Understanding the Sociocultural Role of Makerspace Infrastructure When Developing Community-based Technology-rich Learning Programs

Understanding how to design and implement equity-based approaches to technology-rich learning in community settings can lead to increased and diversified participation in computing. However, research has shown that making practices can be inequitable, particularly for populations who are situated in low-resourced settings. In US cities, recreation centers have been shown to be promising sites for equity-based hands-on maker learning. However, it is unclear what approaches are needed to create the necessary technical and social infrastructure at these sites to support community uptake. Our study investigates the infrastructure development process for an equity-based makerspace program as developed within city-run community recreation centers in two US cities over 3 years. We developed an infrastructure map depicting the ecosystem of multiple organizations that are involved in creating the program and identified how digital technologies within makerspaces function as sociocultural factors within this ecosystem.

• Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI.