EDUC 6816 What Wikipedia can Teach Us about New Media Literacies

What Wikipedia can Teach us about New media Literacies

What is Henry Jenkins main arguments about Wikipedia?

Henry Jenkins believes that the concept of Wikipedia should be taught and dialogues created across campuses, homes, etc…to dispel the myths and fear of what Wikipedia actually represents.  The controversy over Wikipedia needs to be open for debate and encourage questioning in order to demonstrate how knowledge is produced, demonstrated and evaluated.  Wikipedia is a platform that allows the development of critical media literacy skills, social skills and cultural competencies to become participants in new media culture. Jenkins also believes in “healthy skepticism”, the ability to evaluate, judge and synthesize information, or question the information we receive. Also, collective intelligence is a necessity for change in society.

What is "participatory culture"?

Jenkins believes that we must respect and value this new participatory culture that exists in our everyday lives.  Traditional literacy is fundamental, but what do we need to do to add to or expand the capabilities of creators and participants in the future.  What is taking place in the online world?  He believes that a participatory culture is representative of low barriers for artistic expression, formal mentorship, contributions matter, and strong support for creating and sharing.

What is the relationship between "old literacies" and "new media literacies".

Traditional literacies are a fundamental foundation to participate in new media literacies.  We should take the old literacies and integrate with new media literacies and determine young people’s relationships to technology and what it is that young people value.  Educators, for example, shouldn’t  believe that all students have the competencies (or are born with the ability) to participate in the new media culture, just because electronic devices are in their hands. 

What are the reading and writing behaviors associated with "new media literacies".

New media literacies promote higher order thinking skills.  Critically analyzing, synthesizing, creating and 

evaluating information are some of the skills necessary to interact in communities, build the capacity to interact, write and send messages that travel through various communities, and participate in environments that lead to self-empowerment and confidence. Writing becomes a collaborative process made up of many thoughts, ideas and facts from a wide audience.

According to Henry Jenkins why is it important to teach "new media literacies" in school? 

Jenkins believes that we must teach media ethics.  Our students need to understand their role: What online choices am I making?  What am I reading? What am I creating?  What is my role in a participatory culture?  New Media literacies should be taught across the curriculum, not as an add-on for good behavior.  Educators, parents, etc… have the responsibility to face the challenges of the participation gap, transparency and the ethics challenge.

What can Wikipedia teach us about "new media literacies"?

Wikipedia can teach us about collective intelligence, judging sources, networking or disseminating information, and negotiation or traveling across diverse situations.  Wikipedia helps us to take a close look at existing resources and question validity.  Using Wikipedia is not just being a consumer of information, but a contributor to information.  For example, everyone gets to be an expert, and pool knowledge from all over world.  Wikipedia is made up of links, links and more links, so we don’t have to rely on a “single” expert  for information.   Wikipedia  also forces contributors to think critically and ethically, due to a large audience reading the information.  In summary, Wikipedia is a model to teach our students to question, evaluate all forms of communicative information, and  think critically and ethically about messages.

The reference in the video made to sandcastle building as collective working is a great representation of contributing to a project.