Training a Participatory Culture

     Teachers discover that digital technologies are helping middle and high school students learn.  Accordingly, mobile phones and social media have also brought new frustrations for teachers.  Of the 2,662 teachers in the Pew Research focus group, 75 percent said that the Internet added more demands to their job (Purcell, Heaps, Budianan, & Friedrich, 2013).  There were clear differences in the role of technology in wealthier school districts compared with poorer districts where there is a limited availability of technology in student’s home. 

• 92 percent of teachers surveyed say that the Internet aided their ability to make content and resources available that aids teaching (Purcell, Heaps, Budianan, & Friedrich, 2013)
• 69 percent say that the internet has a helped their ability to share ideas with other teachers (Purcell, Heaps, Budianan, & Friedrich, 2013)
• 67 percent say that the internet aids their ability to interact with parents (Purcell, Heaps, Budianan, & Friedrich, 2013)

Today’s teens are involved in participatory cultures that have few barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement.  A participatory culture offers strong support for creativity and sharing (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, & Weigel, 2006).  Contributions matter within a participatory culture, as affiliations are memberships in other online communities’ that is centered on Facebook and other forms of media.  Expressions is another type of participatory culture that creates digitalsampling, fan video making, and other forms of producing creative pieces.  Collaborative Problem-solving develop new knowledge with task for Wikipedia and reality gaming.  Lastly, circulations is a participatory culture that encompasses pod casting and blogging that shape the flow of media.
           Educators must work to ensure that every young person has access to the skills and experiences that help train communicators to be a full participant within the workforce.  This means understanding how media shapes perceptions and can generate ethical dilemmas that affect them as they participate in online communities.  Schools, after-school programs, and parents should have active roles to play to foster social skills and cultural competencies needed for communicators within this new media culture.  Participatory culture changes the focus of education and training from individualized to one that requires community involvement (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, & Weigel, 2006).  Educators should present communicators with training a way that realizes that almost every student produces and consumes media; consequently, society as a whole has an active stake in the training required to meet expectations of media within the culture.

Reference

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2006, October 20). Confronting ther challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21th century. Retrieved from HenryJenkins.org: http://henryjenkins.org/2006/10/confronting_the_challenges_of.html

Purcell, K., Heaps, A., Budianan, & Friedrich, L. (2013, February 28). How teachers are using technology at home and in their classroom. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/02/28/how-teachers-are-using-technology-at-home-and-in-their-classrooms/