ACCESSING THE LONG TAIL FOR
LEARNING: CALL FOR AN
ECOLOGICAL & DEVELOPMENTAL
PERSPECTIVE
Brigid Barron
School of Education at Stanford, CA 94305
CSCL • Rhodes, Greece
June 9th, 2009
QUESTIONS
1.
How are long tail niches for learning
resources accessed?
2.
What equity issues do we need to
consider?
3.
What are the implications for CSCL
research & design?
BROADER RESEARCH CONTEXT
•
“Leadership in innovation is essential to U. S. prosperity and security. In a global, knowledge-driven
economy, technological innovation, the transformation of new knowledge into products, processes,
and services, is critical to competitiveness, long-term productivity growth, and the generation of
wealth. U. S. leadership in technological innovation seems certain to be seriously eroded unless
current trends are reversed.”
–
NSF-commissioned NAE report (2004): "Assessing the capacity of the U.S. engineering research enterprise" (http://tinyurl.com/35u3ep)
WHAT’S NEEDED - 21ST CENTURY
EXPERTISE
…Strong skills in English, mathematics,
technology and science, as well as literature,
history, and the arts will be essential for
many; beyond this, candidates will have to be
comfortable with ideas and abstractions, good
at both analysis and synthesis, creative and
innovative, self-disciplined and well
organized, able to learn very quickly and
work well as a member of a team and have
the flexibility to adapt quickly to frequent
changes in the labor market as the shifts in
the economy become ever faster and more
dramatic.”
TECHNOLOGICAL FLUENCY
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 1999

“While no term is perfect, the term fluency captures best for the committee
connotations of the ability to reformulate knowledge, express oneself creatively and
appropriately, and to produce and generate information (rather than simply
comprehend it). It entails a process of lifelong learning in which individuals continually
apply what they know to adapt to change and acquire more knowledge to be more
effective at applying technology to their work and personal lives.”
BROADER DRIVING QUESTIONS
  What
practices support the development of
sustained engagement in computing based
production activities?
  How
do interests ebb and flow, evolve, and
diversify?
  What
goals for creation do we see and how are
these intentions supported, recruited, taken up
(or not)?
WORKING FRAMEWORK
Learning Ecology Framework
Teachers, mentors, peers
Accessed set of contexts,
comprised of configurations
of activities, material
resources, and relationships
that are found in co-located
physical or virtual spaces that
provide opportunities for learning.
Online experts, guides
(Source: B. Barron, 2004; 2006)
•Unit of analysis is person and
multiple life spaces
• A learning ecology is dynamic
•Subject to interventions
• Activities, ideas are more or less boundary
crossing
•Influences: Lewin, Bronfenbrenner, Cole,
Engeström, Lave, Greeno, Rogoff, Saxe,
Vygotsky)
Parents of friends, peers
Parents, siblings,
relatives
Coordinators, club members
BROADENING OUR EMPIRICAL SCOPE FOR
INVESTIGATING LEARNING
1)
From shorter to longer scales of time
2)
From single to multiple settings
3)
From a knowledge-centered focus to a
knowledge + interest + meaning + affect +
practices + learning relationships focus
STRATEGIES FOR RESEARCH




