ABSTRACT
Scratch is a programming environment and an online community where young people can create, share, learn, and communicate. In collaboration with the Scratch Team at MIT, we created a longitudinal dataset of public activity in the Scratch online community during its first five years (2007-2012). The dataset comprises 32 tables with information on more than 1 million Scratch users, nearly 2 million Scratch projects, more than 10 million comments, more than 30 million visits to Scratch projects, and more. To help researchers understand this dataset, and to establish the validity of the data, we also include the source code of every version of the software that operated the website, as well as the software used to generate this dataset. We believe this is the largest and most comprehensive downloadable dataset of youth programming artifacts and communication.
ABSTRACT
Data videos, or short data-driven motion graphics, are an increasingly popular medium for storytelling. However, creating data videos is difficult as it involves pulling together a unique combination of skills. We introduce DataClips, an authoring tool aimed at lowering the barriers to crafting data videos. DataClips allows non-experts to assemble data-driven "clips" together to form longer sequences. We constructed the library of data clips by analyzing the composition of over 70 data videos produced by reputable sources such as The New York Times and The Guardian. We demonstrate that DataClips can reproduce over 90% of our data videos corpus. We also report on a qualitative study comparing the authoring process and outcome achieved by (1) non-experts using DataClips, and (2) experts using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects to create data-driven clips. Results indicated that non-experts are able to learn and use DataClips with a short training period. In the span of one hour, they were able to produce more videos than experts using a professional editing tool, and their clips were rated similarly by an independent audience.
ABSTRACT
In this paper we examine two protests characterized by substantial social media presence and distributed participation frameworks via two core questions: what roles did organizations and individuals play, and how did participants' social interactions change over the course of the protests? To answer these questions, we analyzed a large Twitter activity dataset for the #YoSoy132 student uprising in Mexico and Brazil's "bus rebellion." Results indicate that individuals initially took prominence at the protests but faded in importance as the movements dwindled and organizations took over. Regarding the dynamics and structure of the interactions, we found that key time points with unique social structures often map to exogenous events such as coordinated protests in physical locations. Our results have important consequences for the visibility of such social movements and their ability to attract continued participation by individuals and organizations.
Subject(s)
Social Media , Brazil , Humans , MexicoABSTRACT
To become full and active participants in today's technologically saturated society, young people need to become creators (and not just consumers) of interactive media. Developing the requisite abilities and capacities is not a wholly individual process; it is important for young people to have access to communities where they can collaborate and share ideas. This article uses the Scratch online community for exploring how different forms of participation and collaboration can support and shape the ways in which young people develop as creators of interactive media. We describe participation in this community in terms of a spectrum ranging from socializing to creating and present examples of three forms of collaboration within the community. We argue that the most exciting interactive media creation and valuable learning experiences are taking place in the middle space, where participants draw on the best of socializing and creating practices.
