I am a postdoctoral research fellow for the Connected Learning Research Network at the Digital Media and Learning Hub at University of California, Irvine, working with Professor Mizuko (Mimi) Ito. My research focuses on equity in youth learning and information practices in interest-driven environments, with particular focus on supporting underserved youth and youth connecting informal learning to academic and future opportunities. I have explored the online communities of World of Warcraft and Skyrim, and a professional wrestling fan communities. My current research explores the pathways of youth from non-dominant communities into Scratch, a free, online, visual coding language.

I completed a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction specializing in Digital Media from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with Constance Steinkuehler, with a minor in Library and Information Studies. My dissertation focused on learning and information practices in the community of the massively multiplayer game World of Warcraft. It is being published as a book entitled Voyage across a constellation of information: Information literacy in interest-driven learning communities in the Peter Lang series New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies.

Crystle Martin | DML Research Hub | Email: crystle.martin@gmail.com | Twitter: @crystlem