“It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine” – REM, 2006

"[C]ivilization has been dominated at different stages by various media of communication such as clay, papyrus, parchment, and paper produced first from rags and then from wood. Each medium has its significance for the type of monopoly of knowledge which will be built and which will destroy the conditions suited to creative thought and be displaced by a new medium with its peculiar type of monopoly of knowledge."  (Innis, Harold. (1949). The Press: A Neglected Factor in the Economic History of the Twentieth Century. London: Oxford University Press, p. 5).

Do you agree with this statement? Provide examples from the history and current state of

publishing to make your argument.

            While the addition of new mediums of communication does reduce the monopoly the proceeding technology had, it does not destroy the conditions suited to creative thought. Each new communication piece is enabling – it allows more of the masses to access information and to advance knowledge. The advancement of knowledge, both humane and scientific, depends upon the human ability to think about something unexpected – a “new idea” (Crowley & Heyer, p. 57) be it from stoytelling to the telegragh, from the fax to Web 2.0.

The essential here is not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Rather media users must be taught to be discerning. Information is one thing, the knowledge and wisdom that comes from it is another. As is the respect needed toward works created. The challenge resides in the education of the masses to effectively respect, interpret, and work with that which the latest medium produces. 

Below is the video that goes with the blog. Please open your itunes and select your favorite NMN song (or two - 4m50sec) while doing so to add "your own touch of creativity to the process".

Best, 

LJ
References

Ayers, P., C. Matthews, and Yates, B.. (2008). How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It. San Francisco: No Starch Press.

Brun, Axel (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second life, and Beyond : from production to produsage. Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York.

Carey, J.W. (1969). ‘Harold Adams Innis and Marshall McLuhan’, in Phelan, J, Communications Control: Readings in the Motives and Structures of Censorship, Sheed and Ward, New York, pp. 43 – 77. Retrieved from http://gcalacouris.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/arts2090-research-essay-the-social-factor-in-the-creation-destruction-of-monopolies-of-knowledge/

Coppens, P. (n.d). Corpus Hermeticum. Retrieved from http://www.philipcoppens.com/artmemory.html

Cormode, G., & Krishnamurthy, B. (2008). Key differences between Web 1.0 and Web
2.0. First Monday, 13(6), 1.

Crowley, D. J.& Heyer, P. (2006). Communication in history: technology, culture, society. llyn & Bacon/Pearson, Canada

Dittmar, J. E. (2011). Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press. Quarterly Journal Of Economics, 126(3), 1133-1172.

Eisenstein, E. L. (1979). The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and cultural transformations in early modern Europe. In , Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications & cultural transformations in early modern Europe.

Heyer, P. 2003, Harold Innis, Rowman & Littlefield, Maryland. http://seyakalu.wordpress.com/tag/arts2090/ 

MacCulloch, D., Laven, M., & Duffy, E. (2006). Recent Trends in the Study of Christianity in Sixteenth-Century Europe. Renaissance Quarterly, 59(3), 697-731.

Does machinery inhibit artistic culture?

In 1927, at a time when new media like the radio, telephone and motion pictures were still novel and the television was just being invented, Aldous Huxley wrote an article in Harper’s magazine on ‘the machine age.’ In it he says:

In the days before machinery men and women who wanted to amuse themselves were compelled, in their humble way, to be artists. Now they sit still and permit professionals to entertain them by the aid of machinery. It is difficult to believe that general artistic culture can flourish in this atmosphere of passivity (Huxley, 1927).

The argument is essentially suggesting that people prior to the machine age were creative because they were idle and needed to amuse themselves. If you had nothing to do, you were likely to pick up a musical instrument, or a paintbrush or a pen. In this understanding of human behaviour, we create not because we have talents or a need for self-expression, but because we need to amuse ourselves – to fill time.

The argument is flawed – primarily because it dismisses the fundamental reason why one creates. People have an innate need to express themselves and people will express themselves in a way that fits their talents within the means they have available. For some, that expression may come from a creative pursuit – an artistry – for others it may be through oral story telling, invention, craftsmanship, human relations or productivity. People are inclined to tap into their strengths and use them to the best of their ability. Artists are a certain subset of people that generally express themselves well through a specific set of creative media: music, theatre, dance, visual art or writing (including prose and poetry). But these artistic people would likely find a way to exercise their talents regardless of the media available to them.

