Touching Mercury in Community Media: Identifying Multiple Literacy Learning Through Digital Arts Production A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services by Angela E. Arndt June 2011 M.A. Columbia College Chicago January 1997 B.S. Eastern Michigan University August 1988 Committee Chair: Lanthan D. Camblin, Ph.D. i Acknowledgements There are many people who contributed to the completion of this dissertation including advisors, family, friends, study participants, and many people who gave support generously and unknowingly. Thank you to all my teachers. Thanks again and again to Dr. Lanthan Camblin, a world-class teacher who demonstrates how to stand for social justice everyday, especially when it is unpopular. Thanks to Dr. Cathy Maltbie for being a patient friend and advisor. Thank you to Dr. Karen Davis, my mentor and friend for her amazingly positive attitude. Thanks to Drs. Roger Collins and Wayne Hall for being generous scholars and serving on my committee. Thank you to my family—all of my parents and stepparents, siblings, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, and all. There are those who love and understand me, and those who love me even if they don’t. Thank you to my mother, Ruth Arndt. She was my first teacher and is a wise, creative, interesting person who taught me to love art, literature, and the joy of learning. Thanks to my siblings Jennifer May, Viki Frances, Eric Arndt, and Jayson Moss. Thanks as well to Barbara Arndt, Robert Moss, Dolly & Chuck Padgurskis & family, Kristina Spear, Sarah Hellmann, The Maloney-Smiths, The Learning Tree of Ohio County, My Eastside Friends, and my Rising Sun community. Thank you to Stacy and Marty for everything generous, helpful, and kind. Thank you Matteo for your special contributions. A great big THANK YOU to the Nerd Herd, my comrades on this epic journey through higher education. Thank you to the Media Bridges staff, my videographer Jarrod Arencibia, and the students of the production camp for your generous participation in this study. Thanks to the friends, colleagues, librarians, and all others who helped in countless ways. You are all amazing blessings in my life. All of you have been invaluable in the achievement of this life goal. It is through your love and encouragement that I was able to continue over all the hurdles. I am grateful to have taken this journey, completed it, and to move on to another chapter of my life. i Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial Use-No Derivatives 3.0 Unported License. ii Abstract Educational paradigm shifts call for 21st century learners to possess the knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and experiences associated with multiple forms of literacy in a participatory learning culture. Contemporary educational systems are slow to adapt. Outside of school, people have to be self-motivated and have access to resources in order to gain media production experiences. Community-based media centers join arts and culture with technology and computing while addressing issues of social justice, access equity, and public policy. These agencies function as community technology centers and can be complex organizations, existing in many forms, each with unique characteristics as well as fundamental commonalities. The goal of this study was to learn if and how community technology centers foster learning in multiple forms of literacy. Three forms of literacy were identified: technological, media, and critical. To move beyond the phenomenological approach to understanding teaching and learning practices, the objective was to develop an evaluation protocol that would capture the rich ecological context of the organization with qualitative indicators of the unique aspects of each center, as well objective, measurable factors aspects common to all. This study was conducted in two phases. Phase One was the creation of the protocol including indicators of multiple literacies, a site selection matrix, and a data collection guide. Phase Two was piloting of the evaluation protocol to develop a foundational case to be used for future comparisons. In Phase One, indicators of multiple literacy learning were devised relevant for 21st century learners. These indicators were aligned specifically with organizational, programmatic, and production activities within a community media arts center. The site selection instrument was developed as a means to pre-screen sites for the likelihood of multiple literacy learning experiences. The data collection guide was aligned with the ecological context iii taking a broad view of the organization, moving in closer to learn about various programs, then focusing on one production experience. In Phase Two, a case study was created of Media Bridges, Cincinnati, Inc. through analysis of public data and internal reports, interviews with staff and youth participants, and observation of a weeklong production camp. Findings from the case study showed indications of multiple forms of literacy learning at the organizational, program, and production levels within the ecological context. The protocol captured an organization that demonstrated its mercurial nature as they pro-actively and purposefully shifted methods of operation during a time of crisis while striving to retain their commitment to the mission of providing the education, equipment, and environment for the public to express themselves through media. Implications of this research include: an understanding of ecological contexts that foster multiple literacy learning and participatory culture; an exploration of learning systems designs outside of traditional educational structures; development of an evaluation protocol to systematically research community technology centers and media arts organizations as alternative educational venues; research-based knowledge to strengthen the voice of community media organizations as they contribute to educational and media policy; and movement toward access equity in education and the public discourse. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... i Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii Chapter One – Purpose ................................................................................................................... 1 Participatory Learning Culture ........................................................................................... 3 Multiple Forms of Literacy ............................................................................................... 10 Learning Contexts and Access Equity .............................................................................. 16 Conceptual Frameworks ................................................................................................... 24 Challenges, Questions, and Objectives ............................................................................. 25 Chapter Two – Review of Literature ............................................................................................ 31 Participatory Learning ...................................................................................................... 33 Multiple Literacies ............................................................................................................ 36 Community Informatics .................................................................................................... 46 Chapter Three – Research Methods .............................................................................................. 60 Methodological Framework .............................................................................................. 60 Philosophical Foundations ................................................................................................ 61 Phase One Methods ........................................................................................................... 63 Phase Two Methods .......................................................................................................... 67 Analytical Process ............................................................................................................. 70 Chapter Four – Findings ............................................................................................................... 76 Phase One Findings – Development of the Protocol ........................................................ 76 Phase Two Findings – Piloting the Protocol ..................................................................... 77 Chapter Five – Discussion .......................................................................................................... 125 Effectiveness of the Protocol. ......................................................................................... 126 Pilot Case: Media Bridges Cincinnati, Inc. ..................................................................... 130 Implications ..................................................................................................................... 135 Future Research. ............................................................................................................. 138 References