In Jenkins’ article Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century there are four forms of participatory culture discussed that include Affiliations, Expressions, Collaborative Problem-solving and Circulations. The article discusses the importance of these forms of participatory culture and how they can provide “peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude toward intellectual property, the diversification of cultural expression, the development of skills valued in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship.” This diverse set of skills is important for individual development and can enhance the skills needed to be successful outside of the education setting.
One example of this participatory culture can be found in the form work Wikis. Wikis provide users the opportunity to build knowledge through collaboration and shared learning environments. The learning is built continuously and grows into a tool that serves many purposes and can be spread across a variety of subject use. It can teach learners how to take what they already know and share that information in the Wiki environment and with each person that contributes, they may find themselves adding new knowledge. This added knowledge is demonstrated in the article by Cress and Kimmerle, “A Theoretical Framework of Collaborative Knowledge Building with Wikis – a Systemic and Cognitive Perspective.” Learning in this environment and style is done through internalization factors and externalization factors. The article discusses how the users must first use externalization to input information from their personal knowledge into the Wiki space. Internalization then happens when the learner/user reads other information presented in the Wiki space and takes that information in to develop their own knowledge. With internalization “a person acquires new knowledge units and relations between knowledge units.” The users become writers, knowledge holders, editors and peer educators and knowledge continues to build with each added user, edit and addition to a Wiki.
When it comes to considering the validity of the knowledge and the knowledge building processes on Wikis, I think it becomes important for facilitators or admins to monitor and assure the validity of information. Without some “rules,” structure, and guidance, the Wiki can become disorganized and the links and relationships to the information throughout the Wiki can be lost. It also is important for the contributors to include citations and references that support the content being added.
After watching the video Wikis and foreign language learning, I can find myself concerned over the amount of work that it may take for a teacher or facilitator to create a well-organized and structured Wiki environment. However, I also find the potential benefits to be a great reason to explore how it can change the learning experience. I do think it takes a good bit of “play time” to set up the environment with a strong plan in mind for how it will be used in order for it to be successful. One of the speakers from the video, Jutta Schmiers-Heller shared her experience with using it for her German language course. Her example Wiki was demonstrated and she discussed some of the pitfalls that came with the first Wiki assignment. One important element was how to assess the student’s work on the first Wiki project. She discussed the tedious work behind reviewing all the historical changes to see where users were making changes and contributions. She did mention that many of the students enjoyed the experience, but there were some that were behind in the technological experience and they struggled a little more with the process. When the other speaker, Dan Beeby shared other professor’s Wiki examples, they were structured and organized by using elements of tagging and mapping. These elements helped to organize and create relationships throughout the content.
Experimenting and introducing new teaching/learning tools often requires exploration, which only helps to find ways to improve. I do think this video demonstrated important things to consider when working with these participatory forms. Especially for the instructors/facilitators to keep in mind as they venture into Wiki’s. This includes a clear purpose of use/intent, guides and instructions on use to support the structure and organization, and an understanding that exploration may not often lead to perfection the first time. It is a process that builds and the events that occur throughout become a part of the growth of each individual (even the facilitator). As a facilitator, setting the assessment on a Wiki should clarify expectations and these expectations should encourage the users to actively engage in the process. With this, dedicated time will be important if planning to utilize Wikis, especially those like Wikipedia. As discussed in the article by Elizabeth Losh, How to Use Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool: Adrianne Wadewitz, “instructors need to allot enough time for the task as a capstone assignment meriting sustained attention.”
I can see where the concepts and ideas behind participatory culture and new media literacies can be integrated with my current position as a way to improve organization of the content that occurs in those never-ending email chains. Especially since we are often in email exchanges with colleagues and customers from around the world in various time zones. It can move the discussions to a different platform that can be better organized, shared with the team or a group, and also remove some of the barriers that we face when we continue to communicate just by email. If there is a high priority issue, that issue could be added into the Wiki and allow for documentation and communication to occur and help resolve. The information is then documented and timestamped with the history and changes, and nobody is left out of the conversation or content.
The benefits that participatory culture can bring into education and even business institutions take on approaches that are necessary with the changes of today’s society and Web 2.0. We can find that informal and formal learning environments are promoting collaboration, exploration and even lifelong learning. These forms of participatory culture are not always easily structured, but become building blocks of learning opportunity through collaborative information sharing.