# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is important because it actually engage students in creating online material and share them to others. As a result, they can solve problems together, help each other and come up with good materials which can be used by other students too.

# data[].attributes.body
Sharing good material that other people can use is a a way to develop  a participatory culture but they need safe placse on the Web to post their ideas.
they can contribute to the local management or create good ressources for other students. this is what we encourage to do using controlled sites.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is important to educate the critical sense.

# data[].attributes.body
Media education is important because we can quickly change information.
Media is important for children, but we need to teach them to use them correctly.

# data[].attributes.body
Media have a great power and they do contribute to a participatory culture. Collobarative solving problems is an exaple: peolple are engaged because of a common problem and share ideas.

# data[].attributes.body
Media Literacy helps us to be more responsible.

# data[].attributes.body
A world without borders has formed with the Internet.

We are faced with everything in this world.People who are constantly innovating should take a healthier place in this new world.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is important so we can have any informations there is but, at the same time, we will be able to critically reflect and evaluate the importance and truthfulness of given informations.

# data[].attributes.body
media are important to share news about world, politic and culture. But we have to pay attention to its risk

# data[].attributes.body
Media are  part of our everyday life: we get a lot of information from them, we have relationship with people in real life and on social media. To take advantage from the positive aspects of media and to avoid its risks we can really work on media literacy.

# data[].attributes.body
In our country, participatory culture is at a lower level, but it might be consolidated by education. In my opinion, media literacy contribute in a large way to participatory culture, but us, teachers, must show the way to our students. Media literacy represents the ability to select, interpret and interogate, in an active way, all media messages.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is important and indispensable,because it alow access to many information about how u can face of online problems .

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy means you are aware of the dangers you can face and how to avoid troubles.

# data[].attributes.body
It is important to educate the critical sense. Media literacy is indispensable because it allows access to a lot of information and sharing opportunities

# data[].attributes.body
I think students are increasingly contributing in their cultural environment as it is via social media. The challenge is to make them think more about how they contribute and teach them to analyze the context in which they create and publish. Media literacy is an important part of educating students to take part in creating the world today.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is necessary to develop with the students. We have to use the possibilities of the digital tools, but we, the teachers, have to choose which tools are appropriate for which tasks. I use a variety of tools, so that the students learn to use different tools each time. But it is hard to keep up with all the new tools, and discover the new possibilities requires a lot of time in a busy schedule.

# data[].attributes.body
By helping our pupils become media literate, we can help protect them from pressures from advertising and other media. We also can help them build communication skills, encourage them to consider multiple interpretations of media messages, put portrayals of themselves and others in perspective, and improve media use habits, such as changing ritualistic viewing behaviors. In addition, we can improve the media use habits of the entire family and promote more proactive behavior among all family members.

# data[].attributes.body
The media literally contributes indirectly to a culture that reads. For example, people expressing themselves, hovering, exhibiting their designs, being aware of the world. All these experiences affect people's thinking and daily life.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy will allow pupils to better understand and analyze messages and media content they meet in everyday life and acquire the skills they need to perform Fully their role as citizens. It also contributes to safeguarding the pluralism and independence of the media.

# data[].attributes.body
Media Literacy is important to exchange knowledge in a cheap, quick and easy way/

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy can make an audience of the people who are interested in the same activities, same things. We can use media literacy for telling our opinions.

# data[].attributes.body
In the present world, where globalization occurs at all levels, participation in decision-making can be supported by the internet network and social communication tools. The challenge for the school and especially for the teachers is to prepare future citizens who know how to know what information is real and which are just rubbish. It is equally important that their participation is not demonized, as is often the case with the "old" media.

# data[].attributes.body
It is a big challenge not to be a part of consumer culture. But we (teachers) can encourage pupils to think about their part giving back to the world. Having all that technology and knowledge how to use ... what a great way to contribute your ideas to the world, to collaborate with other for a better tomorrow, to have a chance to be heard and that your contributions matters.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is important because we can exchange information quickly and we can get in touch with one another easily.

# data[].attributes.body
Participatory culture is an extremely exciting opportunity for teachers and students and I think that no one should be left behind. Our main problem, however is an ethical one. How can we encourage participation and control it at the same time? Firstly, we have to acquire the necessary digital skills and keep up to date with our students´ needs and interests. Then we must have a clear idea of our principles and responsibilities and finally we must provide the safety required along the process.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy lets theoretically everybody share ideas and resources, granted the safety of everyone involved in this process it can be a truly huge and important progress in culture, but it also requires a higher grade of awareness and responsability

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy helps people share things, news and information.They can now give instant feedb ack, comment on different topics and in different types of media ( online videos, online newspapers etc ).Nowadays people can't live without smartphones , they depend on the internet.So nowadays people are easily connected to the real world more or less authentic.

