The connected learning approach posits that when learning is connected across settings, it is more resilient and likely to lead to educational, civic, and economic opportunity. Research has demonstrated that many young people struggle to connect their interests and informal learning to their school-based learning and opportunities in their communities. This is particularly true for young people whose parents aren’t actively brokering these connections, and whose social networks don’t include others with high educational and economic attainment. Educators and learning institutions can play a critical role in brokering those connections, but we need more robust examples and frameworks for supporting this type of programmatic focus. For more background, see: Hive Research Lab white paper.

This workshop will bring together researchers, educators, and designers who are studying, creating, and testing ways of brokering and connecting learning across settings. This can include, for example, efforts to develop internship and mentoring programs, badging pathways, or educator professional networks. It can also include research on connects and disconnects across settings, and how social capital intersects with learning opportunity. This will be a working meeting with presentations and small group discussion to hash out key frameworks, design features, and findings.

We welcome submissions from a variety of disciplinary approaches and learning organizations. Applicants to the workshop will submit short papers, and selected papers will be published in online proceedings for the workshop. Papers can include case studies, worked examples, and research papers. Participants will also be invited to submit a longer paper to be considered for a special issue of the International Journal of Learning and Media (IJLM) on the workshop theme.

Download workshop flyer here.

Workshop Collaborators:

Ahmed Kharrufa | Open Lab, School of Computing Science, Newcastle University | Twitter: @ankharrufa

Amanda Ochsner | University of Southern California | Twitter: @AmandaOchsner

Amy Homma | ARTLAB+, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Angela Calabrese | Michigan State University | Twitter: @calabresebarton

Ariam Mogos | Global Kids | Twitter: @aamogos

Barry Joseph | American Museum of Natural History | Twitter: @mmmooshme

Brian Cohen | Beam Center | Twitter: @beamcenternyc

Carrie Allen | SRI International | Twitter: @CarrieDAllen2

Crystle Martin | University of California, Irvine | Twitter: @crystlem

Denise Nacu | DePaul University | Twitter: @dcnacu

Dominic Jay Crisostomo | University of Washington Tacoma

Dustin Stiver | The Sprout Fund | Twitter: @DustinStiver

Edna Tan | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

Erica Van Steenis | University of Colorado Boulder

Jarek Sierschynski | University of Washington Tacoma

Jim Sandherr | Digital Youth Network | Twitter: jwsandherr

Jonathan Worth | Open Lab, School of Computing Science, Newcastle University | Twitter: @Jonathan_Worth

Juan Rubio | The Seattle Public Library | Twitter: @virtualrubio

Kate Green | University of Nottingham | Twitter: @KateGreen28

Morgan Ames | Center for Science, Technology, Medicine & Society, U.C. Berkeley | Twitter: @morgangames

Nathan Larsen | Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School | Twitter: @nthnlrsn

Rafi Santo | Indiana University | Twitter: @Empathetics

Remi Kalir | University of Colorado Denver | Twitter: @remiholden

Ricardo Stanton-Salazar

Sarah Lohnes Watulak | Towson University

Ugochi Acholonu | Digital Youth Network | Twitter: uacholonu

Vikki Katz | Rutgers University | Twitter: @vikki_katz

Zoe Corwin | University of Southern California | Twitter: @ZCorwin

Proposals:

Connect, Learn and Power Up : Squad Goals!  | Ariam Mogos | Global Kids

Youth as knowledge brokers across learning environments: Social capital as a catalyst for cross-setting learning  | Timothy E. Podkul | SRI International, Amy Homma | Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Children as Family Brokers, and Members of Digital Learning Teams | Vikki Katz | Rutgers School of Communication and Information

Power Brokers: Building Youth Social Capital through Connected Learning | Ricardo D. Stanton-Salazar|

Beyond Library Walls: SPL as an Incubator of Youth Opportunity Brokers in Seattle | Juan Rubio | The Seattle Public Library

Creating Markets for Youth Brokering: A Specialist’s Approach | Brian Cohen | Beam Center, Grace R. Freedman | Beam Center

Using Quantitative Data to Help Adult Educators Broker Learning | Denise C. Nacu | DePaul University, Michael Schutzenhofer | DePaul University, Caitlin K. Martin | Digital Youth Network, Taha Hamid | DePaul University, Jonathan Gemmell | DePaul University, Daniela Stan Raicu | DePaul University, Nichole Pinkard | DePaul University

Lenses, Learning and Likes: Multi-modal Learning with and of the Digital | Jonathan Worth | Newcastle University, Claudia Caro Sullivan | UC Irvine, Kate Green | University of Nottingham

Brokering learning between on- and offline environments: Social and technical practices |Caitlin K. Martin | Digital Youth Network, Jim Sandherr | Digital Youth Network, Elaina Boytor | DePaul University, Denise Nacu | DePaul University, Nichole D. Pinkard | DePaul University, Sheena Erete | DePaul University

Brokering in and Sustained Interest-related Pursuits: A Longitudinal Study of Connected Learning | Katie Van Horne | University of Colorado Boulder, Carrie Allen | University of Colorado Boulder, Daniela DiGiacomo | University of Colorado Boulder, Josephina Chang-Order | University of Colorado Boulder, Erica Van Steenis | University of Colorado Boulder

Metaproblems about Techquity in a Research-Practice Partnership | Remi Kalir | University of Colorado Denver

Mobilities of Criticalities & Pathhacking into STEM: Learning from minoritized youth | Angela Calabrese Barton | Michigan State University, Edna Tan | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Brokering Learning in Unconnected Environments: Digital Empowerment Agents and Student Ambassadors | Zoe B. Corwin | University of Southern California, Amanda Ochsner | University of Southern California

Commissioning Learning Resources: A Platform for Community Driven Curriculum | Ahmed Kharrufa | Open Lab, Newcastle University, Anne Preston | Newcastle University, Daniel Howard | Open Lab, Newcastle University, David Leat | Newcastle University, Liz Todd | Newcastle University, Patrick Olivier | Newcastle University

Technology as a Cultural Broker Across Learning Environments | Jarek Sierschynski | University of Washington Tacoma, Dominic Jay Crisostomo | University of Washington Tacoma

Connections and Missed Connections in Scratch: The Role of Caring Peers and Adults and the Power of Social Capital | Crystle Martin | University of California, Irvine

Exploring the Possibilities for Connected Learning in Pre-Service Technology Education | Sarah Lohnes Watulak | Towson University

Race, Class, and Minecraft: The Microsociology of Diverse Videogame Players  | Morgan G. Ames | University of California, Berkeley, Jenna Burrell | University of California, Berkeley