Board 59: Work in Progress: Streamer and Viewer Interactions in Software and Game-Development Live Streams

Ella Kokinda; D. Matthew Boyer

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Computers in Education Division (COED) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Computers in Education Division (COED)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47056

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Paper Authors

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Ella Kokinda Clemson University

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Ella Kokinda is a PhD student at Clemson University’s Zucker Family Graduate Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Her research surrounds live streaming, software and game development, and developer communities.

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D. Matthew Boyer Clemson University orcid.org/0000-0002-4191-260X

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Dr. Boyer is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering & Science Education in the College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences at Clemson University. His work focuses on how technology supports knowledge building and transfer in a range of learning environments.

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Abstract

Twitch.tv is a live streaming platform that typically caters to videogaming and other social conversational communities, however, there is a growing sub-section of live streamers that focus on STEM topics and software and game development. The Software and Game Development category features developers from all over the world live streaming coding and other aspects of the development cycle for all to watch. Live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube have seen significant increases in viewership hours since 2020, with over 40% increase in viewership between 2020 and 2021.

Prior work was shown that developers who choose to live stream do so as a way of holding themselves accountable to work, continue their education, find a community in which they can build and participate in, and have visibility and feedback on their work. In this paper we aim to investigate what types of interactions between streamers and their viewers, what types of knowledge is transferred in these interactions, how they lead to informal learning opportunities within these streams, and if these opportunities affect real time problem solving for streamers. Additionally, we aim to define the different types of interactions within the stream and how they lend themselves to forming an informal learning environment. We have obtained over 50 hours of live streams from Twitch.tv and YouTube to analyze the types of interactions during the stream, whether or not they are streamer or viewer initiated, and if they lead into being an informal learning opportunity. We are currently in the middle of analysis, but have defined several types of interactions on stream -- information seeking, expressions of opinion, entertainment, information sharing, and general social conversations. These interactions may be about what the streamer is currently working on, or interestingly, are seemingly “off-topic” but computing related questions that viewers seek the answer to or validation for from the streamers. From this paper we aim to situate live streaming within software development education through the lens of informal learning and emphasize how opportunities like these are an invaluable resource for novice and experienced developers alike.

Citation
Format

Kokinda, E., & Boyer, D. M. (2024, June), Board 59: Work in Progress: Streamer and Viewer Interactions in Software and Game-Development Live Streams Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47056

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Twitch.tv is a live streaming platform that typically caters to videogaming and other social conversational communities, however, there is a growing sub-section of live streamers that focus on STEM topics and software and game development. The Software and Game Development category features developers from all over the world live streaming coding and other aspects of the development cycle for all to watch. Live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube have seen significant increases in viewership hours since 2020, with over 40% increase in viewership between 2020 and 2021.

Prior work was shown that developers who choose to live stream do so as a way of holding themselves accountable to work, continue their education, find a community in which they can build and participate in, and have visibility and feedback on their work.  In this paper we aim to investigate what types of interactions between streamers and their viewers, what types of knowledge is transferred in these interactions, how they lead to informal learning opportunities within these streams, and if these opportunities affect real time problem solving for streamers. Additionally, we aim to define the different types of interactions within the stream and how they lend themselves to forming an informal learning environment. We have obtained over 50 hours of live streams from Twitch.tv and YouTube to analyze the types of interactions during the stream, whether or not they are streamer or viewer initiated, and if they lead into being an informal learning opportunity. We are currently in the middle of analysis, but have defined several types of interactions on stream -- information seeking, expressions of opinion, entertainment, information sharing, and general social conversations. These interactions may be about what the streamer is currently working on, or interestingly, are seemingly “off-topic” but computing related questions that viewers seek the answer to or validation for from the streamers. From this paper we aim to situate live streaming within software development education through the lens of informal learning and emphasize how opportunities like these are an invaluable resource for novice and experienced developers alike. 
AU  - Ella Kokinda
AU  - D. Matthew Boyer
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 59: Work in Progress: Streamer and Viewer Interactions in Software and Game-Development Live Streams 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47056
ER  -