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+The young child as hacker: Exploring the foundations of DIY culture in the early years
By Yukari SekoNovember 14, 2010
DIY Citizenship Conference
+Young children in DIY culture
Growing up with user-generated media techs, “Digital Natives” constantly engage in participatory mode of production, interaction and community building
Transformation of learning environment requires new conceptual framework for understanding young children’s citizenship in DIY culture
From adult-centered to child-centered approach
+Children as Hackers
Young children are “hackers” who challenge against norms and orders imposed by adults
The spirit of the hack is deeply rooted in the life of young children
The foundations of “maker” identities in the DIY culture can be found in early years
+Changing definition of the “Hack”Originally emerged at MIT in the 1950s
Often coined “security cracker” who breaks into computer systems for invasion of privacy/property
From the regime of “hacker elites” to the era of “Mass Hacking”: Rebellious act against capitalist digital enclosure (Dyer-Witheford, 2002)
The hack as an act of “altering a pre-existing situation to produce something new” (Jordan, 2008)
+Hacker approach vs. Architect Approach
Bottom-up
Special-case
Practical
Nonstandard
Unschooled
Unexpected
Solve-the-problem
Build-on-what-exists
Top-down
General-case
Theoretical
Grand vision
Master plan
Unlimited resources
Question-the-problem
Start-from-scratch
Hacker Approach Architect Approach
Kulikauskas (2004)
+The “Hack” in early years
An act to produce unexpected outcomes out of what is already given
Children progress from heteronomous dependence upon adults to increasing independence and autonomy
“Misbehaviors” such as making a mess, playing with food are examples of hacking
+When do children hack?
When they’re exploring physical knowledge
Building theories about the world around them
Testing the theories they create
Reflecting on the results of their tests
Repeating the process with ever increasing levels of complexity
+Playing with food…
Flickr Photo credit: Andre Natta
+Making a mess…
Flickr Photo credit: Nicolas Carey
some one is probably grounded until their 35th birthday…
+Making a mess with food…
Flickr Photo credit: RI Pizzo
+Experimenting sounds
Flickr Photo credit: Ernst Vikne
+Remaking space
Flickr Photo credit: amygwen
+Hacking as informal learning
Through hacking children are engaging in the form of informal learning
Informal learning: "any activity involving the pursuit of understanding, knowledge or skill which occurs outside the curricula of educational institutions, or the courses or workshops offered by educational or social agencies” (Livingstone, 1999)
Informal learning occurs in various “liminal spaces”
+
All grown-ups were once Hackers – although few of them remember it…
+Potential Threats to the Hack
Parental heteronomyImposes norms of behaviour in safe and
surveilled spaces
Commodification of DIY childhood Displaces critical making with
consumption of ready-made commodities
Institutional mode of education Denies the importance of social learning
+References Dyer-Witheford, Nick. (2002). “E-Capital and the Many-
Headed Hydra.” In Greg Elmer (Ed.). Critical Perspectives on the Internet. Chapter 7, pp.129-163. Lanham Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
Jordan, Tim (2008). Hacking: Digital Media and Technological Determinism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Kulikauskas, Andrius (2004). Social Hacking: The Need for an Ethics. Journal of Hyper(+)drome. Manifestation, Issue 1 – September, Accessed at http://journal.hyperdrome.net/issues/issue1/kulikauskas.html
Livingstone, David. (1999). Exploring the icebergs of adult learning: Findings of the first Canadian survey of informal learning practices. Canadian Journal for Studies of Adult Education. 13 (2), 49-72.