# data[].attributes.body
It's really very important to help a new generation to grow up more informed and more conscious about web resources y the mean of web literacy too.

# data[].attributes.body
media literacy can help to learn more about media and to understand how media work. In this way students can learn to a responsible citizen in a digiatl world.

# data[].attributes.body
make something to change world

# data[].attributes.body
Today kids belong to the digital generation. The technological revolution is right here, right now and it's going to stay, so they need to be resourceful and accurate in media literacy to become the citizens of the future, of the digital future.
Media literacy is a way of communication, behaving, even living, more and more important and to survive in their communities they need, the kids, to master theirmedia knowledge.

# data[].attributes.body
Posting and sharing your work may improve and result in creating a web of knowledge.

# data[].attributes.body
- understand how media works
- enforce critical reflections about news bias
- Capacity bulding to create and change digital media and not only consume content;
- use media to fight against inequalities and make happen desired social changes;
- promote information and knowladge sharing at local and global scale.

# data[].attributes.body
Wherever the users may leave their trace online, the key relies on creativity and the use of reliable sources if any. Nowadays we all are the media regardless of our job for a living.

# data[].attributes.body
The media are important because they allow you to directly access and share information
Of course, users should be aware of the correct use of the technology they use, that they can critically evaluate information, know the rules of copyright and the risks that arise when publishing sensitive data on the web

# data[].attributes.body
Literacy is important since it contributes to spread knowledge and develop skills about how to use, create and identify resources.

# data[].attributes.body
I remember how when I was younger, you could find informations on various topics only in books. And you had to wait that book is returned into book library by someone else. It was like a competition to have more knowledge and it wasn't accessible to everyone. Today, you have people sharing their thoughts in just a click of a phone. People share a lots of garbage but on the other side, they work together on finding cures for cancer, developing science under understanding DNA, finding new ideas in technology, math, informatics... Isn't that somekind of freedom of our minds?

# data[].attributes.body
Information Literacy
Organize the guided tour through the information on the institutional site of the museum
the children must:

1. Identify the museum's institutional site using the browser

2.Find information and maps to get to the museum

3. Know the timetables

4. Find the information you need to visit.

Brainstorming: how you use the internet to collect information.

What to look out for in the internet search:

1. Choose a search engine

2. Know how to choose the right keywords

3. Know how to choose between the proposed links

4. Assess what has been found

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy can help people:

understand how to demand for their rights through proper use of media.

approach media critically, ask for better quality of information

create media and ask for media that contribute to promote fundamental freedoms and lifelong learning

understand their right and responsibilities in relation to media and based on that create meaningful content.

solve problems and make decisions

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is a powerful instrument to create knowledge. Internet brought democracy to many aspects of out life. Potentialities are so many, but also contros and risks.
So first of all we have to make our pupils aware about all the risks (like privacy, plagiarism, personal data, cyberullying etc.). We have to educate our children to the right use of social media.
After that we should think to the big potentialities of these media to create a partecipatory culture. Social media allow us to create personal contents, to build knowledge and to share with others.
E.g. it is really interesting the mission of Harry Potter Alliance: they were inspired by the books to get the world better from the book

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is a powerful instrument to create knowledge. Internet brought democracy to many aspects of out life. Potentialities are so many, but also contros and risks.
So first of all we have to make our pupils aware about all the risks (like privacy, plagiarism, personal data, cyberullying etc.). We have to educate our children to the right use of social media.
After that we should think to the big potentialities of these media to create a partecipatory culture. Social media allow us to create personal contents, to build knowledge and to share with others.
E.g. it is really interesting the mission of Harry Potter Alliance: they were inspired by the books to get the world better from the book

# data[].attributes.body
People with media literacy can be degree of to make their choices, to understand the nature of content and services is important  because not only they may be able to protect themselves from content harmful but can participate, have the ability to produce and share with others.

# data[].attributes.body
I totally agree with Henry Jenkins. Unfortunately, in my experience, school is not yet ready to face this issue and young pupils are often totally alone in front of the deep ocean of the net and the social media. That's where school and family must make the difference!