Longitudinal designs,
retrospective &
prospective, design
experiments and found
settings
Sampling of more and less
intentionally designed
ecologies that support
production
Sampling of communities
that vary in technical
immersion and knowledge
network
Fieldwork, case studies,
quantitative comparisons
CASE IDENTIFICATION & INTERVIEWS
Experience Survey
High level of prior experience?
Learning Ecology Interview
Sustain project on their own time?
Case selection
Parent Interview
Artifact Based Interview
SELF REPORT PRIOR EXPERIENCE
How often have you done the following 16 computer related activities?
never
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
once or twice
3 to 6 times
Multimedia
Produced a publication
Created a website with program
Created website with HTML
Published a website
Made an animation
Made a digital movie
Used CAD to make a model
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
more than 6 times
Built a robot
Made a database
Created a game
Created music
Did a simulation
Created a piece of art
Started discussion group
Written programming code
AJ
Caleb
Robotics, Grow with me kit, consultant; Science Fair design project ••• online course,job with company, robotics club ••• 8 years
Layla
Marybeth Stephanie
Elizabet Alex
h
Craig
Web hosting business, Chat-bot business: ••• online programming courses, books, robotics club ••• 7 years of activity
Robotics, web design work, DVD business ••• Summer camp, school courses, online course, church ••• 5 years of activity
Playing Halo; spaceship animations using Flash, digital art ••• 2 courses ••• 6 years of activity Photoshop art, games, movies, scripts•••webdesign class••• 5 years of activity
Programming, music videos, short movies, blogs ••• Web design, programming, video classes 1.5 years of activity
Robotics, digital art, blogs, video editing ••• Web design class, programming class, girl-tech club ••• 2 years of activity
Blog, learning C++, graphics design tool POV-Ray ••• programming class, online learning community••• 1 year of activity
CASE 1: LAYLA
learners
National Competitive Math Community
2
learning partners
4
guides
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
Community
Mother
Ms. W, web &
programming
Uncle
school
takes industrial tech
school demands regular
use of computer
makes math team
at school
school
takes web design 1a
takes programming 1a
1st computer experience
w/ music software
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
plays Yahoo games
(actual age unknown)
9
starts AOPS.
com blog
joins ArtOf
ProblemSolving.
com math forum
learns touch typing
takes AOPS.
com courses
takes online
C++ tutorial
10
11
home
home
Layla
community
community
Mr. B, IT teacher
learns POD Ray
12
13
Google and
other web sites
resources used
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
• At the time of the interview, Layla was a 13 year old middle
school student attending the seventh grade in a public school in California
• She lives with her father an engineer, her mother in the legal field, and
her younger brother.
• She shares the family computer located in the home office.
14
o In
grade 6 Layla
joined the math team,
as a result of
dropping by her
school’s math club.
It’s made me more interested in math than before I
went on the site, just everybody talking about and
panicking about whether they qualified for the next
contest, that made me want to, that made
me feel excited with them and stuff.
• Her
mother helped
her find an online
community the “Art of
problem solving.com)
National Competitive Math Community
• Within
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
Community
Mother
Ms. W, web &
programming
Uncle
Mr. B, IT teacher
community
takes industrial tech
makes math team
at school
school
school demands regular
use of computer
takes web design 1a
takes programming 1a
7
8
plays Yahoo games
learns touch typing
(actual age unknown)
9
takes AOPS.
com courses
takes online
C++ tutorial
10
11
home
1st computer experience
w/ music software
starts AOPS.
com blog
joins ArtOf
ProblemSolving.
com math forum
learns POD Ray
12
Google and
other web sites
13
14
this online
site she got to know
other members,
started a blog,
deepened her
commitment to
mathematics and
developed an interest
in programming.
• She
found a free
tutorial on the
Internet about C++
for an introduction
• At
school she
enrolled in
programming ,
industrial technology,
and web design.
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
• Within
her online
community she starts
a blog, takes courses,
and is introduced to
POD Ray, a 3 D
graphics program.
LAYLA’S PARTING THOUGHT ON LEARNING
ONLINE
learners
National Competitive Math Community
2
learning partners
4
guides
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
Community
Mother
Ms. W, web &
programming
Uncle
school
takes industrial tech
school demands regular
use of computer
makes math team
at school
school
takes web design 1a
takes programming 1a
1st computer experience
w/ music software
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
plays Yahoo games
(actual age unknown)
9
starts AOPS.
com blog
joins ArtOf
ProblemSolving.
com math forum
learns touch typing
takes AOPS.
com courses
takes online
C++ tutorial
10
11
home
home
Layla
community
community
Mr. B, IT teacher
learns POD Ray
12
13
Google and
other web sites
resources used
ArtOfProblemSolving.com
Um, well it’s like not organized like school or anything is, and it
depends on how lucky you are. Yeah, how much you learn depends on how
lucky you are to be around when somebody’s talking about something you
want to learn about. It’s not like a specific class on X topic. It’s like a
lot of different topics, so you learn a wide range of stuff I guess.
14
INSIGHTS ILLUSTRATED BY LAYLA’S
LEARNING STORY
1)
Latent interest sparked by the casual exploration of a
math club, formal testing led to her join the team.
2)
An online community (identified with the help of her
mother) deepened her exploration, commitment and
identity as a mathematical competitor.
3)
Informal interaction with the online community led to
a new interest in computer programming,
identification of a tutorial online, and eventually the
