Participatory Culture and Media Literacy

             When reading “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century” by Henry Jenkins one aspect completely surprised me- but in a good-surprise kind of way! When reading about the Core Media Literacy Skills students should have, the very first discussed was that of the importance of “Play.”  As an educator myself, I have ALWAYS whole-heartedly believed in the importance of play- where as many teacher I have come in contact with completely despise it. 

            When reflecting on my elementary school experience, I never recall being able to simply “play” or “test-out” anything whether it be a new learning-based computer program or the snails we were to be studying in science. However, in college, all of that changed. Mostly all of my professors encouraged us to let our students “play” or “explore” when first introducing a topic. Through play, the students are able to get all of their initial curiosities out while beginning to form their own understanding of what is to be used.  I remember sitting in a teaching mathematics class as my professor dumped Cuisinaire rods (math blocks/manipulatives) out on every one of our desks. He looked at us and said, “Okay, now I’ll give you 10 minutes to play…” We all looked at him and he said, “I’m not kidding- get your jitters out now and go explore!” All of us 20-year-olds immediately felt tempted to put our hands on the blocks, before the professor even told us to, so can you imagine how hard it would be for 1^st or 2^nd graders to keep their hands off blocks right in front of them that they have never used before and expect them to sit through an entire lesson first?” – Impossible.

            Relating back to the reading from Jenkins, students gain so much knowledge and skills from something like “Play.” In the reading, for example, Sam and Willie absolutely love baseball cards. Off the bat (pun-intended) they are motivated, engaged and interested. The play motivated three different kinds of learning they practiced without even realizing they were in fact learning and strengthening core academic skills like using math to find bating averages, classifying the players based on scores, or even social studies through reading the locations the players lived in and wanting to figure out where on the map it was in location to themselves. Overall, the key of play promotes discovery, inquiry, excitement and engagement- the core principles behind what it takes to learn. If a teacher can make a student interested about a certain content/topic, they student is GUARANTEED to learn through engagement (Jenkins, pg 24.)

            In terms of Green’s literacy model, the “cultural” issue is what underlines the skill of “play.”  The ‘cultural’ dimension helps students apply operational factors as a way to enhance the learners’ ability to relate to the social world around them. Students are using operational strategies to receive and transmit the keyword MEANING as well as developing and understanding of content and context.  Students easily find more meaning in something they find interesting rather than something that serves of little interest to them. Relating to the baseball trading card example, Sam and Willie are able to receive and transmit the meaning behind the role of mathematics involved in trading cards and by practicing the specific math skills they develop a deeper understanding of the content (math) at hand through the context of trading baseball cards. Moreover, that “deeper understanding” or “deeper meaning” I mentioned comes from Sam and Willie’s ability to make the necessary connections from content to their every-day life and vis versa (Jenkins, pg 25.)

            Overall, I absolutely cherished this article by Henry Jenkins. I believe, unlike many educators, he was spot on when highlighted and went into depth about play as it pertains to a core media skill in the world of education.  It was very exciting and refreshing to read an article, by a professional, who see’s the true importance in an aspect of teaching AND learning like “play” as I do!

Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Literacy Debate Follow-Up Post

What counts as literacy?

            After reading “Literacy Debate- Online, R U Really Reading?” by Motoko Rich I began to really think about what it truly means to read in the so-called “Digital Age.” I believe that literacy can come in the form of both online text and paper text or another words what one reads online and what one reads in a book. Similar to the opinions of Nadia, Zachary, and Hunter I consider that the Internet will continue to create a new kind of reading, writing and discovery method for finding out information.  Regardless of how or what one is reading/writing, individuals are exposing themselves to words on a page and a storyline. The format of the two options are definitely different seeing as reading in a book the words go from left to right and on the internet it can be more scattered, however, the individual is still practicing the literacy skills needed to acquire information by exposing themselves to text and information to expand their learning, thinking, imagination, etc. Literacy via the Internet can benefit all kinds of children and can cater to all different kind of learners. For example, Linda Jackson’s research study showed that low-income students who were given Internet access improved their standardized reading test scores. In addition, the environment of reading online whether at home or in school can provide more comfort to people with learning disabilities like Hunter. Whether one is reading an ebook online, writing a blog, reading current-event articles, or simply scanning sources of interest, literacy is being practiced even if it is not in the most traditional sense (Rich, 2008.)

How does literacy change in response to the new media landscape?

            Throughout the years, literacy has begun to re-define itself in an effort to keep up with the dynamic media world we live in today. Deborah Konyk, Nadia’s mother, grew up in a world where reading only came in one form- via a book.  However, due to all the advancements we have made in technology, the new media landscape revolves around the use of the Internet.  Because of this ever-popular and ever-growing Internet, literacy evolved from reading and writing on paper and books and expanded to also include typing as a form of writing and reading online. In addition, because of the new forms literacy has begun to take on, the ways in which we assess our students must as well. Although the USA isn’t quite ready for a change in assessment, other countries have begun to implement testing a child on his/her Internet proficiency (Rich, 2008). I believe that within the next few years our country will begin to assess students on their proficiency via the Internet (at least in terms of literacy) as well because of the popularity in literacy online.  As long as the current media landscape grows and advances, literacy will always be changing in an effort to stimulate the minds of individuals by giving them connections to draw upon and link together.