Justin Bieber, YouTube music sensation.
CC: Kevin Aranibar of Kerosene Photography

For instance, in the times before musical instruments the musician might have sung or banged out rhythms with sticks or rocks. Yet at another time in history, they might have played an instrument or conducted an orchestra. And again in more recent history, they might have been part of a rock band or a deejay or record producer. Finally, in today’s very digital age, they might be a digital composer, an artist who remixes found audio or a young man singing in their bedroom and posting their songs on YouTube. The artist does not seek to create as a means to amuse themselves or pass time; the artist creates because they need to express themselves and want to send a message. To that end, they will use whatever technology suites their talents and allows their audience to sense the message. As Marshall McLuhan says, “the serious artist is the only person able to encounter technology with impunity, just because he is an expert aware of the changes in sense perception” (McLuhan, 1964, p. 208).

Marshall McLuhan at the CBC.
(c) - marshallmcluhan.com

McLuhan also says, “we shape our tools and soon after they shape us” (McLuhan, 1964). In that statement he is suggesting that technologies form such a significant role in our society that people adapt behaviours as they become more prolific users. This notion might support Huxley’s assertion that people become passive because of the passive nature of consuming content that is enabled through machinery. This would be true, but technology does not seem to fundamentally change the character of the user. Technology may change the way that one behaves or engages, but it will not substantially adjust the character of the person. Someone who has artistic talent will find a way to use the technology available to them to express themselves, and those who have less artistic inclination will not suddenly become artistic because a new medium is available. There is likely to always be a segment of people who are performers and a segment of the population that will be part of the audience. This is not to suggest that being creative is a trait that is binary, but rather that people might sit on a continuum related to their level of creativity, exhibitionism or artistic talent.

Transliteracy? A One man band (circa 1865).
Photo by Knox, O.C.

The interesting thing about artistic talent is that those who are strong in one art tend to be strong in others as well. A musician will play multiple instruments; a visual artist is likely to create using collage, sculpture and different paints on different platforms; a writer might write fiction, poetry and essays as well as plays. Similarly, it would be very common for a musician to excel in dance, for an actor to take up writing or for a sculptor to dabble in architecture. People who use multiple mediums and platforms for creativity would have done so in the time before machines, in the time of Huxley and they continue to do so in today’s very digital age.

The ability to communicate in more than one medium is not exclusive to artists. In fact, it is a set of skills of growing importance in our increasingly digital world, accurately described using the term transliteracy. According to Sue Thomas, transliteracy scholar and author of transliteracy.com, “transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks” (Thomas et al, 2007). As more technologies emerge, humans are not becoming more passive, rather they are becoming more active. Howard Rheingold is quoted as saying, “[w]hat we are witnessing today is [thus] the acceleration of a trend that has been building for thousands of years. When technologies like alphabets and Internets amplify the right cognitive or social capabilities, old trends take new twists and people build things that never could be built before” (in Thomas et al, 2007).

The advent and expansion of machinery, as Huxley calls it, has not inhibited artistry in any way. Some people still pick up the guitar for amusement, others don ballet slippers and now some people open their laptop and create stories using the full power of the tools available to them. Andy Campbell is a digital writer and author of the website Dreaming Methods. As a new media author he publishes stories that take full use of the digital technology and incorporate multiple media into a single cohesive narrative. The “reader” will read printed words on a screen that might be written overtop of a static image while music plays. When a hyperlink is clicked, the screen transforms, words fade or emerge and a video begins to play. These digital narratives effectively incorporate text, sound, music, visual arts, graphic arts, animation and video into one piece that creates a rich narrative experience. Campbell is a prime example of a transliterate creator. Rather than sitting still and allowing professionals to entertain him, he is using the tools available to him in complex, integrated and creative ways to express himself.

Aldous Huxley was perhaps limited in his perspective in 1927 about the power of machines for creative purposes, but nonetheless his assertion of machines by their nature affecting passivity amongst the creative class is simply incorrect. But, perhaps Huxley’s message needs to be heeded as a warning. There is a risk that in a society with pervasive content where creativity is not nurtured and where skills of transliteracy are not developed, we could end up with more and more citizens who are lulled by entertainers into an atmosphere of passivity. Combating this risk would require ensuring that citizens are taught a set of skills that encourage activity using digital technologies.

