UC Berkeley

My dissertation seeks to explore opportunities for disruptions—moments of learning in (digitally) networked spaces that seek to challenge, subvert, and reimagine our worlds. Drawing primarily on sociocultural theories of literacy and learning, I explore the ways that learning, mediated by digital technologies, takes place in formal and informal educational spaces. The world that students inhabit is increasingly characterized by rapidly spreading information (and mis-information) and the ease of connectivity made possible by the proliferation of technology can significantly affect the lives of others near and far, for better or worse. As such, my dissertation consists of five chapters that seek to: (1) add to conversations conceptualizing the kinds of skills and dispositions entailed in our current world and (2) to interrogate how learning occurs through the quotidian interactions in the everyday lives of children, adolescents, and young adults. The central chapters of my dissertation are three empirical pieces that draw on data collected across different educational contexts wherein digital media are regularly used by students as tools in creating and sharing knowledge.