1. How Sustained
Engagement
in Game Design and
Social Media Use
Among Diverse Students
Can Mitigate Effects of
the Digital Divide
ASIST, November 5, 2013
Rebecca Reynolds, Assistant Professor
School of Communication & Information, Dept. of Library and
Information Science, Rutgers University

2. Digital Participation in a Democracy
•
Important social, political, cultural, economic activity is occurring in online
environments and participation in digital culture is becoming necessary to
democracy (Mossberger, Tolbert, and McNeal; Jenkins, 2009, Hobbs, 2010;
Horrigan, 2011).
•
Inequalities in technology access may result in knowledge gaps, educational
opportunity barriers and disparities in groups’ socio-economic potential, all
of which run counter to fulfillment of democratic goals and ideals
(Bonfadelli, 2002).

3. Digital Divide Research
• Pew Internet and American Life Project (2007): Content
creation, participatory engagement and digital knowledge
are associated with higher socio-economic status and level
of education.
• Hargittai & Walejko (2008): Creative activity and content
sharing online correlated with SES
• Hargittai & Hinnant (2008): Women more likely to report
lower levels of self-reported digital skills; education level
correlated w digital skills; skills correlated w visits to cultural
capital-enhancing Web sites
• Hargittai (2010): Those from more privileged backgrounds
use web-based technologies in more informed ways for a
larger number of activities => social mobility

4. Research Questions
How to design an intervention to bring about
deep enough digital literacy gains in young
people, to attenuate digital inequality?
Broadly:
•
•
To what extent does middle school and high school students’ participation
and engagement in a guided discovery-based program of game design
learning mitigate the effects of some of the known socio-economic
predictors of the digital divide?
To what extent are known predictors of digital literacy in cross-sectional
research maintained, reduced, or erased as predictors after students
engage in program?

5. Intervention
Globaloria:
•
Introduces students to online tools, resources, information, communities both
inside and outside of the e-learning environment
•
Designed to cultivate students’ digital fluency, perhaps meeting Papacharissi &
Easton’s interesting definition
•
Affords opportunity, tools, and environment to explore, discover, play with
ideas, possibilities
•
Also allows students to practice what it means to influence the design of
games, rules, systems, mechanisms
•
Conscious conceptualization of field, and influence over its rules, as
powerful actors

6. INTERVENTION: Guided discovery-based game design program
and curriculum offered by the World Wide Workshop. MS, HS
teachers and students gain experience and expertise in a range of
agentive digital practices.

7. Globaloria is currently active
in 4 U.S. states: CA, TX, NY, WV, >2000 students

8. E-Learning Environment as Information System

9. Learning Supports for Students and Educators:
Flash software, Wiki Environment, Curriculum,
Tutorials
“Hands On” Training Sessions (virtual, local)
• Globaloria Academy – In-person, intensive trainings (3)
• Online Mini Webinars - Web-based workshops (7)
Globaloria Mentors Program
Experienced educators take on a leadership role by
supporting other educators
“24/7” Virtual Support
• Expert Support via wikis, blogs, email, WebEx
• Educator Community Development – private
educators community wiki, peer-to-peer mentoring, weekly
educators newsletter, sharing teaching & learning reports
Rewards and Recognition
•Teachers: Stipends and Graduate credits are earned
•Students: Nationally-Recognized Game Design
Competitions

10. Domains of Learning and Expertise
•
Game Example
•
Constructionist digital literacy (skills needed in knowledge economy =>
6-CLAs)
•
Computational thinking through game design in Flash and programming in
Actionscript
•
Core curricular subject matter:
o When game subjects are linked to core curriculum and students deepen
knowledge about topic through online research and design
•
STEM career interests: Technology & Engineering; Computer Science
•
Motivation, Affect, Attitudes, Life Choices, New Possibilities and Horizons

11. Globaloria Game Design Program Learning Objectives:
Cultivate the Six Contemporary Learning Abilities (6CLAs)
Developing games in a social e-learning system cultivates participatory
practices that simulate productive engagement in today’s digital cultures
and knowledge-based economy

12. Results so far in the Globaloria context:
Reynolds (2012), AERA:
• Especially for practices representing the more
Constructionist engagement categories, survey analysis (ttest) indicates increases in student motivation towards, and
self reported understanding of these practices as a result of
participation.
• For three other less-Constructionist but active technologyuse categories (e.g., information seeking), the results were
more varied with regard to statistically significant increases.
Ceiling effects may have played a role in this.
• Indicates a measure of success in the program at meeting
the stated learning objectives.