In his essay, Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies, Howard Rheingold writes, “if the humans currently alive are to take advantage of digital technologies to address the most severe problems that face our species and the biosphere, computers, telephones and digital networks are not enough. We need new literacies around participatory media, the dynamics of cooperation and collective action, the effective deployment of attention and the relatively rational and critical discourse necessary for a healthy public sphere (Rheingold, 2007).” Rheingold provides a compelling case for a new pedagogy that helps ensure the full participation of young people. In talking about important participatory literacies, he does not speak specifically about the need for creative but others do. “Expanding literacies for learning include criticality, metacognition, reflection, and skills for creating and publishing content” (Asselin & Maoyeri, 2011, p. 1).

In conclusion, let us not take Huxley’s doubt “that general artistic culture can flourish in this atmosphere of passivity” as a fait accomplis, instead let us take it as a call to action to ensure that our artists, and citizens in general, may maintain a creative edge in this new age of machinery.




References



Asselin, M. & Moayeri, M. (2011). The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom. Practical Strategies – Literacy Learning: the Middle Years: 19(2).

Huxley, A. (1927). The Outlook for
American Culture: Some Reflections in a Machine Age. Harper’s Magazine, August, 1927.

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill.

Rheingold, H. (2007). Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies. Retrieved April 3, 2011, from: http://freesouls.cc/essays/03-howard-rheingold-participative-pedagogy-for-a-literacy-of-literacies.html.

Thomas, S., Joseph, C., Laccetti, J. Mason, B., Mills, S., Perril, S., & Pullinger, K. (2007).  Transliteracy: Crossing Divides. First Monday, Volume 12 Number 12 - 3 December 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2060/1908

Participatory Literacy and Implications for Education

In searching for three types of text related to participatory literacy and collective action, I have found a combined theme related to the role of our education system in developing students who will be effective users of new media.

In the video interview, Mimi Ito on Participation Literacy, Part One of Three, new media expert Howard Rheingold interviews Mizuko (Mimi) Ito about the social media habits of teens and young adults. Ito is the co-author of one of the largest studies of online youth media habits and in the video, she shares insight into what parents and educators should know about youth online habits and what they should be teaching young people.

Ito effectively separates the learning that occurs for young people in social and recreational settings from the learning that occurs in schools. For teens and young adults, who are exploring both their self-identity in terms of social relations and specialized interests, the Internet has significant value in their lives. As Ito says, “Often digital media plays into both of those things, both their social lives when their peer culture becomes very central to their social lives and the development of their interests and specializations” (Rheingold & Ito, 2010).  She says the baseline literacies around things like information seeking, posting, linking, forwarding and modifying simple websites have increased dramatically over the past 10 years, but also suggests that the skills are not evenly distributed amongst kids. Because the learning is happening outside of a formal setting, most kids do not necessarily pick up more critical literacies or advanced technical and media production skills. She clearly identifies three stages of participation moving from casual use of technology to ‘messing around’ (which includes tweaking or modifying content as well as starting to create things) to ‘geeking out’ (which includes coding programs, modifying games or creating videos for youtube).  Different kids are gaining different new media literacies because the engagement is occurring outside of the formal school setting.

One of the challenges for parents and educators according to Ito is to build more links between the social informal learning that occurs outside of school and the learning that they are getting inside of school. She suggests astutely that schools should focus on a certain set of baseline literacies and then move into more critical literacies that allow them to reflect on the more social and everyday practices they are engaged in.

But what are those literacies? What should schools focus on in ensuring that students are well prepared to be active meaningful participants in the online communities they engage in around social groupings and special interests? These required skills for Web 2.0 engagement might accurately be described as participatory literacies and a text by Axel Bruns can begin to identify the roles that are being demanded by social web participants.

Axel Bruns is a noted scholar in the field of social media and has published a seminal book entitled Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: from Production to Produsage that examines how online communities collaborate using social media tools for content development. The article, Produsage: A Working Definition, is featured on the website produsage.org which was developed by Bruns to support the book and explore the key concept of produsage further.

The term produsage, coined by Bruns, is a hybrid of the words production and usage. According to him the industrial model of producers and consumers of content does not apply in the collaborative communities enabled by “networked, participatory environment(s)” (Bruns, 2007, para 1). The outcomes of the produsage process are no longer products, as defined by the industrial model, but rather are artefacts of collaboration, which “are inherently incomplete, always evolving, modular, networked, and never finished” (para 3).

