Shaping Learning Online for Making and Sharing Children's DIY Media

Abstract

As children’s do-it-yourself (DIY) media creation increasingly takes place online, it is important to investigate the social networking forums where children create and share their own work. As part of a larger Kids DIY Media Partnership, a cross-sector investigation into the kinds of regulatory, infrastructural, and technical support systems that best foster children’s participation in the evolving digital media culture, we conducted a multi-case study that analyzed several children’s DIY media creation and sharing websites. Our analysis focused on how these adult-designed spaces promoted, supported, and at times limited children’s opportunities to engage in making, sharing, and, critically, understanding their rights and responsibilities in what they publish online.