Educational, Psychological, and Behavioral Considerations in Niche Online Communities

Vivek Venkatesh is an Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Development at the School of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. His research publications traverse the areas of learning sciences, the impact of social media on online learning, extreme metal music scenes and the integration of information and communication technologies in university settings. He is a member of several interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research initiatives which have been funded at the provincial and federal levels. Jason J. Wallin is an Associate Professor of Media and Youth Culture in Curriculum in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he teaches courses in visual art, media studies and cultural curriculum theory. He is the author of A Deleuzian Approach to Curriculum: Essays on a Pedagogical Life (Palgrave Macmillan), co-author of Arts-Based Research: A Critique and Proposal (with jan jagodzinski, Sense Publishers), and co-editor of Deleuze, Guattari, Politics and Education (with Matt Carlin, Bloomsbury). Jason is assistant editor for the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy (Routledge) and reviews editor for Deleuze Studies (Edinburgh University Press). Juan Carlos Castro is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at Concordia University in Montreal. His research focuses on the dynamics and qualities of knowing, learning and teaching art through new and social media as understood through complexity thinking and network theory. His current research examines how mobile media coupled with creative production networks knowledge in urban environments to create educational and civic engagement with teens and young adults. Prior to joining the faculty at Concordia University, Juan has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of British Columbia, Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Burren College of Art. Juan is a National Board Certified Teacher and taught at Towson High School in Maryland. As a high school teacher, Castro's teaching and curriculum was awarded a Coca-Cola Foundation Distinguished Teacher in the Arts from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts and twice awarded with a U.S. Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award. Jason Edward Lewis is a digital media artist, poet and software designer. He founded Obx Laboratory for Experimental Media, where he directs research/creation projects devising new means of creating and reading digital texts, developing systems for creative use of mobile technology and using virtual environments to assist Aboriginal communities in preserving, interpreting and communicating cultural histories. He co-founded the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace research network that is investigating how Native people participate in the shaping of our digital media future. Lewis is committed to developing intriguing new forms of expression by working on conceptual, creative and technical levels simultaneously. His creative work has been featured at the Ars Electronica Center, ISEA, SIGGRAPH, Urban Screens and Mobilefest, his writing about new media at conferences, festivals and exhibitions on four continents and his work has won awards at the Ars Electronica and imagineNative festivals. He is currently Program Director & Associate Professor of Computation Arts at Concordia University in Montreal.