# data[].attributes.body
Internet has  got a real new generation strong impact, it is very important both for teachers  and for parents to  make the new generation the consequences  of their approach to the web.
It is a real crucial point because you can create and destoy  everything on the net, you  can change your personality, be someone else...

# data[].attributes.body
In the old real world the partecipation culture was facilitate by an implicit recognition due the relation: parent-son, teacher-pupil. Now the technogy has changed the relationships model, from the hierarchy to the network, opening a huge spectrum of opportunities and resources. So never before it is crucial to educate youngs to the rules respect, the evaluation of the sources and the knowledge of the risks.

# data[].attributes.body
I liked an example from the video about Hary Potter, when a deeper view to a story evolved working with social issues. I think, in a school we can start working in similar way - create communities for kids from different schools in the same area having purpose to solve some actual problems for them - e.g., safety after school or communication with adults. The media literacy is needed to propose and stand for the suggested idea, and a teacher could be like a tutor, ensuring for correct using of media and culture of communication. In this way - learning by doing students could see the real benefit of using digital media and social netwrks.

# data[].attributes.body
School systems need to include what young people informally do online and love sharing: this will increase media literacy and civic engagement

# data[].attributes.body
I'm not convinced that a partecipated culture is the best we can expect from Internet use. We have to admit that collectivity is not always the right subjet to buit new knowledge.. However, this is what actually happens and it means (in my opinion) we have to increase the attention in researching of good sources against the bad ones. Not only. It would be a good thing if teachers promote a sense of responsability in each young student, so that he takes the initiave to stop spreading wrong news.

# data[].attributes.body
In my opinion, there are a lot of benefits related to it, but think that language ones are really important. Sts can communicate & collaborate via project - based learning. They develop not only their digital competencies, but also their language skills. Media literacy helps them to find a new literacy - virtual one, but also to present their creativity at school & successful language achievement. :)

# data[].attributes.body
Internet is a real life reality. Our students participate to a new culture creation via their blogs YouTube videos etc. So its very important to teach the how they should to this following some real life's rules and values such us respect responsibility etc. With this way media literacy will contribute to a participatory culture

# data[].attributes.body
Participation is real and is virtual at the same time. But risks are real and teachers have to expain them to their pupils. So that they learn how to be responsible and right.

# data[].attributes.body
All people using Internet (to study, to work, to enjoy their time) are participating to a common, incredible, virtual and real world, which assumes a political meaning of course. What is basic is that we must be responsible and know the risks connected with its use. Teachers and parents should teach it to kids in order to defend them from risks.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy can contribute to a participatory culture through social media. Everyone use social media or Internet on a variety of devices so information can arrive everywhere in less than an instant. The important thing is to be correct and responsible

# data[].attributes.body
The media literacy could be a bridge between old and new generations; between rich and poor people who live in poor countries. It  could supply for a more open and more free world.

Improving knowledge about new possibilities that the Net offers it could be a way to make great also the suburbs areas  far from the traditional place of culture.

# data[].attributes.body
We are living in the digital century, and obviously participation culture is connected to our media literacy.
I am trying to imagine the world with highly developed media literacy:
1) no hate speech;
2) purposeful publications;
3) easily accessible information;
4) no plagiarisms;
5) we are not dependent on technology, but use them meaningfully
...
Sounds like fairy tail?

# data[].attributes.headline
Petros, Athens Hellas How can media literacy contribute to a participatory culture?All people that can use Internet, social media a mobile phone with access in the web, it takes part of the cosmos culture. It can visit web sites plan of information about, politic, economy, culture, social event. The goal of school must be to inform, teach, make suspicious citizens that all posted, all that it is written is not true or is not the only true, that may be propaganda or hoaxes or fakes. Furthermore, when they are themselves publish their articles (in a blog, in their personal web sites), photos, or when they make comments they will contribute to the cosmos culture. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Petros, Athens Hellas How can media literacy contribute to a participatory culture?All people that can use Internet, social media a mobile phone with access in the web, it takes part of the cosmos culture. It can visit web sites plan of information about, politic, economy, culture, social event. The goal of school must be to inform, teach, make suspicious citizens that all posted, all that it is written is not true or is not the only true, that may be propaganda or hoaxes or fakes. Furthermore, when they are themselves publish their articles (in a blog, in their personal web sites), photos, or when they make comments they will contribute to the cosmos culture. 

