Poster
Leanne Bowler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor,
University of Pittsburgh
Biography
LEANNE BOWLER is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, where she is responsible for the specialization in children’s and young adult librarianship. Her research interest lies in the area of metacognition and its relationship to youth information behaviour, human-information interaction, digital media and learning, and design-based research.
Abstract
The storm of progress may be inevitable but this presentation suggests that within the storm, pockets of calm can be found. Paying attention to one’s own thinking is a critical information practice that is particularly helpful in the open-ended, read-write environment of new media. To act in responsible, creative, and meaningful ways in such environments requires the kind of self-knowledge that comes from focused, controlled, and reflective thinking. The metaphor of the storm is a useful way to describe the thought processes of many young people as they learn to navigate new media. But given the opportunity, young people are capable of thinking about their own thinking in the context of online behavior, and often do so in creative and unique ways.
This poster presents research that has investigated mindful – or metacognitive – online behavior with teens. Using ethnographic and visual research methods, the studies have revealed the metacognitive knowledge, beliefs, and practices that young people invoke in order to navigate the complex social and information worlds of new media. Nevertheless (and perhaps not surprising) there is evidence of developmental differences in levels of self-awareness and self-perception of thinking processes.