Classroom Activities and New Classroom Apps for Enhancing Children's Understanding of Social Media Mechanisms

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Vartiainen, Henriikka, Pope, Nicolas, Kahila, Juho, López-Pernas, Sonsoles, Tedre, Matti
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Vartiainen, Henriikka
Pope, Nicolas
Kahila, Juho
López-Pernas, Sonsoles
Tedre, Matti
author_facet Vartiainen, Henriikka
Pope, Nicolas
Kahila, Juho
López-Pernas, Sonsoles
Tedre, Matti
contents Young people are increasingly exposed to adverse effects of data-driven profiling, recommending, and manipulation on social media platforms, most of them without adequate understanding of the mechanisms that drive these platforms. In the context of computing education, educating learners about mechanisms and data practices of social media may improve young learners' data agency, digital literacy, and understanding how their digital services work. A four-hour technology -- supported intervention was designed and implemented in 12 schools involving 209 5th and 8th grade learners. Two new classroom apps were developed to support the classroom activities. Using Likert-scale questions borrowed from a data agency questionnaire and open-ended questions that mapped learners' data-driven reasoning on social media phenomena, this article shows significant improvement between pre- and post-tests in learners' data agency and data-driven explanations of social media mechanisms. Results present an example of improving young learners' understanding of social media mechanisms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_16494
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Classroom Activities and New Classroom Apps for Enhancing Children's Understanding of Social Media Mechanisms
Vartiainen, Henriikka
Pope, Nicolas
Kahila, Juho
López-Pernas, Sonsoles
Tedre, Matti
Computers and Society
K.3.2
Young people are increasingly exposed to adverse effects of data-driven profiling, recommending, and manipulation on social media platforms, most of them without adequate understanding of the mechanisms that drive these platforms. In the context of computing education, educating learners about mechanisms and data practices of social media may improve young learners' data agency, digital literacy, and understanding how their digital services work. A four-hour technology -- supported intervention was designed and implemented in 12 schools involving 209 5th and 8th grade learners. Two new classroom apps were developed to support the classroom activities. Using Likert-scale questions borrowed from a data agency questionnaire and open-ended questions that mapped learners' data-driven reasoning on social media phenomena, this article shows significant improvement between pre- and post-tests in learners' data agency and data-driven explanations of social media mechanisms. Results present an example of improving young learners' understanding of social media mechanisms.
title Classroom Activities and New Classroom Apps for Enhancing Children's Understanding of Social Media Mechanisms
topic Computers and Society
K.3.2
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.16494