Although participatory culture promotes productive engagement in online spaces, members may respond in ways that constrain digital composition practices. This article provides theoretical and contextual background regarding a shift toward digital media production and programming-as-writing for youth. In addition, I describe the intersecting of…

As society becomes increasingly globalized and networked, online participatory cultures provide youth with experiences to foster dispositions and skills required to engage in virtual spaces. This 5-year longitudinal case study explores the role of affect in the composition practices of an adolescent girl in Scratch, an online programming…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which early adolescent programmers embed meaning in their digital media created within an online programming community called Scratch. Design/methodology/approach: The author completed an 18-month descriptive case study with 5 early adolescent participants. The research design included a…

Full participation in the twenty-first century requires the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to adapt to changing technologies influencing all aspects of life. Online programming communities provide a space for youth to create, collaborate, and share as they engage in computational participation. A recent development in the digital…

Digital technology offers new possibilities for children to play, express themselves, learn, and communicate. A recent development in online practice is a shift toward youth engaged in computer programming online communities. Programming is argued to be the new literacy of the millennium. In this article, I examine the use of Scratch, an online…