# data[].attributes.body
The digital dimension in education should not be lived as  specialist dimension away from educational daily life, but as  integrated dimension in the training process in relation to all actors in
scene. The meaning and function of digital education must strive for sense  ethical and participative. And it itself seems to be a "do multidimensional" of
Quality capable of contributing to the development of today's community more and more
An expression of participatory culture triggered by the constant use of media
in everyone's life.

# data[].attributes.body
I'm sure that media literacy contribute to a participatory culture because it promotes critical thinking in students, users or navigators by making them active, autonoumos and creative in their relationship with the media, decoding their messages and using them according to their own vision and utility.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy contributes to collaboration and information sharing.
Furthermore it contributes to the exchange and research.

# data[].attributes.body
Is it needed most, a participatory culture? Maybe yes, but we must be very carefull. We and our students and children at home can be tricked into believe into fake news, in order to enhance their status.

# data[].attributes.body
We are living in a world of information. In every speck of our lives there is information. It's in our hands to gather and believe or not in this. That's where media literacy comes. If you zap on TV you will hear too many information about a thing that might be entarelly wrong. Children at school must be taught how to destinquish between true and fake news. They must be media literally educated.

# data[].attributes.body
I think that we need international laws to protect citizens. The internet is necessary and positive but awareness on how to use it is essential, adults as well must be protected because they are more vulnerable than children on this matter. Governments should design campaigns to make people understand these fundamental concepts

# data[].attributes.body
Henry Jenkins in “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” defines participatory culture as one:

1.     With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement

2.    With strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others

3.    With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices

4.    Where members believe that their contributions matter

5.    Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).

The role of the educator, as a result of new media, has changed substantially from one that is focused on the one-way transfer of information to one that trains students how to participate in digital environments with intelligence, skill, and literacy. Educators and learners have to exploit this media to engage in cross-cultural exchange and become active participants in our society.

Although the students are members of online communities and have media experiences, it is not enough.  We should ensure that every student:

-  Acquire the skills and experiences needed to become full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society.

-  Reflect on their media experiences and articulate what they learn from their participation.

- Develop the ethical norms that will shape their practices as media makers and as participants within online communities.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy and participating is really important. What is also important is to not be "too safe" when you use the internet and take part in activities. Sometimes all the safety regulations and people who are scared of the hew world, the internet,... stop the evolution. We need to balance safety and progress. If we are too safe, there won't be any progress.

# data[].attributes.body
By being media literate, we use tools and apps that promote sharing. The sharing culture brings new ideas on collaborative works. Adults, being digital immigrants, are just now getting accustomed to it. But children, as digital natives, begin their digital lives within this sharing culture; they learn to participate in common works.

# data[].attributes.body
Today, anyone can be a publisher and a developer, and it is important to contribute to a participatory culture. Kids love creating with graphics or simulation programs and share their creations online. Social intelligence and new media literacy skills will be valuable for future work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Want a job in 2016 ? Then must learn these skills they have lot of potential and excellent scope in future Video Courtesy: World Economic Forum Like facbook page: https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum Please also subscribe our channel for more videos.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy help us to be connected with other people in order to enlarge our point of view. With media literacy good ideas arrive to people very fast and can help to improve society

# data[].attributes.body
Today we connect with other people in different and meaningful ways, so that  there are new ways of developing culture and circulating information.

Working together and collaborating means to share and distribute Knowledge.

Some tools such as You Tube or Wikipedia help in some way.

But students must be given ethical guidelines and should be taught how to assess the quality of information. That's the purpose of teaching Media literacy: contributing to a quality participatory culture .

# data[].attributes.body
Young people nowadays are already interconnected within groups and are exchanging ideas. Media literacy means pupils can form a more critical stance towards the news flood on current political, social, and other issues and be able to share and produce well supported opinions and fight for a better world.

# data[].attributes.body
I think media literacy is necessary for all people on the Internet nowadays. Because we want to communicate, share ideas, experiences etc., we should teach our students to analyse all these news and encourage them in using media responsibly.

# data[].attributes.body
If we teach media literacy, our students have the possibility of think before write and share everything in internet. They can use critical thinking at the same time are participation in forums, blogs, comments, post, etc. students need analyze what they read in order to make a good production.

# data[].attributes.body
Media Literacy helps students to connect together in meaningful ways.  The internet and social media provide ample opportunities for students and teachers to work together and to spread knowledge.  This helps us to learn, to connect and to collaborate.  This leads to a participatory culture.

# data[].attributes.body
The development of a media literacy its a way to build an informed opinion. This is the way to fight the opinions that are only made by the information that the certain media wants that we have.

