Utilizing An Online e-Community to Maintain Camp Outcomes and Social Connectedness

Abstract

The role of connectedness for adolescents in their everyday lives is essential for their positive development, lifestyle, and general health. For adolescents living with Internet technology, the dimension for them to develop their sense of connectedness has extended from the physical environment to the digital landscape. Studies of digital landscape design and an examination of its impacts are critical for researchers and youth practitioners.

Previous studies indicated that adolescent’s use of Internet technology promotes their sense of school and friend connectedness, but not family connectedness. Findings suggest individual’s positive interaction with their social environment and the social groups from their real life are important to the positive impacts of adolescent’s use of Internet technology for the sense of connectedness. The cultural immersion camps located in the U.S. specifically designed to encourage a greater sense of cultural heritage among Asian American adolescents. Attendees were expected to gain improved capacities to balance their identities between their Eastern heritage and their host Western culture. Findings suggest that strong perceptions of ethnic identity drive Asian American adolescents to create positive relationships within their social environment.

The sense of connectedness to the camp community potentially bonds adolescents with positive views of self, life, and future self-image as reported in study three. This study provided insights by utilizing an online e-community to maintain adolescent’s outcomes and connectedness to camp. Three key factors to deliver an efficient online extension activity were identified from the qualitative data analysis. Findings suggest that an online extension activity delivery requires adolescent’s experiences of online project development and their expectations more than chat, messaging, and game play.

In sum, this study provided a holistic insight for utilizing the digital landscape to support the additional opportunities for adolescents’ sense of connectedness. Rather than merely examining the impact of Internet technology, this study also discusses perspectives from previous researchers (i.e. systematic literature review), impacts from youth practitioners (i.e. camp outcomes) and perspectives from adolescents (i.e. focus group) for a multidimensional picture of how a digital landscape can maintain camp outcomes and social connectedness among adolescents.