What value should we ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online?

When thinking about the value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to evolve online (Jenkins, 2009) I agree with Motoko Rich 2008) when he exclaimed that “The question of how to value different kinds of reading is complicated because people read for many reasons.”  It is because of this that I feel as if the amount of value ascribed to new forms of communication and literacy should depend on the specific form itself. For example, Nadia reads stories online that are nearly 45 pages long. Because of the spelling and grammatical errors that the reading contains the value I would place on this kind of interest geared reading is significantly low. However, this type of reading clearly sparks and strengthens her imagination and creativity as it enables her to add characters and come up with alternate twists throughout the story, which shows me there is still value to be had in terms of Nadia’s benefit. When comparing the Internet to a book, I agree with Zachary when he exclaimed, “The web is more about a conversation- books are more one-way” (Rich, 2008.)  In terms of communication, the internet gives people from all over the world a chance to give their opinion while reading other opinions through tasks like blogging and commenting underneath articles- some scholarly some not.  People on an individual level need to weigh how much value they are going to put on a particular source(s). I personally think that there is definitely some value to be taken out of the communication that continues to evolve online as well as some value that should always be ascribed to literacy in its traditional form. 

Rich, M. (2008, July 27). Literacy debate: Online, r u really reading? . The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1379784618-Lf7u/8E lKFkO2X0GO1B7Q

September 14, 2013

“The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives” (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9).

As an educator, this quote sums up everything I want my students to take out of literacy. Everyday, my students and I tackle the ever-popular “Reader’s Workshop.” In Reader’s Workshop, my students and I explore a whole plethora of texts, digging to find the meaning behind what we have read and exposing ourselves to different strategies to understand exactly what it is we have read or are reading.  Because each and every one of my students are different- and therefore learn differently, it is so incredibly intriguing to watch what it is they do with a certain text. Some of my students like to immediately open a book and begin reading the words in an attempt to gain understanding from the book where as other students like to “picture-read” and start by examining the pictures on each page before reading the words. Ultimately, the different strategies are what helps them make sense of what they are reading (even if the process in which they go about reading and attaining the information is different).  In addition, the connections my students make to the reading can differ as well- because we all go through different experiences and have different experiences in life. For example, when reading a book about a Black Bear,  Jimmy may take the information he learned and apply it to his next trip to the zoo when he is now able to recognize a bear and the environment in which it lives. However, three weeks after reading about the black bear Julia finds herself reading a book on horses and finds herself being able to draw the connection that both a bear and horse are mammals.  The goals I have for all my students isn’t just to master how to read and interpret text so that they can eventually pass a state test or receive a 100 on an exam—it is about learning how to derive meaning from what is being read, make connections, and attain such skills in order to apply it and strengthen those skills in the years to follow.

On a more personal level, I choose my texts based on my interest level because that is what motivates me and engages me into wanting to learn and read.  I find myself making sense of what I have read through the connections I am able to make from the text to my every-day life.  When reading, I am constantly highlighting,re-reading and looking for any place I can make a connection to something I have learned in the past, experienced or am experiencing currently.  I whole heartedly agree with this quotation “ In a sociocultural approach, the focus of learning and education is not children, nor schools, but human lives viewed as trajectories through multiple social practices in various social institutions. If learning is to be efficacious, then what a child or an adult does now as a learner must be connected in meaningful and motivating ways with `mature' (insider) versions of related social practices, (Gee, Hull & Lankshear 1996, p. 4). Being able to derive meaning from a text is what truly makes or breaks a person’s understanding on what is being read- which is why it so incredibly important for me to find meaning in what I have read as well as encourage, assist and support my students in the process as well.

Growing up I was never exposed to technology in terms of literacy throughout my elementary and middle school years. Although I can definitely recall using a computer to excerpts of books in school, read it was only until I reached high school where I saw my first “smart-board” and used my first “ipad” in context with learning a content in school. However, in a vast majority of the classrooms I have worked and volunteered in I have seen a ton of smart-boards, computers and even individual ipads for the students’ to use when reading. Being 22 years old I have of course been exposed to the up and coming technology world however I still find myself preferring to read a paper copy of a book over a book on a kindle or an ipad. With all of that being said, I think it is so important for future educators to expose themselves and their students to literacy both in the technology world and the hard-copy paper way we all grew up with. I’d like to end with this quote that I absolutely love, “Firstly, the importance of the word and the printed page remains, but such importance is being transformed in relation to new technologies,new cultures, and new forms of life. Secondly, it will become increasingly more important to equip our students with a vision of the future of literacy, `a picture of the texts and discourses, skills and knowledges' that they might need, and their associated social and educational visions, rather than simple mastery of particular skills and methods (Luke & Elkins 1998, p. 4; see also Luke 1998).” 

Reference:

 Literacy and the New Technologies in School Education: Meeting the L(IT)eracy Challenge?  

Durrant, Cal; Green, Bill. "Literacy and the new technologies in school education: Meeting the l(IT)eracy challenge?" The Free Library 01 June 2000. 14 September 2013 <http://www.thefreelibrary.com/literacy and the new technologies in school education: meeting the...-a063132991>.