What Online Networks Offer: Online Network Compositions and Online Learning Experiences of Three Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This exploratory study examines ethno-cultural diversity in youth´s narratives regarding their online learning experiences while also investigating how these narratives can be understood from the analysis of their online network structure and composition. Based on ego-network data of 79 respondents this study compared the characteristics of the online social networks of native Dutch, Moroccan-Dutch, and Turkish-Dutch youth. Subsequently, thirty interviews were analyzed to compare youth’s narratives regarding two aspects typically associated with 21th century online learning: ‘ individual online exploration’ , and ‘ participation, collaboration and exchange of information in online communities’ . The results show that the three ethnic groups significantly differ regarding their online network composition. Youth’s narratives also reveal that their online learning experiences are ethno-specific. Youth differ regarding the nature of online communities in which they search for information, make new contacts and distribute their own media creations. For example, Turkish-Dutch youth primarily engage in their own ethnic transnational networks to find information and to share media content, whereas Moroccan-Dutch youth seem more open to develop new contacts and to search for information outside of their familiar network. It is suggested that these ethno-specific narratives can be understood as resonating specific network configurations.