Learning Leaders: Teachers or Youtubers? Participatory Culture and STEM Competencies in Italian Secondary School Students

Javier Gil-Quintana, Viviana Malvasi, Bárbara Castillo-Abdul and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
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Javier Gil-Quintana: Department of Education, National University of Distance Education, 28020 Madrid, Spain
Viviana Malvasi: Department of Education, National University of Distance Education, 28020 Madrid, Spain
Bárbara Castillo-Abdul: Department of Education, University of Huelva, 21004 Huelva, Spain
Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez: Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28943 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Youth is increasingly learning in non-conventional contexts, such as social networks or video platforms, courses, and tutorials. This research aims to diagnose the role of participatory culture, digital resources, social networks, and, specifically, YouTube, in learning processes and the acquisition of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills, specifically in mathematics, also analyzing the role of youtubers and, in contrast, teachers, both learning leaders in the formation of these skills. In order to accomplish this, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used, based on a survey applied to 4845 Italian adolescents, as well as a content analysis of the videos and YouTube channel of the Italian educational influencer Elia Bombardelli, one of the most followed and best rated in this country. Also, an in-depth interview has been applied to 12 Italian secondary school teachers. Among the main findings, it is highlighted that all adolescents value YouTube videos as a key resource to improve their school performance, rating youtubers better than teachers. However, it is remarkable that in the processes of learning and acquisition of STEM competencies, they prefer to interact with teachers rather than with youtubers.

Keywords: information literacy; informal learning; secondary education; teaching; learning strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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