pursuit of courses in school.
4)
While she recognizes value in this online community
she also notes the “luck” involved in learning through
lurking.
CASE EXAMPLE 2: CALEB
learners
Teachers
8
learning partners
2
guides
Mr. B, IT teacher
2 peers
Dad
Founder of Claritex
is mom’s old boss
Robotics team members
Adult NASA friends
Ms. Y, robotics coach
community
Dad’s friend from MIT
CTO of Claritex
Systems, working on
tracking devices
Contributed to SourceForge, online open
source forum
!
C++ summer camp at
local university
Attends robotics trade
show, makes friends w/
company owners
Visits friends at NASA,
“helps” them with things
Robot is displayed
at Tech Museum
(exact age unknown)
school
home
Uses speech recog.
software to play games
2
3
Plays w/ Knex building
kits, Brio train sets
Uses library of educ.
software from Dad’s job
(exact age unknown)
(exact age unknown)
4
5
Started robotics club,
acted as coach
Tinkers with some of
Dad’s old PDAs
Plays with Lego
MindStorms and
hacks firmware
Builds models from
kits, incl. robots w/
simple behaviors
6
7
8
9
home
Dad builds Caleb a
computer
Helps out when teachers
have technical problems
school
Won 6th grade science
fair by improving design
of commercial tech kits
Takes industrial tech.,
builds three-seater electric
car, “does about 20” mph
community
Caleb
Head of Charmed Systems
Begins designing
GrowWithMe robot, tool
for learning tech. skills
10
11
12
13
14
• Caleb was an 8th grader attending the same school as Layla.
• He was an only child, father a programmer – mother also in the tech business
• Multiple computers at home: “Do you want me to count?”
• He was considered an expert at school, at home, and was employed
in a computing company
Teachers
Mr. B, IT teacher
2 peers
Head of Charmed Systems
Founder of Claritex
is mom’s old boss
•At age 6 Caleb began building
analog models with his father.
Next they bought simple kits
online like HyperPeppy and
more complex kits from Robotix
all designed to create artifacts
with movable parts, motors, and
sensors that responded to sound
and contact.
Robotics team members
Adult NASA friends
Ms. Y, robotics coach
Dad’s friend from MIT
Attends robotics trade
show, makes friends w/
company owners
Visits friends at NASA,
“helps” them with things
Robot is displayed
at Tech Museum
(exact age unknown)
4
Uses library of educ.
software from Dad’s job
(exact age unknown)
5
Started robotics club,
acted as coach
Tinkers with some of
Dad’s old PDAs
Plays with Lego
MindStorms and
hacks firmware
Builds models from
kits, incl. robots w/
simple behaviors
6
7
8
9
home
s w/ Knex building
s, Brio train sets
xact age unknown)
Helps out when teachers
have technical problems
school
Won 6th grade science
fair by improving design
of commercial tech kits
Takes industrial tech.,
builds three-seater electric
car, “does about 20” mph
community
CTO of Claritex
Systems, working on
tracking devices
Contributed to SourceForge, online open
source forum
!
C++ summer camp at
local university
Begins designing
GrowWithMe robot, tool
for learning tech. skills
10
11
12
13
14
• At age 9 they played with
LEGO MindStorms– he used
Internet resources to learn how
to reprogram it.
• When Caleb developed more
interest in making his own
creations, his father taught him
C and Basic programming
languages and he took a course
at a camp.
• At 11 he started a grow with
me robotics kit to teach
computing to his peers.
http://www.roboticsandthings.com]
and K’NEX [http://www.knex.com],
• He worked for the company of
a neighbor ON technical teams.
•At 12 He helped mentor his
school’s robotics team.
• Participates in SourceForge ,
N online community which
claims to be the world’s largest
development and download
repository of open source code.
CALEB’S THOUGHTS ON LEARNING
learners
Teachers
8
learning partners
2
guides
Mr. B, IT teacher
2 peers
Dad
Founder of Claritex
is mom’s old boss
Robotics team members
Adult NASA friends
Ms. Y, robotics coach
community
Dad’s friend from MIT
CTO of Claritex
Systems, working on
tracking devices
Contributed to SourceForge, online open
source forum
!
C++ summer camp at
local university
Attends robotics trade
show, makes friends w/
company owners
Visits friends at NASA,
“helps” them with things
Robot is displayed
at Tech Museum
(exact age unknown)
school
home
Uses speech recog.
software to play games
2
3
Plays w/ Knex building
kits, Brio train sets
Uses library of educ.
software from Dad’s job
(exact age unknown)
(exact age unknown)
4
5
Started robotics club,
acted as coach
Tinkers with some of
Dad’s old PDAs
Plays with Lego
MindStorms and
hacks firmware
Builds models from
kits, incl. robots w/
simple behaviors
6
7
8
9
home
Dad builds Caleb a
computer
Helps out when teachers
have technical problems
school
Won 6th grade science
fair by improving design
of commercial tech kits
Takes industrial tech.,
builds three-seater electric
car, “does about 20” mph
community
Caleb
Head of Charmed Systems
Begins designing
GrowWithMe robot, tool
for learning tech. skills
10
11
12
13
I get information from wherever I can. If it’s not from a book, then I go to
the Internet. If it’s not on the Internet, I ask someone. If I can’t find someone
to ask, then I…systematically go down the list until I’ve found what I need.
Where it comes from is insignificant. For me.
14
INSIGHTS ILLUSTRATED BY CALEB’S
LEARNING STORY
1)
Interests in building analog and computational objects
nurtured early and often by his father.
2)
Although his father was a major learning partner his
broader social learning network included teachers as
school, and neighbors who were experts in computing.
He read extensively online, magazine, and sometimes
text books.
3)
Because of this unique environment at home he quickly
surpassed school/camp offerings of formal courses and
felt he learned most from classes where he could
explore his own directions.
4)
In addition to becoming more expert through informal
activities he was being positioned, socialized, and
recognized as a contributor to innovation and had
relatively sophisticated perspectives on computing field.
SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS




