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

要让年轻人投入大量的时间和精力来培养对发展计算机科学(CS)/计算思维(CT)素养的活动的持续兴趣，这些活动必须是可访问的(成本、位置和温暖的环境)、相关的，并被视为一种有价值的社会资本形式。该项目将扩大现有的研究实践伙伴关系(RPP)，重点是增加芝加哥布朗兹维尔社区中年级青年的计算制作(即整合设计、编码和制作以创造互动文物)的学习机会。通过增加上学日的组成部分，该项目将专注于策划、开发和实施将计算制作学习活动整合到中学(6-8)课堂的教学材料。以数字青年网络(DYN)以前的工作为基础，该项目方法将创建一个支持学生发展数字媒体素养的生态系统。通过创造一个学习生态系统，创造一个可接触、相关和有价值的CS/CT知识的环境，该项目将为学生创造动力，让他们在一个由同龄人、导师、教师和家庭组成的支持性社区中，寻求机会深化和展示他们不断发展的CS/CT技能。该项目将通过提供一个活生生的例子，说明如何将一群学校、非正式学习提供者和学者聚集在一起，创建和实施计算制作中学战略的入门，从而解决国家和地方的对话。这一战略将把旨在发展核心计算制作技能的学习活动与以内容为重点的项目(如数学、科学、社会研究、扫盲和艺术)和社区展示结合在一起，旨在支持和加强学生和家庭对使用计算机科学和计算思维来创造、开发和控制日常生活中有意义的互动物品的多样化方式的理解和参与。布朗兹维尔融合网络RPP团队将致力于解决两个共同问题：(1)我们如何营造一个扎根于学校的社区学习环境，承认、支持和促进计算素养是教育工作者所希望和可获得的社会资本形式，青年和家庭？(2)这些社区层面的联系如何影响青年的CS/CT学习机会、参与、社会网络、知识和理解？为了解决这些问题，RPP团队将利用现有的优质CS/CT资源(例如工具、程序、课程，尤其是那些免费和基于研究的资源)、现有的本地基础设施和政策(例如在线学习平台、专业发展模式)和可编程交互电子设备(例如传感器、Arduinos、MaKey MaKey)来创建具有文化意义的计算制造学习机会，以工作和可持续的方式将中学生与优质机会联系起来。为了实现这一目标，该项目将系统地在布朗兹维尔开展超地方工作，布朗兹维尔是芝加哥南部的一个社区，代表大约119,000名居民。该项目将与学校、教育工作者和当地社区组织的领导人合作，共同探索、策划和组织现有的国家CS/CT学习资源，将其转化为具有文化意义的混合式学习活动和模块，旨在吸引布朗兹维尔青年探索和发现CS/CT知识在制作学生日常使用的互动对象方面的重要作用。我们还将在布朗兹维尔使用网络化战略，利用一个全市范围的在线学习平台，该平台汇集面对面和在线学习资源，支持学生、家庭和教师寻找并参与旨在增加学生对学术和丰富活动的参与的正式和非正式活动，允许年轻人发展工作和参与组合，并查看和评论同龄人创造的互动文物。虽然这项工作将集中在布朗兹维尔社区内，但通过这一RPP开发的所有课程和学习资源将通过这一在线平台在更广泛的城市一级部署。

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.