Participatory Media & Literacy: What is it? Why teach it? What challenges and benefits exist for its learning?
As technology grows more advanced and widespread across the globe, the forms of media it produces or spreads also become more layered, reflective of the changes in these tools and the many ways that we engage with them. One of the most prominent and emergent examples of this is in the concept of Participatory Media. Unlike traditional or old forms of media, like newspapers or pamphlets that have been around for many centuries, or New Media which has arisen in the last several decades and which consists of things like videos, digital audio files, gifs and other animations, or other internet-fueled objects and spaces and belongs to more modern forms of computing or technology, Participatory Media looks at who is constructing or engaging with this content and how. Media has historically been produced by a relatively small number of people or institutions, but globe-shifting advancements like the internet have expanded this dynamic to potentially include everyone. The concept of Participatory Media also includes the extent to which these individuals or communities impact the creation, spread, or ultimately meaning-making and lifespan of any piece of media, especially given that we are in an age where even a single image can elicit wildly varied responses sometimes even motivating social movements or political action.
As Jenkins states: "A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations... A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created)" (Jenkins, 2009, p3). In this way, virtual spaces like social media (TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, for example) - with all of its photos, videos, profiles, and interactions between and by users - demonstrates some of the most potent and transformable aspects of Participatory Media and its ability to convey themes or messages and to facilitate communication. The shift that this new form represents, then, is two-fold: that media can take the form of anything that users can produce and share, and that consumers and producers of media can be one and the same, different, or oscillate between the two even simultaneously. Helping learners to navigate media on both of these fronts (meanings and dynamics) is the key to developing thinkers and curriculum that are ready for the future.
So when it comes to literacy around participatory media, what benefits does it have and what challenges exist for implementing it?
Scheibe and Rogow point out that while media literacy is crucial for modern education, simply using new media formats in one's curriculum or encouraging participation in them does not exactly add up to building literacy (2012, p101-102). Instead, developing curriculum that allows learners to investigate roles - as consumers and differently as producers - is necessary for developing critical thinking and careful, expressive construction of media. Literacy is a logical first step in media education, equipping learners with the lenses and skills they need to understand the media that is already all around them. As mentioned in last week's post, a number of approaches can be implemented that help to build literacy as a consumer of media, especially new media where entertainment factors can often distract or deter deconstruction leading to useful observations or revelations that might be hidden, embedded, even excluded.
So why is participation important? For one, it builds and strengthens the curriculum supporting media literacy. Learning aspects of constructing shareable objects and artifacts teaches learners about authorship, which can further enliven the content by interrogating aspects like bias, research, intent, and aesthetics. This has direct transferability in understanding the choices that other authors or producers make when it comes to media. What prejudices or assumptions are included in the content of a YouTube instructional video? Is profit the motivation for this website or poster? Why does every piece of content from the same Instagram poster always include this or that creative flare? By finding ways to invite learners to making their own media, they can contend with the many questions that others traverse and be better able to analyze the processes and decisions involved, rather than be passive consumers and receivers of information. Understanding how different formats also convey messages differently, and navigating the nuances of each, is also a form of literacy that is best understood after experiences of producing them.
Another benefit of pivoting media literacy around producing them in addition to analyzing them is in the potential for attitude shifts and building on a sense of community and civic engagement. "In the virtual world where students have the maximum freedom of being present, lurking, or totally invisible, students need to be equipped with the participatory spirit - a sense of belonging and desire of commitment to a community" (Qian, 2009, p261). This shift in how educators regard media coincides with how the process and practice of education has also shifted, viewing teachers less as masters of content knowledge that they deposit into the minds of learners to be replaced by the viewpoint that learners should also actively engage in their own learning and have agency to define and direct goals, decisions, and experiences. Indeed, Jenkins states: "A growing body of scholarship suggests potential benefits of these 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" (2009, p3).
Implementing these approaches to learning media and building literacy and expressiveness within them can feel like a daunting task, especially considering the dangers involved. Youth don't come from the same backgrounds and experience levels when it comes to technology, and often have unequal access to them and to the necessary knowledge or skills that might be activated in an exploration of making media for sharing or posting. The messages and themes that are also inevitably depicted in the various kinds of media that are consumed and produced also impact and represent different youth and communities very differently, sometimes harmfully. And the ways platforms, software, the internet, and spaces are navigated can place learners in vulnerable places as they explore or create. As important as it is to uplift media literacy and analysis, making sure to do so carefully is critical to avoid negative byproducts or outcomes from a curriculum that is still very young.
As an educator, what ways have you included new media (TikTok, YouTube, Chat GPT) in your spaces and lessons? What were the outcomes? What were the byproducts (or unintended outcomes)?
As a learner, what forms of media would you most want to learn? What applications do you see for these kinds of media in your life, or in your educational practice?
Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. MIT Press.
Scheibe, C. & Rogow, F. (2012). The teacher’s guide to media literacy: Critical thinking in a multimedia world. Corwin.
Qian, Y. (2009). New media literacy in 3-D virtual learning environments. The Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level. Harvard Press.
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