Like is said on the video by Henry Jenkins, this isn’t something that we leave out the school because there are students that don’t have de adequate support out of school to do it by they owns.

We, as teachers, have to give the example to our students, by building with them their media literacy and start with them the awareness for the importance of the participatory culture.

So, the media literacy its the important kick off to a participatory culture.

# data[].attributes.body
Can media literacy contribute to a participatory culture? Absolutely, but it is certainly not easy....As in real life and face to face communication we have to be legitimate, honest and careful so in this media world we have to know the rules, play a fair game and find out our rights and  liabilities, our limitations and our perspectives. If we manage to effectively teach our students all the above then the journey to a more participatory culture will be more likely to succeed.

# data[].attributes.body
All people can post something they know, something that surprises them or something that worries them and we can all visualize it. It is an enriching activity that should make us grow as an intellectual community. The problem is that some people believe they have absolute truths and do not respect others with different opinions.

# data[].attributes.body
I think media literacy is a great opportunity to create a participatory culture. Media messages are often used to support political, humanitarian and awareness campaigns and pupils can contribute to them not only sharing messages and ideas but also taking active part in the democratic process. They can also exercise their  critical thinking, while participating in the economic, social and cultural aspects of society.

# data[].attributes.body
I think media literacy enables you to get involved in the life of the global community; your personal expression is no more individual but shared. Media literacy education has to keep pace with contemporary youth culture, including the culture of media production, which combines new tools and changing contexts of use.

# data[].attributes.body
If you have developed great media literacy then you can use different tools in stating your opinion, use different social networks, use internet not only to browse but to establish yourself. Then you have the power to make something that will help someone you don't know and maybe help them to start critical thinking and invest in them self to increase their media literacy.

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy is an important thing. Each one must know how to use it. We must train others to questioning everything and don't trust everything you see or read online. We must be critical. We always need to take care of the key questions.

# data[].attributes.body
The media are important for children.
Is necessary to to learn to use them correctly and be able to analyze information

# data[].attributes.body
Everything we intereact with leads to a participatory culture. Being surrounded by media litteracy, we produce, at our turn, media products, for example fb clips.

# data[].attributes.body
If the media serves the good , it  -  an enormous source of knowledge. If the media serves evil, it - criminals raising machine.

# data[].attributes.body
The Media Literacy is an essential contribution to the cultural development and progress of a democratic society, and the educational policies of many countries now are beginning to take account of this new requirement. The Directive on Audiovisual Services provides a clear definition of what is meant by Media Literacy: "media literacy refers to the skills, knowledge and understanding that allow consumers to use media effectively and safely. Persons with media-literate are able to make their choices with full knowledge of the facts, understand the nature of content and services and to deploy the full range of opportunities offered by new communications technologies. they are better able to protect themselves and their families from harmful or offensive material. It should therefore promote the development of media literacy in all sectors of society and for close monitoring of its progress "(European Commission, 2011). The media literacy in schools has become necessary to promote the inclusion of people in post-modern society we live in order to develop competencies in order to bridge the disparities to take advantage of the competence and confidence technologies

# data[].attributes.body
For example, we can make a movie we are doing in school, what skills we learn from STEM subjects, which are grown in the school garden and to share with the children around the world. Children can write the story of their town or village where they live and go to school, taking care of security on the Internet and rules

# data[].attributes.body
We live in a world dominated by technology. Now everyone is a publisher. Anyone can create and publish and all those creations are part of the participatory culture.

# data[].attributes.headline
we should be able to know and respect each single culture...the net could help to gain knowledge but respect is a value that is leartned in a different way

# data[].attributes.subject
we should be able to know and respect each single culture...the net could help to gain knowledge but respect is a value that is leartned in a different way

# data[].attributes.body
Critical media literacy as we are defining it here is a progressive educa

tional response that expands the notion of literacy to include different forms of mass

communication, popular culture, and new technologies and also deepens literacy

education to critically analyze relationships between media and audiences, informa-

tion, and power. Along with this analysis, alternative media production is an essential component of critical

media literacy as it empowers students to create their

own messages that can challenge media texts and narratives.

# data[].attributes.body
Bridge to culture for participatory is media literacy through stories, images, video, documentary, information forming skills literacy

# data[].attributes.body
If we want to meke the difference with our students we must encourage them in using media to realise a participatory culture. They are more motivated if encouraged in using media  in producing their learning activity

# data[].attributes.body
Media literacy do contribute to a participatory culture. An example: on the internet people write stories, which are read by millions of people, especially teenagers. Some of these books are even printed and sold in the commerce.
The same is for music and the arts

# data[].attributes.headline
By using media responsibly in terms of informing others about important issues affecting the society. 

