Using hyperlocal and networked strategies to support computer science education for middle grade students in Chicago

For youth to put in the amount of time and energy to develop sustained interest in activities that develop computer science (CS)/computational thinking (CT) literacies, those activities need to be accessible (cost, location, and warm environment), relevant, and viewed as a valuable form of social capital. The project will expand an existing research practice partnership (RPP) focused on increasing computational making (i.e. the integration of design, coding, and making to create interactive artifacts) learning opportunities for middle grade youth living in the Chicago Bronzeville community. By adding a school-day component, the project will focus on curating, developing, and implementing instructional materials that integrate computational making learning activities into middle grade (6-8) classrooms. Grounded in the prior work of the Digital Youth Network (DYN), the project approach will create an ecosystem to support student development of digital media literacies. By creating a learning ecosystem that creates a context where CS/CT literacies are accessible, relevant, and valued, the project will create the motivation for students to seek opportunities to deepen and showcase their developing CS/CT skills within a supportive community of peers, mentors, teachers, and families. The project will address national and local conversations by providing a living example of how to bring together a cohort of schools, informal learning providers, and academics to create and implement an intro to computational making middle school strategy. This strategy will blend together learning activities designed to develop core computational making skills, with content-focused projects (e.g. math, science, social studies, literacy and art), and community showcases designed to support and grow student and family understanding and engagement in the diversity of ways to use computer science and computational thinking to create, develop, and control interactive artifacts that have meaning in everyday life. The Bronzeville Fusion Network RPP team will work to address two shared questions: (1) How can we foster a community learning environment, anchored within schools, that recognizes, supports, and promotes computational literacies as a desirable and accessible form of social capital by educators, youth, and families? (2) How do these community level connections impact youth CS/CT learning opportunities, participation, social networks, knowledge, and understanding? To address these questions the RPP team will leverage existing quality CS/CT resources (e.g. tools, programs, curriculum, especially those that are free and research-based), existing local infrastructure and policies (e.g. online learning platforms, professional development models), and programmable interactive electronics (e.g. sensors, arduinos, makey makey) to create culturally meaningful computational making learning opportunities that connect middle school learners to quality opportunities in ways that work and that are sustainable. To accomplish this goal, the project will systematically engage in hyperlocal work in Bronzeville, a Chicago community on the southside of Chicago, representing approximately 119,000 residents. The project will work with schools, educators and leaders from local community organizations to collaboratively explore, curate, and organize existing national CS/CT learning resources into culturally meaningful blended learning activities and modules intentionally designed to engage Bronzeville youth in exploring and discovering the essential role of CS/CT literacies in making the interactive objects students use daily. We will also use a networked strategy in Bronzeville, capitalizing on a citywide online learning platform that brings together face-to-face and online learning resources to support students, families, and teachers in finding and participating in formal and informal activities designed to increase student engagement in academics and enrichment activities, allowing youth to develop portfolios of work and participation and to see and comment on the interactive artifacts created by peers. While this work will focus within the Bronzeville community, all of the curricular and learning resources developed through this RPP will be deployed at a broader city level through this online platform.