It’s also deeply indebted to people who have spent endless hours letting me observe, hang out, and talk with them about their interests, work, and lives, including @dmetty, @joshmcelweephoto, @thejoshbabu, @gutstains, @evanmccormick (who shot this banner clip), and @bailey_bs.
I am an Associate Professor of Learning Sciences in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems at The Pennsylvania State University. I work in the Learning, Design and Technology program.
My previous research has been on learning and literacies with mobile devices, in video games, and in action sports, like skateboarding and BMX riding.
I’m most curious about learning that exists on the margins, the kind of learning that doesn’t seem to have “value”—whatever that is—and that may not even look like learning. This kind of learning comes in various guises, from skateboarding, to video games, to making instrumental beats. Usually, this kind of learning happens when learners are deeply interested in something, so my research overlaps with those studying interest and hobbies. I am less interested in learning that serves some kind of goal-oriented purpose, like getting into college or getting a job in a specific field, or that is tied to a specific discipline, like math or science; I care more about the kinds of learning that emerge when people are really excited about something, and when they want to share and feel that excitement with others.
Overall, I value, celebrate, and amplify the kind of youth that is often devalued and marginalized, particularly by formal learning settings and the contemporary neoliberal marketplace. In doing so, my research imagines future learning environments that are more equitable, inclusive, and consequential, with my more recent work seeking alternatives to the learning trajectories determined by neoliberal capitalism.
Some current and emergent projects, include:
Using and Critiquing Natural Language-Generation and Generative Art for World-Building
Intergenerational Videogameplay and Hobbies
Imagining and Creating Pluriversal Futures
If you’re interested in pursuing this, or a related, line of research with me, please contact me. And see my statement on advising to get a sense of the expectations and demands of doing graduate scholarship.
tyhollett@psu.edu
The Pennsylvania State University
Department of Learning and Performance Systems
Learning, Design, and Technology
315 Keller Building
University Park, PA
Recent research, led by graduate students, has explored learning—often with technology and self-produced data—in settings like ballet and golf education.
Progression of ballet class.
Figure produced by Nate Turcotte (https://www.nateturcotte.com/)
My recent research has been anchored in the action sports community. This ethnographic work explores the interest-driven learning surrounding youth skateboarding and biking, especially through their intersections with digital media. I am currently accepting students interested in this area of study.
Previous research designed learning opportunities for youth at the Metro Public Library through a program I established called Metro: Building Blocks. Interest-powered activity surrounding the video game Minecraft lets teens plan, design, and build Metro's neighborhoods.
(I’m happy to provide access to any publications)
Hollett, T., Peng, X.* & Land, S. (2021). Learning with and beyond the body: The production of mobile architectures in a ballet variations class. The Journal of the Learning Sciences. doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2021.2003801
Turcotte, N.*, Hollett, T., Merrell, D., Wager, S. & Handley, E. (2021). The co-construction of data-in-time: Pedagogical data encounters of golf instructors and students. Learning, Media, and Technology. doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1960560
Hollett, T. (2020). The Felt-force of Literacy. Reading and Research Quarterly.
Hollett, T. and Vivoni, F. (2020). DIY Skateparks as temporary disruptions to neoliberal cities: Informal learning through micropolitical making. Discourse: The Cultural Politics of Education.
Hollett, T., Luo, S.*, Turcotte, N.*, Ramsay, C., Stubbs, C., & Zidik, Z. (2020). Moments of friction in virtual reality: How feeling histories impact experience. E-Learning and Digital Media,17(1), 56–77.
Hollett, T., Ehret, C. (2019). The idiocultural sensibilities of spothunting in action sports culture: Affect, desire, change. Mind, Culture, and Activity. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/10749039.2019.1612439
Hollett, T. and Hein, RJ*. (2018). Affective atmospheres and skatepark sessions: The spatiotemporal contours of interest. Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.12.001
Hostetler, A., Sengupta, P., & Hollett, T. (2018). Unsilencing Critical Conversations in Social-Studies Teacher Education Using Agent-based Modeling. Cognition and Instruction, 36(2), 139-170.
Hollett, T. (2017). Symbiotic learning partnerships in youth action sports. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
Hollett, T. & Kalir, J. (2017). Mapping playgrids for learning across space, time, and scale. TechTrends. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11528-016-0138-0
Leander, KM and Hollett, T. (2017). The embodied rhythms of learning: From learning across settings to learners crossing settings. International Journal of Educational Research.
Hollett, T. & Ehret, C. (2016). Civic rhythms in an informal, media-rich learning program. Learning, Media & Technology.
Hollett, T. (2016). Interests-in-motion in an informal, media-rich learning setting. Digital Culture & Education.
Ehret, C. & Hollett, T. (2016). Affective dimensions of participatory design research in informal learning environments: Placemaking, belonging, and correspondence. Cognition & Instruction.
Ehret, C., Hollett, T., & Jocius, R. (2016). Movement, meshworks, and new media making: An intra-action analysis of adolescents making a digital book trailer. Journal of Literacy Research.
Leander, KM. & Hollett, T. (2014). Designing new spaces for literacy learning. Literacy Research Association Yearbook, 62, p. 29-42.
Hollett, T. & Ehret, C (2014). Bean’s World: (Mine)crafting affective atmospheres for gameplay, learning, and care in a children's hospital. New Media and Society.
Ehret, C. & Hollett, T. (2014). Embodied Compositionin real virtualities. Adolescents’ literacy practices and felt experiences moving with digital, mobile devices in school. Research in the Teaching of English, 48(4), p. 428-452.
Ehret, C. & Hollett, T. (2014) (Re)placing school: Fifth-graders’ counter-mobilities while composing with mobile devices in a digital media enrichment class. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 57(2), 110-119.
Hollett, T., Phillips, N.C. & Leander, K.M. (2017. Digital geographies. In Mills, K.A., Stornaiuolo, A., Smith, A. & Zacher Pandya. Routledge Handbook of Digital Writing and Literacy in Education.
Hollett and Ehret, C. (2017). Relational methodologies for mobile literacies: Intra-action, atmosphere, and rhythm. In Burnett, C., Merchant, G., Simpson, A. and Walsh, M (eds.). Mobile Literacies: The Case of the iPad.
Hollett, T. (2015). Nashville: Building Blocks: A Case Study. In Gordon, E. and Mihailidis, P. (Eds). The Civic Media Reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hollett, T. & Leander, KM. (2013). Location-based environments and technologies. In Price, S., Jewitt, C., & Brown, B. (Eds.). The Sage Handbook of Digital Technology Research. London: Sage.
You can find my most recent CV here.