# data[].attributes.subject
By using media responsibly in terms of informing others about important issues affecting the society. 

# data[].attributes.body
"If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead!"
This is the topic about partecipatory culture and the "grassroots" production of contents spread via web. This option can be valuable for spreading democracy: everyone can partecipate creating own contents and spreading them globally through a bottom-up mechanism opposite to the traditional top-down one.
But it's necessary to create also control modes because manipulation and dangers are possible, above all for young people.

# data[].attributes.body
via knowing how to handle effectively the plentiful resources of information and how to share and team up in action through online platforms and communities

# data[].attributes.body
"Freedom is participation" sang Giorgio Gaber, and the culture of participation and knowledge sharing is a perfect antidote to the ills of society. Sharing knowledge can raise the level of the people and bring all to live better. In all, however, it prevents this is a hidden danger, serious and devious, manipulation and denial of serious acts for example, and need to be vigilant with concrete skills, and attention, to prevent those in the information clutter lives, to profit at the expense of all we.

# data[].attributes.headline
Having the children discuss these issues feels the way to go ... Piers UK

# data[].attributes.subject
Having the children discuss these issues feels the way to go ... Piers UK

# data[].attributes.body
What do the children think, do, feel?

# data[].attributes.body
In today’s technology driven world, people require to have the means to communicate with others at any given moment.
"Rather than dealing with each technology in isolation, we would do better to take an ecological approach, thinking about the interrelationship among all of these different communication technologies, the cultural communities that grow up around them, and the activities they support. Media systems consist of communication technologies and the social, cultural, legal, political, and economic institutions, practices, and protocols that shape and surround them."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I spent Thursday in New York speaking on a panel with the University of Chicago's Nicole Pinkard and the University of Southern California's Mimi Ito as part of the public launch of the MacArthur Foundation's exciting slate of new initiatives in the area of youth, learning, and digital media. People interested in understanding the full context of this initiative should keep an eye on the Foundation's new blog. The event was simulcast on Second Life and on Teen Second Life.

This is the context in which we have been pursuing our own Project nml (New Media Literacies) initiatives which I have been discussing from time to time in this blog. The New York City press event was the launching point for a white paper which I wrote for MacArthur identifying what we see as the key social skills and cultural competencies which young people need to be full participants in convergence culture. In Convergence Culture, I devote one chapter to thinking about the impact of participatory culture on our current understandings of education. Here I - and my collaborators Ravi Purushotma, Margaret Weigel, Katherine Clinton, and Alice J. Robison - have been able to dig much deeper into the pedagogical implications of the world I discuss in the book as well as to lay out some of the key insights from contemporary research on informal learning, games-based pedagogy, online communities, and participatory culture.

My hope is that this white paper will spark conversations among educators at all levels - in schools and in after school programs, in public institutions, and in churches and other community centers - about how we need to change our practices to reflect the new ways that young people are engaging with the world around them.

In hopes of sparking such a conversation, I am publishing the white paper in installments through my blog. This first installment sets the stage, describing some of the challenges and opportunities participatory culture represents in the lives of our young people.

For those of you who are impatient and want to read the whole report at once, you can download it here.

The Needed Skills in the New Media Culture

"If it were possible to define generally the mission of education, it could be said that its fundamental purpose is to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, [Creative] and economic life."

- New London Group

Ashley Richardson was a middle-schooler when she ran for president of Alphaville. She wanted to control a government that had more than 100 volunteer workers and that made policies that affected thousands of people. She debated her opponent on National Public Radio. She found herself in the center of a debate about the nature of citizenship, about how to ensure honest elections, and about the future of democracy in a digital age. Alphaville is the largest city in the popular multiplayer game, The Sims Online.

Heather Lawver was 14 years old. She wanted to help other young people improve their reading and writing skills. She established an online publication with a staff of more than 100 people across the world. Her project was embraced by teachers and integrated into their curriculum. She emerged as an important spokesperson in a national debate about intellectual property. The website Lawver created was a school newspaper for the fictional Hogwarts, the location for the popular Harry Potter books.

