Double Journal Entry #4

"A growing body of scholarship suggests potential benefits of these emergent forms of participatory culture, including opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude towards intellectual property, the diversification of cultural expression, the development of skills valued in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship. Access to this participatory culture functions as a new form of the hidden curriculum, shaping which kids will succeed and which will be left behind as they enter schools and workplaces."



After reading this essay, I found this particular quote to be truthful and I agree with the statement 100 percent. There are certain forms of participatory culture that emerge everyday and most of them allow people to grow intellectually and creatively. Social networking sites have allowed people to express and share ideas dealing with culture, politics, environmental issues, jokes, workplace opportunities etc. The access to participatory culture is beneficial to people because it allows creativity to blossom and different view points on issues to be heard. I believe schools should take a step to ensure every child has access to creative expression and many different ideas to help shape the citizen they will become in the future. Wikipedia can help promote 21st century skills by allowing new information to surface with ideas and concepts being explained in a more thorough way. Wikipedia also allows people to really digest what they are researching by checking the source of where the information is provided. I think Wikipedia can be used in classrooms but there should be an introductory lesson on how it works and how it should be used. I think the information that is on Wikipedia is normally accurate but students should be taught the danger of using an encyclopedia that can be added onto and edited by everyday people.

This is a picture I posted on Facebook. It's a painting by Alex Grey. It's expressing an idea or feeling I was having on a particular day. My motive behind the picture wasn't hoping people would "like" it, I just thought sharing a beautiful, creative picture would be sure to catch someones eyes and make them think.

Sources: Jenkins , H. (2007). What wikipedia can teach us about the new media literacies (part one). Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can