This compelling argument helps us not only understand the people who are involved in participatory online communities but also the nature of the content that exists there when other users discover it. The tools for communication are not broadcast in nature with senders and receivers, but are peer-to-peer (one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many) and thus participants are allowed and required to fluctuate between the roles of senders/producers and receivers/users. Ito also discusses this fluctuating role for new media users when she talks about reciprocity. She says, “one of the things that’s different from the school environment is that there is an ethic of reciprocity where you are both creator of media - of knowledge - as well as somebody who is commenting and assessing other people’s work” (Rheingold & Ito, 2010). A collective group of produsers would likely qualify as what Rheingold calls a smart mob. In mobs, there are no clear set of leaders or followers as the content being advanced is likely to direct the actions of the group – in a traditional mob it may be the volume or persuasiveness of the content that carries the day, whereas in a smart mob the focus is more appropriately on the quality of the content and leaders will pass on control as they shift from a producer back to a user.

Bruns also points out that the result of collaboration might not just be the creation of artefacts but would also include the construct of rules, processes and spaces for the collaboration itself. This is what he calls the information commons. “The object of the communal effort is almost always as much the development of social structures to support and sustain the shared project as it is the development of that project itself” (Bruns, 2007, para 4).

So, if the world of the social web is asking participant to be produsers and to participate in building the information commons, what sorts of participatory literacies should be emphasized? Bruns would likely include literacies that enable both the production elements required as well as the user elements. On the production side, elements of creativity, reasoning and collaboration would be critical, whereas on the usage side literacies related to attention, critical thinking and analysis would be favourable. These literacies with some overlap mesh nicely with ones outlined elsewhere by Howard Rheingold: attention, participation, credibility, collaboration and network awareness (Rheingold, 2010).

The use and teaching of participatory literacies in the classroom is the subject of Marlene Asselin and Maryam Moayeri’s paper, The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom (2011). In it, they describe how the new web has emphasized a new set of critical literacies. They demonstrate that tools being used in schools today “are still being used in a 1.0 or consumerist manner” (p. 2). They argue for supporting participatory literacies in the classroom, outline what literacies are important and suggest how they should be implemented in the classroom.

The work of Asselin and Moayeri complement Bruns and reinforce Rheingold. While not referring directly to the work of Bruns, they discuss the need for literacies that support both “consumer activities” and “content production activities” (p. 2) thus acknowledging the role of an engaged participant in the social web is both of producer and consumer/user. They write, “expanding literacies for learning include criticality, metacognition, reflection, and skills for creating and publishing content” (p. 2). The new literacies are expanded on in the paper, through being grouped into the following themes: locating and organizing information, critical literacy of the internet, and building knowledge (sharing and presenting). All of this, Asselin and Maoyeri suggest, is moving us towards a literacy of empowerment. “The crucial role of schools in the world of the evolving web is not only to use it to engage students and support their learning, but to guide students in ethical and socially responsible use of the increasingly complex and global worlds of the web” (p. 6).

Asselin and Maoyeri, like Ito, do a good job of demonstrating that traditional literacies are not serving students well into the 21^st century and that significant shifts in curriculum are needed to ensure that students have the skills they need to appropriately use web 2.0 technologies. They add some good suggestions to the list of important participatory literacies, even if their list might not be completely comprehensive. They have picked up well on the importance of locating and sorting information, which Rhiengold seems to have missed, but they left out things he suggested like attention and network awareness. Of course, their addition of literacies related to metacognition and reflection demonstrate thoughtfulness about  skills seemingly far removed from the actual tools, but which are incredibly important for thinking critically, analyzing sources of information and establishing one’s own credibility.

Taken together, these three works seem to suggest that the role of education and schooling in today’s digital age is not just to provide students with a set of facts or key pieces of knowledge, but rather to present students with the skills they will need to become full and active participants in the social web. Teaching appropriate participatory literacies will ensure that students become critical and effective users of new media as well as thoughtful and creative producers of informed content. Ito lays out a case for change in the current education system, Bruns outlines the fundamental role transformation that is required and Asselin and Maoyeri outline how educators can effectively implement participatory literacy in classrooms.

References

Asselin, M. & Moayeri, M. (2011). The Participatory Classroom: Web 2.0 in the Classroom. Practical Strategies – Literacy Learning: the Middle Years: 19(2).

Bruns, A. (2007). Produsage: A Working Definition [Online]. Available: http://produsage.org/node/9 [2012, Mar 17].

Rheingold, H. & Ito, M. (2010). Video Interview: Mimi Ito on Participation Literacy, Part One of Three [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.smartmobs.com/2010/01/02/video-interview-mimi-ito-on-participation-literacy-part-one-of-three/.

Rheingold, H. (2010). Adora Svitak: A 12 Year Old on Digital Literacy [Video

file]. Retrieved from: http://vlog.rheingold.com/index.php/site/video/adora-svitak-a-12-year-old-on-digital-literacy/.

