“Making your own animation is fun”: Urban youth becoming technologically fluent through computer programming

Due to the ubiquitous nature of technology and its rapid and constant evolution, possessing skills associated with specific computer applications is not sufficient any more. To prosper in the information age, it is now necessary to acquire deeper understanding, to acquire fluency (National Research Council, 1999). Acquiring technological fluency involves comprehending how and why information technology systems work as they do. Furthermore, being technologically fluent implies having an understanding of technology as more than just a tool to get a job done; it implies seeing it as a malleable medium to express one's own ideas. This study investigated how members at an after-school center learned to use a media-rich programming environment to design and program digital projects such as games, stories, and animations. Participants in the study were youth (ages 11 and 12) taking part in the center's summer program. The research procedures involved informal open-ended interviews with participants, participants’ responses to a reflection activity, and an analysis of programming projects developed by participants. Findings showed that throughout the workshop, the participating youth not only felt motivated to engage in their computer programming projects but also developed their technological fluency while expressing themselves.