13. Results so far in the Globaloria context:
o Reynolds & Harel Caperton (ETR&D, 2011): Qualitative,
student self-reports of experience => Student affect and
attitudes vary towards the autonomy-supportive, semi- and
ill-structured activities in Globaloria
• Some +, some • Why the variation?

14. Intrinsic Motivation in Globaloria Students
o Reynolds (ICA, 2011): intrinsic motivation positively
correlated with game quality (measured thru content
analysis); extrinsic motivation negatively correlated
o Reynolds & Chiu (ICLS, 2012): Multi-level analysis model at
team level of analysis supports 2011 findings for intrinsic
motivation positive contribution to team outcome scores
o Results qualify Kirschner et al’s critique:
o Intrinsic motivation contributes positively to outcomes
in guided discovery-based learning
o Such programs may support those with this orientation
o Reynolds & Chiu, 2013 (submitted): Student participation
attenuates digital inequality effects (factors that predict DL in
prior research also influence students’ self-reported
technology engagement prior to Globaloria participation, but
no longer contribute after the fact).

15. What are the mechanisms?
Self determination theory: Self-determined, fulfilling
intrinsically motivated engagement coincides with
perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness
(in individual and as qualities supported by
environment) (Deci & Ryan, U-Rochester)
Latest Model findings:
Student resource uses including their use of online tutorials
(text-based), use of online tutorials (video-based), use of
self-sought online resources on the wider internet
contributed positively to team outcome scores, AND, to
CHANGES IN INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
• Inquiry plays a role. . .
• But we need to investigate *when* inquiry may also
detract.
• Multi-level analyses continue

16. Thank you!
Rebecca.reynolds@gmail.com
Rutgers University website
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/directory/rbreynol/index.html
Thanks to IMLS!
Thanks to my partners!
Globaloria.org
Worldwideworkshop.org

17. DV: Engagement
•
Engagement in information-seeking/communicative computer
activities (termed “basic” in results),
•
Engagement in collaborative/constructionist productivity-oriented
computer activities (termed “advanced” in results).
Measures:
(a) Self-reported frequency of engagement in home and school
computer use as single-item measures,
(b) Self-reported frequency of engagement in Globaloria practices
representing the CLA categories as multi-item composite measures

18. IVs:
•
Individual student variables aggregated at team level:
 Grade level (middle school vs. high school)
 Race/ethnicity
 Gender
 Age
 Mean parent education
 Self-reported grade

19. Analysis
•
Multi-level modeling
•
Explanatory variables were entered in sequential sets
to estimate the variance explained by each set
(Kennedy 2008).
• Time, family, school and student
•
We reported how a ten percent increase in each
continuous variable above its mean was linked to the
outcome variables

20. Analysis

21. Results, Home Computer Use
•
Before the game design activity, students whose
parents had one level of schooling above the mean
showed 6% greater home computer use than students
whose parents had the mean level of schooling.
•
After the game activity however, there was no
significant difference with respect to parent education

22. Results, School Computer Use
•
Students averaged 26% greater school computer use
after the game design activity than before it.
•
Further, findings indicate that school-level parent
education influences outcomes.
•
•
Imagine two schools, one whose students’ parents have
more schooling and one whose students’ parents have less
schooling. After Globaloria, school computer use increases
substantially in both schools, but more so in schools in
which students’ parents have less schooling.
These variables accounted for 18% of the variance in
students’ school computer use.

23. Results, Basic Computer Activities
•
Students whose self-reported grades were one letter
grade above the mean averaged 2% fewer computer
activities after the game design activity than before it.
•
Self-reported grades accounted for 1% of the variance
in students’ basic computer activities.

24. Results, Advanced Computer Activities
•
Students averaged 14% more advanced computer
activities after the game design activity than before it.
•
Before the game design activity, student who reported
grades one letter grade above the mean averaged 17%
more advanced computer activities than students who
reported grades at the mean.
•
After the game design activity however, the advanced
computer activities did not differ significantly among
students with different self-reported grades

25. Discussion
•
Students from schools with lower levels of parent
education (SES proxy) may stand to gain; programs like this
may aid in allowing lower income students to catch up /
achieve greater equity among more affluent peers
•
•
May also give students who underperform in traditional school
contexts a new activity in which they can flourish in the school
environment (geeking out club)
Longer-term research may indicate that Globaloria affords
students with life experiences that influence their habitus,
cultural capital, understanding and practice in fields
•
Vision of life and livelihood possibilities