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Johnny (Yeonhee) Cho is a Ph.D. student at the iSchool.

When you meet someone who doesn’t know about your research, how do you describe it?

I usually say that I study how teenagers make sense of misinformation — not only what they believe, but how they feel about it. My work looks at misinformation as an emotional and social experience rather than just an information problem. Using social and emotional learning (SEL) frameworks, I explore how empathy, self-awareness and responsible decision-making can help young people better navigate misinformation online.

A lot of my research is hands-on and creative. For example, through my dissertation funded by Social Science Research Council Data Fluencies, I design game-based and participatory learning activities where teenagers explore the emotions behind truth, trust and online influence. I also study youth media experiences in adjacent contexts, such as my esports mental well-being participatory design project, which examines how competitive play and digital culture shape teens’ emotional worlds. In short, I’m interested in helping young people become not just critical thinkers, but also emotionally intelligent participants in the digital world.

Who is the faculty member working most closely with you? What are you learning from them?

My primary advisor is Dr. Jin Ha Lee, whose mentorship has profoundly shaped how I think about play, emotion and design in information science. From her, I’ve learned how to bridge creative design with scholarly rigor and how games and playful media can become meaningful tools for reflection, empathy and learning. Dr. Lee’s guidance has helped me see the emotional dimensions of information work as both researchable and designable.

I also work closely with Dr. Jason Yip, whose leadership of the KidsTeam research group has taught me how to design with children and teens as co-designers and knowledge builders. Through our collaborations, I’ve learned how participatory design can empower young people to express complex ideas about technology, emotion, and misinformation in their own voices.

Why are you interested in this subject?

My interest in this topic comes from a long-standing fascination with how people’s emotions and social lives intertwine with technology. During my master’s studies in Learning Sciences and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, I explored how digital media shape the way people learn and connect. I started noticing how misinformation often triggers strong emotions such as anger, fear and amusement. Also, I recognized that simply teaching people to “check facts” wasn’t enough. Teenagers, especially, are developing their identities and emotions in digital spaces, so I wanted to understand how emotional intelligence can serve as a kind of immunity against misinformation. This led me to integrate SEL principles into media and information literacy, creating new ways to help young people reflect on both what they believe and how they feel about what they encounter online.

What impact do you hope to make in the information field through your research/dissertation?

I hope my work encourages the information field to see misinformation not only as a technical or educational challenge but also as a human and emotional one. By bridging information literacy with social and emotional learning, I aim to help educators, librarians and designers cultivate more compassionate and reflective digital citizens. My dissertation and related projects demonstrate how emotionally grounded approaches, such as games, storytelling and AI-based reflection tools, can help young people build empathy, resilience and critical awareness. Ultimately, I want to contribute to a future where technology and information systems are designed with emotional understanding at their core.

What surprised you the most when digging into your research?

What surprised me most was how articulate and emotionally insightful teenagers can be when given the right environment to express themselves. Many teens already recognize misinformation as a problem, but they often describe their experiences in emotional terms, and feel overwhelmed, angry or guilty about sharing something untrue. When I used playful, reflective methods such as games or visual storytelling, they opened up in ways that traditional interviews never could. I was struck by how much empathy they could show for others who fall for misinformation, and how deeply they think about fairness, justice and responsibility online. These moments reminded me that emotional learning is not an add-on to digital literacy; it’s the heart of it.

What are your career goals once you graduate?

After completing my Ph.D., I plan to pursue a faculty position in Information Science, Educational Technology or Library and Information Studies where I can continue developing research on emotional learning, technology design and digital well-being for youth. I envision leading a research lab that partners with schools, libraries and youth organizations to co-design emotionally intelligent tools and educational programs. Beyond academia, I hope to influence how educators, designers and policymakers think about empathy and emotional literacy as essential components of digital citizenship. My long-term goal is to help create an information ecosystem that supports emotional understanding and responsible participation in an AI-driven world.

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