who had been and facilitators at public library- level players] to play [my character]. struggling in a traditional high sponsored workshops, see my feature I like to play by myself or in my raid school but began to flourish when in the January/February 2017 issue group; being good at playing my he changed to an alternative high of KQ.) character is important to me being school. At the time of the interview, able to play in my raid group.” His he had been playing for five years. character expressed his voice and In his alternative high school, he Volume 45, No. 4 | March/April 2017 55 All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. < These youth all like coding because it gives them a means to express themselves, and the openness and flexibility of it allows them agency, which provides motivation./> his play style, and his perfecting his I also would imagine I wouldn’t be as These youth all like coding because quality of play keeps him motivated good at coding, or art, or creativity.” it gives them a means to express and engaged with World of Warcraft. themselves, and the openness and Noel and Neil are typical of two When interviewed, Jessica, a flexibility of it allows them agency, different play styles that both allow fourteen-year-old white high school which provides motivation. The players to develop voice, which student, expressed that she definitely interviews presented here are typical supports their motivation and felt that her ability to have agency of youth I interviewed. As a group engagement, demonstrating that motivated her to participate and the interviewees stay engaged with participating in the social environ- share her voice through art. “Like, Scratch because it allows them to ment, powered by interest, offers on Scratch you have a lot of freedom. make projects that reflect them as youth a way to develop their own Like, you can do anything you want individuals. unique voices. really. You can code projects; you can make art; you can make games; you Implementation Scratch can animate. There’s a lot of things you can do on it, and I like that, that Although some of these examples of For the students in the Scratch study, you have a lot of freedom in what you students’ feelings of agency are not their motivation and engagement can do. There’s not really any other specifically from library program- with coding is tied to their ability to websites where you can really express ming, they can offer school and have agency and express their voice yourself in a lot of different ways.” public librarians important insights. through coding. Librarians should take away that During his interview, Antonio, a youth can develop engagement and Damian, a seventeen-year-old from fourteen-year-old African American motivation with interests both as the East Coast, who declined to student from Los Angeles, reported novices and experts, and use that share his race or ethnicity, created that he started coding through experience to express their voice and projects on Scratch, was an admin- Scratch and used his expertise to identity. Creating library programs istrator for the Scratch wiki, and help his teacher in class when she that are open and flexible enough for helped others come up with ideas did Scratch lessons. Like Jessica, youth to bring in an existing interest for projects. He explained how he felt that the perceived limit- to incorporate into the program is Scratch has let him express himself: lessness of Scratch is a motivating one approach librarians can use to “Scratch put me into a situation factor that enables expression and foster young people’s sense of agency. where I really liked coding. And voice. “Everything. I mean, there’s combined with the computer science like endless possibilities of what you Another approach would be to classes I’ve taken at my high school can do with Scratch. The only limit juxtapose something like coding I’ve just grown a really deep interest you have is your mind. Actually, and with an existing interest, possibly in computer science—what I can your skill, like your understanding something that might not seem do with it, how I can explore my of Scratch, I like it. I mean, because instantly obvious. For example, the interests, my ideas that way, and even if I’m helping, like teaching workshops I observed in libraries so on. So without Scratch I would and stuff, I’ll still learn new things. I as part of the study were using a imagine I wouldn’t be so interested. mean, there’s so many different ways workshop that combines Hip Hop to do one thing, so it’s kind of cool.” and coding. Many of the youth came 56 Knowledge Quest | Power to the Pupil: Student Agency in the School Library All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions. to the workshop because they were a twelve-year-old Latino boy who Scratch community] people are intrigued by what they saw as an participated in the Scratch library always helping you, and you’re always unlikely pairing. Similarly, gaming workshop, “I could see it. You could in it trying to create everything you can be used as a lure. Librarians can make your own image. It’s really can, do the best you can do, just tie gaming as an interest and skill creative, like it could really inspire having fun. Just creating anything set to other types of programming any kid that’s at our school. [In the you want like in your own image.” and allow young people to express their voices. Another lesson that can be learned is that youth with a strong interest can be highly motivated to take Works Cited: charge of their own learning. Brennan, Karen, and Mitchel Resnick. ———. 