Blake Ross was 14 years old when he was hired for a summer internship at Netscape. By that point, he already had developed computer programming skills and published his own website. Frustrated by many of the corporate decisions made at Netscape, Ross decided to design his own web browser. Through the joint participation of thousands of other volunteer youth and adults working on his project worldwide, the Firefox web browser was born. Today, Firefox enjoys more than 60 times as many users as Netscape Navigator. By age 19, Ross had the venture capital needed to launch his own start-up company. His interest in computing was sparked by playing the popular video game, Sim City.

Josh Meeter was about to graduate from high school when he completed the claymation animation for Awards Showdown, which subsequent was widely circulated on the web. Meeter negotiated with composer John Williams for the rights to use excerpts from his film scores. By networking, he was able to convince Stephen Spielberg to watch the film, and it was later featured on the Spielberg's Dreamworks website. Meeter is now starting work on his first feature film.

Richardson, Lawver, Ross, and Meeter are the future politicians, activists, educators, writers, entrepreneurs, and media makers. The skills they acquired-learning how to campaign and govern; how to read, write, edit, and defend civil liberties; how to program computers and run a business; how to make a movie and get it distributed-are the kinds of skills we might hope our best schools would teach. Yet, none of these activities took place in schools. Indeed, many of these youth were frustrated with school; some dropped out and others chose to graduate early. They developed much of the skill and knowledge through their participation in the informal learning communities of fans and gamers.

Richardson, Lawver, Ross, and Meeter are exceptional individuals. In any given period, exceptional individuals will break all the rules and enjoy off-the-charts success-even at surprisingly young ages. But, Richardson, Lawver, Ross, and Meeter are perhaps less exceptional than one might at first imagine.

According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life project, more than one-half of all American teens-and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet-could be considered media creators. For the purpose of the study, a media creator is someone who created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations. Most have done two or more of these activities. One-third of teens share what they create online with others, 22 percent have their own websites, 19 percent blog, and 19 percent remix online content.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, these activities are not restricted to white suburban males. In fact, urban youth (40 percent) are somewhat more likely than their suburban (28 percent) or rural (38 percent) counterparts to be media creators. Girls aged 15-17 (27 percent) are more likely than boys their age (17 percent) to be involved with blogging or other social activities online. The Pew researchers found no significant differences in participation by race-ethnicity.

If anything, the Pew study undercounts the number of American young people who are embracing the new participatory culture. The Pew study did not consider newer forms of expression, such as podcasting, game modding or machinima. Nor did it count other forms of creative expression and appropriation, such as music sampling in the hip hop community. These forms are highly technological but use other tools and tap other networks for their production and distribution. The study does not include even more widespread practices, such as computer or video gaming, that can require an extensive focus on constructing and performing as fictional personas. Our focus here is not on individual accomplishment but rather the emergence of a cultural context that supports widespread participation in the production and distribution of media.
Enabling Participation

"While to adults the Internet primarily means the world wide web, for children it means email, chat, games- and here they are already content producers. Too often neglected, except as a source of risk, these communication and entertainment focused activities, by contrast with the information-focused uses at the centre of public and policy agendas, are driving emerging media literacy. Through such uses, children are most engaged- multi-tasking, becoming proficient at navigation and manoeuvre so as to win, judging their participation and that of others, etc.... In terms of personal development, identity, expression and their social consequences- participation, social capital, civic culture- these are the activities that serve to network today's younger generation." - Sonia Livingstone.

Participatory Culture
For the moment, let's define participatory culture as one:

1. With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement

2. With strong support for creating and sharing one's creations with others

3. With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices

4. Where members believe that their contributions matter

5. Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).

Not every member must contribute, but all must believe they are free to contribute when ready and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued.

In such a world, many will only dabble, some will dig deeper, and still others will master the skills that are most valued within the community. The community itself, however, provides strong incentives for creative expression and active participation. Historically, we have valued creative writing or art classes because they help to identify and train future writers and artists, but also because the creative process is valuable on its own; every child deserves the chance to express him- or herself through words, sounds, and images, even if most will never write, perform, or draw professionally. Having these experiences, we believe, changes the way youth think about themselves and alters the way they look at work created by others.

Most public policy discussion of new media have centered on technologies-tools and their affordances. The computer is discussed as a magic black box with the potential to create a learning revolution (in the positive version) or a black hole that consumes resources that might better be devoted to traditional classroom activities (in the more critical version). Yet, as the quote above suggests, media operate in specific cultural and institutional contexts that determine how and why they are used. We may never know whether a tree makes a sound when it falls in a forest with no one around. But clearly, a computer does nothing in the absence of a user. The computer does not operate in a vacuum. Injecting digital technologies into the classroom necessarily affects our relationship with every other communications technology, changing how we feel about what can or should be done with pencils and paper, chalk and blackboard, books, films, and recordings.

