Challenging ideals of connected learning: the networked configurations for learning of migrant youth in the Netherlands

Abstract

New infrastructures that dramatically change our possibilities for knowledge production and learning have also brought forward ideals on 'new' connectivity. Two important ideals of connectivity are that of the individual who tailors his or her knowledge among expansively dispersed resources, and the ideal of access to multiple, diverse resources that provide individuals rich learning opportunities. In order to better understand what cultural norms are implied in our ideals of connectivity, we argue, they must be tested in the crucible of empirical data through the analysis of the actual socio-technical practices of different social and cultural groups. Through a combination of ego-network analysis and a qualitative, in-depth discursive approach, we analyze the networked learning practices of three ethnically different groups in the Netherlands from an extensive research study called 'Wired Up'. We comparatively describe Dutch youth as 'unrooted' learners, Moroccan-Dutch youth as 'routed' learners, and Turkish-Dutch youth as 'rooted' learners. We propose the idea of the Networked Configuration for Learning as a means to contrast the learning opportunities individuals and groups have in relation to particular offline and online connections, their historical geographies, the development of learning 'places', and particular learning affinities.

“But the science we do here matters”: Youth-authored cases of consequential learning

“…The girls’ cases reveal how relationships between science and community form—and the learning opportunities they provide—are much more than interest driven. They are shaped by one's own historical geographies, suggesting that issues of power and privilege are deeply entrenched in how one experiences connected learning (Haan et al., ). As individuals move through space and time, their activity is enabled and constrained by the layered social contexts of their community(s), shaping what it means to engage and be seen as a legitimate participant in science with a commitment to community.…”

“…However, as we will see, youths’ desire to learn and engage with “science that matters” is more than interest driven. Interest matters, but so do the ways in such interests are forged within sociopolitical histories where issues of power, privilege, and location deeply shape opportunities to learn and become (Haan, Leander, Unlusoy, & Prinsen, ).…”

Digital Passages: Migrant Youth 2.0. Diaspora, Gender and Youth Cultural Intersections

“…However, the three foci (identity, networking and informal learning) each demanded a particular emphasis in the survey. The latter two themes proposed by the social science members of Wired Up were oriented toward learning more about the potential of ego-networks for networked learning (Ünlüsoy, De Haan & Leander, 2012;De Haan, Leander, Ünlüsoy, Prinsen, 2014;Prinsen, De Haan & Leander, 2015). The theme of identity proposed by humanities members of the project was more geared toward capturing digitally mediated representational practices, such as selfprofiling activities on social networking sites.…”

Reshaping Parental Ethnotheories of Dutch‐Moroccan Immigrant Parents in the Netherlands: Networking in Multiple Worlds

“…In other work, we have termed the specific forms networks can take as “networked configurations for learning,” pointing to how these networks can be conceptualized as culturally and socially formed places for constructing knowledge, that are shaped by the specific histories of mobility and contact zones of these groups (de Haan, Leander, Ünlüsoy, & Prinsen, 2014). In this study, we have shown how particular elements of networked configurations, in particular the heterogeneity of the network contacts, as well as the position of the traditional network in the network as a whole, go together with particular uptakes of how to deal with conflicting parental ideologies.…”