2014b. Voyage across a Constellation Interest spaces can be an oppor- 2012. “New Frameworks for Studying of Information: Information Literacy in tunity for students to use this and Assessing the Development Interest-Driven Learning Communities. agency to take a leadership role. For of Computational Thinking.” New York: Peter Lang. Proceedings of the American Educational example, once a student has shown a ———. 2017. “Kayfabe: An In-Depth Research Association (AERA) Annual Look at WWE and Its Fandom passion for video games, librarians Conference. <http://scratched.gse. Using Digital Ethnography.” In could support that student in harvard.edu/ct/files/AERA2012.pdf> The Routledge Companion to Digital (accessed November 30, 2016). starting an afterschool or lunchtime Ethnography, edited by Larrisa club, or librarians can offer Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, Hjorth. London: Routledge. and Linda L. Shaw. 2011. Writing students the chance to facilitate MIT Media Lab, Lifelong Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: Kindergarten Group. n.d.-a “For workshops with video game themes. University of Chicago Press. Parents.” <https://scratch.mit. Hammersley, Martyn, and Paul edu/parents> (accessed August 28, Creating the opportunity for Atkinson. 2007. Ethnography: 2016). students to explore video games Principles in Practice, 3rd ed. New York: ———. n.d.-b [statistics page]. <https:// Routledge. and coding in a supportive and yet scratch.mit.edu/statistics> (accessed unencumbered way can be founda- Holland, Dorothy C., et al. 1998. August 1, 2016). Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. tional for a deep connection with Papert, Seymour. 1980. Mindstorms: Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. learning to code and developing Press. New York: Basic Books. their voice. In the words of Mario, Ito, Mizuko, et al. 2013. Connected Reid, Elizabeth M. 1998. “The Self Learning: An Agenda for Research and and the Internet: Variations on Design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and the Illusion of One Self.” In Learning Research Hub. <http:// Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, dmlhub.net/wp-content/uploads/ Interpersonal, and Transpersonal files/Connected_Learning_report. Implications, edited by Jayne pdf> (accessed November 30, 2016). Gackenbach, 29–42. San Diego, Crystle Martin is Kafai, Yasmin B., and Kylie A. Peppler. CA: Academic Press. a postdoctoral research 2011. “Youth, Technology, and Saldaña, Johnny. 2016. The Coding DIY: Developing Participatory Manual for Qualitative Researchers, 3rd fellow at the Digital Media Competencies in Creative Media ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Production.” Review of Research in and Learning Hub at the Education 35 (1): 89–119. Soep, Elisabeth. 2006. “Beyond University of California, Literacy and Voice in Youth Media Martin, Crystle. 2011. “An Production.” McGill Journal of Irvine. Her research focuses on equity for Information Literacy Perspective on Education 41 (3): 197–213. Learning and New Media.” On the youth learning through information practices Horizon 19 (4): 268–75. Turkle, Sherry. 1997. “Multiple Subjectivity and Virtual Community and computational thinking in interest- ———. 2012. “Video Games, Identity, at the End of the Freudian and the Constellation of Century.” Sociological Inquiry 67 (1): driven environments, with particular focus on Information.” Bulletin of Science, 72–84. Technology, and Society 32 (5): 384–92. supporting underserved youth as they connect Weber, Sandra, and Claudia Mitchell. ———. 2014a. Learning the Ropes: Connected informal learning to academic and future Learning in a WWE Fan Community. 2008. “Imaging, Keyboarding, and Posting Identities: Young People Irvine, CA: Digital Media and opportunities. Her current research explores the and New Media Technologies.” Learning Research Hub. <http:// In Youth, Identity, and Digital Media, paths of youth—especially those from non- clrn.dmlhub.net/wp-content/ edited by David Buckingham, 25- uploads/2014/05/learning-the- dominant communities—into, through, and out of ropes-final-2.pdf> (accessed 47. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. November 30, 2016). Scratch, a free online visual coding language. She is also secretary of the YALSA Board of Directors. Volume 45, No. 4 | March/April 2017 57