Participatory Culture in a Networked Era-- Chapter Four

    Mimi Ito begins Chapter four (titled "Learning and Literacy") by discussing her support for "learning in the wild", or out-of-school learning; her work with the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Initiative; and an approach called "connected learning". Learning, Ito argues, is inseparable from the cultural identities, practices, and material setting of everyday life. In other words, educational practices shouldn't only be concerned with how much knowledge can be crammed inside of a young person's brain while they sit inside of the classroom. Learning happens everywhere, and it occurs all of the time.

     The authors note that progressive education is both hands-on and meaningful, and one must consider the potential of digital and social medias for progressive education. They use the term "positive deviants" to describe people who are unusually successful in mobilizing resources that are widely available in a community setting. This term can also be used to describe those young people who are learning more by producing, collaborating, and organizing in a digital environment than they are from the traditional learning that takes place inside of a classroom. However, the authors do note a disparity:  only a small number of these young people are taking their community-based learning and connecting it to in-school, civic, or career-relevant settings.

     They argue that it is not enough to celebrate the things that teens are learning and creating in a digital environment. In order to form connections between these settings and make these activities matter in an educational sense, young people need parental and educational support.

     One means of providing such support is through interest-centered after-school clubs or specialized camps. The Digital Media and Learning Initiative focuses on connecting the interests that young people have with peer-centered learning with academic and civic participation and career possibilities.

     The authors mention that there are challenges, one being that the networked world of today requires a different set of skills, literacies, and social relationships. What social skills and competencies do young people need to acquire if they are going to participate?

     The next section of the chapter focuses on information overload, or our inability to consume all of the information that is thrown our way digitally—there is simply too much information. The authors note that not only is there too much information, there is also a wide array of different types of information: news articles, status updates, tweets, informative blog posts, GIFs, etc.. It’s not easy for one to sort out what to consume.

    The authors cite different perspectives on the argument of how to solve or resolve the problem of information overload. Some argue for tools that make people more effective at consuming more information, some argue for multitasking or simply accepting the way that things are. To this side of the argument, the author’s respond with the opinion of Linda Stone, who argues that there is no such thing as multitasking, “there is only continuous partial attention, and its physiologically and socially costly”.

    This then leads to the discussion of information quality—“In a world where there is so much information, how much of it is credible?” How does one fine the “good” information?

    To that end, it is important to think about what kind of information gets attention and becomes widespread and why. The authors use the example of teenagers whose tweets get read by millions of people. Why? They note, “What captures people’s attention is often the most salacious, fearful, and gossipy content available. It’s the junk food of content”.

    With this in mind, there exists a debate about whether these technologies are good or bad for kids. Considering this onslaught of information (not all of it good), can we still focus? Can we effectively reflect? But disconnecting and hoping that technology will simply go away is neither realistic nor desirable. According the authors, one must consider “how new norms, practices, and literacies can make our engagements most productive individually and collectively”. They write, “It’s easier to be afraid of technology and media than to engage critically with it”. But, information is power. One must not only understand the information that is presented to them in a digital context, one must also understand how that information gets there, how technical systems work. This is technical fluency.

     Finally, the authors discuss participation as part of a meaningful civic, community, or political engagement. Sometimes, the act of participation is valued more than the quality of the contribution. The authors argue that it is important not to celebrate the act of contribution on its own. There are different kinds of participation, and all participation is not created equally. For example, rating a Netflix movie or hitting “like” on Facebook is not equal to the act of contributing to a group blog.

     The chapter concludes with the message that it is important for adults and educators to not impose their ideas of what is “good” participation on young people. The authors note that the agendas of schools are not always well aligned with what young people find rewarding about participatory culture. The example of Harry Potter fanfiction writers is used. While some educators might argue that teens who write fanfiction are in violation of copyrights or are reading and writing inappropriate material, the authors see these spaces as places where young people are reading critically, writing creatively, and mentoring one another. And they are doing this because they want to, not because they are seeking validation from teachers.