As I read our module 2 assignments, I was struck by
how much I saw my children described in the articles. My children are definitely a part of a Participatory
Culture, described in Henry Jenkins’ article, “Confronting the Challenges of
Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.”
Just like the young entrepreneurs in the article, my son is easily frustrated with school, often learning more from his games than from his teachers. He will spout some interesting fact to impress me, I ask him where he learned it at, and he informs me he learned it from his game. Very rarely does he get excited about what he learns (or doesn’t learn) in school. My daughter will show me her newest animated creation she made for “her group” in the latest Roblox game, and I can’t help but be fascinated. I ask her where she learned how to do that, she informs me she watched a video on YouTube. Participatory culture is defined by Jenkins as having “relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations with others, some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices, members who believe that their contributions matter, and members who feel some degree of social connection with one another” (5). Furthermore, “all must be free to contribute […and…] they must believe that what they contribute will be appropriately valued” (6).
My children’s participation in the online games they play meet all of these requirements – they are constantly creating their own worlds. They learn how to create their real life friends or from friends in the game. My son learns about the workings of an Army from “mentors” in the American Revolutionary War Roblox game he plays. They feel as if they have some kind of connection to the people who are in their groups, often referring to them as friends and seeking these same players out in other versions of Roblox. My daughter feels that the creations she puts together for her group will improve their playtime. They contribute without hesitation and feel their “presence” within the game is essential to the well-being of the other online players.
Of course, the fact that my children are a part of this participatory culture brings on a variety of issues and challenges, many of which Jenkins goes on to discuss in his article. However, my feelings towards them participating in this online world have been altered greatly since they first discovered it. As long as I put the appropriate boundaries in place and provide the needed guidance, this online world – this Particpatory culture – functions as an important part of their growing process.
Just like the young entrepreneurs in the article, my son is easily frustrated with school, often learning more from his games than from his teachers. He will spout some interesting fact to impress me, I ask him where he learned it at, and he informs me he learned it from his game. Very rarely does he get excited about what he learns (or doesn’t learn) in school. My daughter will show me her newest animated creation she made for “her group” in the latest Roblox game, and I can’t help but be fascinated. I ask her where she learned how to do that, she informs me she watched a video on YouTube. Participatory culture is defined by Jenkins as having “relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations with others, some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices, members who believe that their contributions matter, and members who feel some degree of social connection with one another” (5). Furthermore, “all must be free to contribute […and…] they must believe that what they contribute will be appropriately valued” (6).
My children’s participation in the online games they play meet all of these requirements – they are constantly creating their own worlds. They learn how to create their real life friends or from friends in the game. My son learns about the workings of an Army from “mentors” in the American Revolutionary War Roblox game he plays. They feel as if they have some kind of connection to the people who are in their groups, often referring to them as friends and seeking these same players out in other versions of Roblox. My daughter feels that the creations she puts together for her group will improve their playtime. They contribute without hesitation and feel their “presence” within the game is essential to the well-being of the other online players.
Of course, the fact that my children are a part of this participatory culture brings on a variety of issues and challenges, many of which Jenkins goes on to discuss in his article. However, my feelings towards them participating in this online world have been altered greatly since they first discovered it. As long as I put the appropriate boundaries in place and provide the needed guidance, this online world – this Particpatory culture – functions as an important part of their growing process.
Shawnee,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Interesting to see you reflect on how your children learn against the Jenkins's work. Your kids Kids sound like the self-programmable learners. The kind of folks peers will one day call boss.
Nice job as well sourcing your material. You defined ley terms for your audience in ways that never felt forced.
I would break up the work into smaller blocks or paragraphs. Another tip is to use the blockquote feature when ever directly citing a piece.
BTW: "As long as I put the appropriate boundaries in place and provide the needed guidance, this online world – this Particpatory culture – functions as an important part of their growing process." Best parenting advice I have heard in awhile.