Assignment 2 - Parts 1 & 2

Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody” – Youtube video file

(Link to tags on Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/ilonacc)

(Link to Assignment Two Stack on Delicious - http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/DEhjmD)

Clay Shirky is a social media theorist and an associate teacher with Tisch School of the Arts in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. In this Youtube video, entitled “Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody” Shirky speaks about his newly released book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organization. The presentation was hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School on February 28, 2008 

(Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_0FgRKsqqU).

Shirky begins with the focus of his book, ‘multiple audiences’ setting the tone of the presentation and video. He discusses in depth the affects of the internet on society in relation to the forming of groups and group action; discussing the four patterns contributing towards group creation and action; sharing conversation, collaboration and collective action. Technology and the internet providing a set of tools that engages and enables individuals to create groups; communication within these groups becomes easier and more widespread as a direct result of the technology. Unlike Howard Rheingold in the video file, “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution” who focuses on how technology allows more free writing and “every desk top being a printing press”. (Rheingold, 2002, np) Shirky discusses the influence the internet has had on forming groups and how group action can than influence real-time reaction by coordinating what has now become known as flash or smart mobs. “Media becomes a place where groups can come together and achieve some sort of shared goal rather than just a source of information is ... observable now and is going to become widespread.” (Shirky, 2008, np) 

Another concept mentioned by Shirky and echoed by Rheingold is the power of the people when they speak about ‘technology and how technology has influenced free writing and group action. Shirky discusses the power of the people and how people / groups can alter how the market is looked at when they are brought together for a common goal whether it access to Anime or passing a bill of rights for air travellers. 

In 2008 smart mobs may have been in their infancy but Shirky was very astute when he predicted they would become widespread due to online technology and the ease of creating groups for collective action. 

Clay Shirky on New Book “Here Comes Everybody”. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_0FgRKsqqU 

Rheingold, Howard. (2002). “Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.” MIT World. [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/22

Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies by Howard Rheingold

Howard Rheingold is a “writer, artist and designer, theorist and community builder” who specializes on virtual communities and the implications of modern communication mediums i.e. the internet. (TED, n.d.) This essay Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies is one of nine essays written by communication theorists for a book compiled by Joi Ito. (Link http://freesouls.cc/essays/03-howard-rheingold-participative-pedagogy-for-a-literacy-of-literacies.html) 

Rheingold begins this essay by discussing the impact the web has had on human sociality by amplifying human connections with online social networks creating virtual communities, virtual communities with like-minded people from around the world. Introducing cyberculture studies as an academic discipline within a variety of fields like “sociologists, anthropologists, historians, psychologists, economists, programmers and political scientists.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 4) As online usage increases patterns emerge, these patterns are studied and eventually influence software design.  “One particularly useful affordance of online sociality is that a great deal of public behavior is recorded and structured in a way that makes it suitable for systematic study.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 5)

In Rheingold’s words the internet makes it possible for individuals to act together in new ways with people from around the world. As these individuals create and/or join virtual communities they influence the world around them with their collective actions. Rheingold also discusses the phenomena of online volunteering where individuals willingly answer each other’s questions, design software; participate online with blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, file sharing, and social networks without fiscal reward. The internet has made it easier for individuals to contribute, “While the old story^[9] is that people are highly unlikely to cooperate with strangers to voluntarily create public goods, the new story seems to be that people will indeed create significant common value voluntarily”. (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 7)

Participatory media has made it easier for people to contribute online as individuals or as a collective. Participatory media gains power from the value associated with the usage. In closing Rheingold states, “Such literacy can only make action possible, however−it is not in the technology, or even in the knowledge of how to use it, but in the ways people use knowledge and technology to create wealth, secure freedom, resist tyranny.” (Rheingold, 2011, paragraph 12)

Howard Rheingold Profile. TED: Ideas Worth Sharing. Retrieved from www.ted.com/speakers/howard_rheingold.html

Rheingold, H. (2011). Participative Pedagogy for a Literacy of Literacies. In ITO, J.(Eds.), FREESOULS captured and released.  Retrieved from http://freesouls.cc/essays/03-howard-rheingold-participative-pedagogy-for-a-literacy-of-literacies.html

Lawrence Lessig’s Blog

Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!

