Youth Community Inquiry

Youth Community Inquiry offers a detailed look at how young people use new media to help their communities thrive. Chapters address questions about learning, digital technology, and community engagement through the theory of community inquiry. The settings range from a small farming town, to a mostly immigrant community, to inner-city Chicago, and include youth from ages eight to 20. Going beyond works on social media in a narrow sense, the projects in these settings involve the use of varied technologies, such as GPS/GIS mapping tools, video production, use of archives and databases, podcasts, and Internet radio. The development of inquiry-based activities serves as a record of the diverse experiences and a guide to future projects. The book concludes with an overview of a curriculum that readers may adapt for their own settings.

Bertram C. Bruce (PhD in computer science from the University of Texas) is Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois. His many publications include Network-Based Classrooms; Electronic Quills; Libr@ries: Changing Information Space and Practice; and Literacy in the Information Age. Ann Peterson Bishop (PhD in information transfer from Syracuse University) is Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois. She is the co-editor of Digital Library Use and co-author of chapters and articles in publications that include Library & Information Science Research and The Journal of Community Informatics. Nama R. Budhathoki (PhD in regional planning from the University of Illinois) directs Kathmandu Living Labs in Nepal. His interest and expertise lie at the intersection of digital media, civic engagement, and collective action, with particular focus on crowd-sourced mapping and social media.