This study aims to investigate the collaboration processes of immigrant families as they search for online information together. Immigrant English-language learning adults of lower socioeconomic status often work collaboratively with their children to search the internet. Family members rely on each other’s language and digital literacy skills in this collaborative process known as online search and brokering (OSB). While previous work has identified ecological factors that impact OSB, research has not yet distilled the specific learning processes behind such collaborations.
Design/methodology/approach: For this study, the authors adhere to practices of a case study examination. This study’s participants included parents, grandparents and children aged 10–17 years. Most adults were born in Mexico, did not have a college-degree, worked in service industries and represented a lower-SES population. This study conducted two to three separate in-home family visits per family with interviews and online search tasks.
Findings: From a case study analysis of three families, this paper explores the funds of knowledge, resilience, ecological support and challenges that children and parents face, as they engage in collaborative OSB experiences. This study demonstrates how in-home computer-supported collaborative processes are often informal, social, emotional and highly relevant to solving information challenges.
Research limitations/implications: An intergenerational OSB process is different from collaborative online information problem-solving that happens between classroom peers or coworkers. This study’s research shows how both parents and children draw on their funds of knowledge, resilience and ecological support systems when they search collaboratively, with and for their family members, to problem solve. This is a case study of three families working in collaboration with each other. This case study informs analytical generalizations and theory-building rather than statistical generalizations about families.
Practical implications: Designers need to recognize that children and youth are using the same tools as adults to seek high-level critical information. This study’s model suggests that if parents and children are negotiating information seeking with the same technology tools but different funds of knowledge, experience levels and skills, the presentation of information (e.g. online search results, information visualizations) needs to accommodate different levels of understanding. This study recommends designers work closely with marginalized communities through participatory design methods to better understand how interfaces and visuals can help accommodate youth invisible work.
Social implications: The authors have demonstrated in this study that learning and engaging in family online searching is not only vital to the development of individual and digital literacy skills, it is a part of family learning. While community services, libraries and schools have a responsibility to support individual digital and information literacy development, this study’s model highlights the need to recognize funds of knowledge, family resiliency and asset-based learning. Schools and teachers should identify and harness youth invisible work as a form of learning at home. The authors believe educators can do this by highlighting the importance of information problem solving in homes and youth in their families. Libraries and community centers also play a critical role in supporting parents and adults for technical assistance (e.g. WiFi access) and information resources.
Originality/value: This study’s work indicates new conditions fostering productive joint media engagement (JME) around OSB. This study contributes a generative understanding that promotes studying and designing for JME, where family responsibility is the focus.
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This content will become publicly available on April 28, 2024
The Role of Family Ethnic Socialization and Generational Status in White Adolescents’ Ethnic-Racial Identity Development
Family ethnic socialization (FES) is a critical component of youth ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development. However, little research has focused on FES experiences amongst White families. The current study applied a convergent mixed methods design to investigate how immigration generational status (i.e., number of U.S.-born parents and grandparents) was associated with FES within White American families and the extent to which that informed adolescents’ ERI development. Utilizing survey data for White adolescents’ ( N = 532) self-reported FES experiences and ERI exploration and resolution, quantitative path analyses testing for mediation indicated that, as adolescents reported more family members born in the U.S., their FES experiences were lower and, in turn, their ERI exploration and resolution were also lower. FES fully mediated the relation between generational status and their ERI exploration and resolution. A theoretical thematic analysis of focus group data from a subsample of participants offered insights into how White adolescents described their FES experiences, illustrating the integral role of parents and grandparents for learning about their ethnic heritage, school’s role in facilitating FES, and various methods of maintaining familial collective cultural memory. The current study offers preliminary insights into FES among White families and identifies new questions for exploration future research.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10410045
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Adolescent Research
- ISSN:
- 0743-5584
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 074355842311661
- Size(s):
- ["Article No. 074355842311661"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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