Both Layla and Caleb benefited from the long-tail of
learning resources.
However, their access to these resources were the
result of the support of a network of learning partners
looking out for the interests and well being of these
learners, over time and setting.
Their unique learning outcomes need to be
understood as the result of the assembling and
coordination of resources, learning relationships.
Though these two learners seemed to develop an
awareness of how to find resources when needed, the
development of such resourcefulness can’t be
assumed.
COMMON PATTERNS ARISING FROM OUR
BROADER SET OF CASES --> CONJECTURES
1.
Interest led learners to choose, create, and seek out learning
opportunities.
2.
Interest driven activities were likely to be boundary crossing,
that is move across settings of home, school, work,
community, and online.
3.
As learning opportunities expanded they increasingly became
connected to a sense of present and possible future selves.
4.
Learning opportunities dynamically developed, for example
expertise was often taken up by others which resulted in new
learning opportunities.
NEXT STEPS FOR LONGTAIL LEARNING
RESEARCH
  Equity


issues, how does one become resourceful?
Learning brokers, what can we learn about who
they are, what they do, and how we can nurture
more of them in informal and formal
organizations.
The CSCL community can contribute to the
design of research based resources and
mechanisms
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS




www.iremix.org
youthlab.stanford.edu
This work has been made possible by:
a grant from the National Science Foundation (to
support the LIFE Science of Learning Center.
a grant from the John D. and Catherine T.
Macarthur Foundation to Brigid Barron (PI) and
Kimberley Gomez (Co-PI).
I also would like to acknowledge all members of the
research team within Stanford’s youthLAB group:
Caitlin Martin, Lori Takeuchi, Rachel Fithian, and
Colin Schatz. We also thank the teachers, students, and
parents who contributed their time.
THANK YOU
PAPERS ON REQUEST


Barron (2006). Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of
development. Human Development, 37.
Barron, Martin, Takeuchi, & Fithian (to appear). Parents as Learning
Partners in the development of technological fluency development.
International Journal of Learning and New Media.

Youthlab@stanford.edu