Dataset: Autodidactic Learning in a Participatory Culture

AbstractThis exploratory case study examines Digital Art Channels (DAC) as they exist on social media applications such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube and how they facilitate communities of learning within specific participatory cultures. Social Media research provides a theoretical underpinning in terms of Participatory Cultures (Jenkins) and Collective Intelligence (Lévy) to explore how users structure their own learning for complex subjects. The study employs a method of qualitative thematic analysis of YouTube tutorials and comments to explore how users choose what content to access and how YouTube content creators respond to learners’ needs by creating specific content. This research contributes to the analysis of self-directed study by defining Autodidactic Learning as a user-centred approach, where the user structures their own curriculum from available online content without the aid of an academic tutor.