Posted May 31, 2007

Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law with the Harvard Law School. Lessig is highly regarded due to his work with copyright issues regarding electronic applications. Within this blog post Lessig reviews the book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen. (Link to Lessig’s blog post here http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html)

Essentially this blog post is about online copyright issues and a rebuttal towards Andrew Keen for his comments about Lessig in the book The Cult of the Amateur (Link to book here http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Amateur-Internet-Killing-Culture/dp/0385520808) Keen is not a supporter of participatory literacy criticizing the accuracy and validity of online publishing by amateurs. “The lesson he [Keen] teaches is one we should all learn -- to read and think critically” (Lessig, 2007)

In the Extended Entry, Lessig addresses a few sections in the book where Keen attacks him, his views and role within the copyright and creative commons issues. Covering issues from piracy, to traditional meaning. One idea this book review does bring to the forefront of the online participatory literary is the importance of being critical of the information one reads. Rheingold’s interview with Adora Svitak echos this concept as she provides a few tips for children to determine the credibility of a website, “researching the authors is a good step”. (Rheingold & Svitak, 2010)

In closing Lessig supports online creativity and mentions, “What Keen misses is the value to a culture that comes from developing the capacity to create.” (Lessig, 2007)

Lessig, Lawrence. (2007, May 31). “Keen's "The Cult of the Amateur": BRILLIANT!.” [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html

Rheingold, Howard. (2010)“Adora Svitak: A 12 Year Old on Digital Literacy." [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://vlog.rheingold.com/index.php/site/video/adorasvitak-a-12-year-old-ondigital-literacy/

Part 2

I was impressed with a lot of the articles and video clips chosen especially The Grand Rapids LipDub (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI) reviewed by Glenn; it is an excellent example of collective action illustrating the power of the people when they have a common goal. James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing, the Harry Potter inspired ebook by George Norman Lippert reviewed by Hillary is very intriguing. I will be reading this ebook when I have some free reading time. Self publishing is a topic that interests me and in my cyber travels I found a website called Issuu – You Publish (http://issuu.com/explore) that enables people and publishers to produce ebooks.

Theresa’s review of Homeless Hotspots brought up the issue of ethics and the ethical use of online programs, mobile technology and social media. The ethics surrounding the internet and usage of mobile technology and social media is quite relevant as online communication increases globally. There is a mirage of opinions about the Homeless Hotspots project but the two primary positions are exploitation of the homeless or viable meaningful employment for homeless. 

The KONY 2012 video clip that went viral a few weeks ago was reviewed by Kim, Glenn and Liz. Kim brought up the idea that if something is well-designed and communicates a message we, the public are swayed; “Despite the fact I think as a public we are less naïve than perhaps a couple generations ago, we can still be swayed by a well-designed and communicated message.” (Denstedt, March 11, 2012) I think a correlation can be drawn between a well-designed website or podcast or magazine and physical beauty. We as a society are attracted to beauty regardless of the form. Raj Persaud wrote an article for the Financial Times that expresses society’s attraction to beauty and correlated it to intelligence and health. Basically we are attracted to beauty and well-designed visuals that communicate a message.  

Resources

Denstedt, K. (2012, March 11). Kony 2012 Second Text for Assignment 2 [Web log comment] Retrieved from http://nmnonline.blogspot.ca/2012/03/kony-2012-second-text-for-assignment-2.html 

Homelesshotspots.org. (2012). Collaborators. Retrieved from http://homelesshotspots.org/ 

On eve of James Potter sequel, Harry Potter fan fiction heats up: Unlikely author poised to keep the story alive. (2008, July 15). PR Web. Retrieved March 15, 2012 from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/07/prweb1080574.htm

Persaud, R. (2005, April 30). Science rewrites the rules of attraction. Retrieved from http://www.sensualism.com/beauty/attraction.html

“The Grand Rapids LipDub.” (2011, May 26). YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI

Week 7: Participatory Literacies

Week 7: Participatory Literacies

As Howard Rheingold notes, “a participatory culture in which most of the population see themselves as creators as well as consumers of culture is far more likely to generate freedom and wealth for more people than one in which a small portion of the population produces culture that the majority passively consume.”

Some key ideas for this week:

• according to recent studies by the Pew Center on the Internet and American Life, more than half of American teens online have produced media content and about a third have circulated media that they have produced beyond their immediate friends and family. 
• growing importance of participatory culture in the everyday lives of young people. Work across a range of disciplines suggest that these emerging forms of participatory culture are important sites for informal learning and may be the crucible out of which new conceptions of civic engagement are emerging. 
• the next techno-cultural shift according to Rheingold
• collective intelligence