Rather than dealing with each technology in isolation, we would do better to take an ecological approach, thinking about the interrelationship among all of these different communication technologies, the cultural communities that grow up around them, and the activities they support. Media systems consist of communication technologies and the social, cultural, legal, political, and economic institutions, practices, and protocols that shape and surround them. The same task can be performed with a range of different technologies, and the same technology can be deployed toward a variety of different ends. Some tasks may be easier with some technologies than with others, and thus the introduction of a new technology may inspire certain uses. Yet, these activities become widespread only if the culture also supports them, if they fill recurring needs at a particular historical juncture. It matters what tools are available to a culture, but it matters more what that culture chooses to do with those tools.

That is why we focus in this paper on the concept of participatory cultures rather than on interactive technologies. Interactivity is a property of the technology, while participation is a property of culture. Participatory culture is emerging as the culture absorbs and responds to the explosion of new media technologies that make it possible for average consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content in powerful new ways. A focus on expanding access to new technologies carries us only so far if we do not also foster the skills and cultural knowledge necessary to deploy those tools toward our own ends.

We are using participation as a term that cuts across educational practices, creative processes, community life, and democratic citizenship. Our goals should be to encourage youth to develop the skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks, and self-confidence needed to be full participants in contemporary culture. Many young people are already part of this process through:

Affiliations - memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards, metagaming, game clans, or MySpace).

Expressions - producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling, skinning and modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups).

Collaborative Problem-solving - working together in teams, formal and informal, to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling).

Circulations - Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging)

The MacArthur Foundation has launched an ambitious effort to document these activities and the roles they play in young people's lives. We do not want to preempt or duplicate that effort here. For the moment, it is sufficient to argue that each of these activities contains opportunities for learning, creative expression, civic engagement, political empowerment, and economic advancement.

Through these various forms of participatory culture, young people are acquiring skills that will serve them well in the future. Participatory culture is reworking the rules by which school, cultural expression, civic life, and work operate. A growing body of work has focused on the value of participatory culture and its long-term impact on children's understanding of themselves and the world around them.
Affinity Spaces
Many have argued that these new participatory cultures represent ideal learning environments. James Paul Gee calls such informal learning cultures "affinity spaces," asking why people learn more, participate more actively, engage more deeply with popular culture than they do with the contents of their textbooks. Affinity spaces offer powerful opportunities for learning, Gee argues, because they are sustained by common endeavors that bridge differences in age, class, race, gender, and educational level, and because people can participate in various ways according to their skills and interests, because they depend on peer-to-peer teaching with each participant constantly motivated to acquire new knowledge or refine their existing skills, and because they allow each participant to feel like an expert while tapping the expertise of others. For example, Rebecca Black finds that the "beta-reading" (or editorial feedback) provided by online fan communities helps contributors grow as writers, mastering not only the basic building blocks of sentence construction and narrative structure, but also pushing them to be close readers of the works that inspire them. Participants in the beta-reading process learn both by receiving feedback on their own work and by giving feedback to others, creating an ideal peer-to-peer learning community.

Affinity spaces are distinct from formal educational systems in several ways. While formal education is often conservative, the informal learning within popular culture is often experimental. While formal education is static, the informal learning within popular culture is innovative. The structures that sustain informal learning are more provisional, those supporting formal education are more institutional. Informal learning communities can evolve to respond to short-term needs and temporary interests, whereas the institutions supporting public education have remained little changed despite decades of school reform. Informal learning communities are ad hoc and localized; formal educational communities are bureaucratic and increasingly national in scope. We can move in and out of informal learning communities if they fail to meet our needs; we enjoy no such mobility in our relations to formal education.

Affinity spaces are also highly generative environments, from which new aesthetic experiments and innovations emerge Andrew Blau's 2005 report on The Future of Independent Media argued that this kind of grassroots creativity was an important engine of cultural transformation:

The media landscape will be reshaped by the bottom-up energy of media created by amateurs and hobbyists as a matter of course. This bottom up energy will generate enormous creativity, but it will also tear apart some of the categories that organize the lives and work of media makers...A new generation of media-makers and viewers are emerging which could lead to a sea change in how media is made and consumed.

Blau's report celebrates a world in which everyone has access to the means of creative expression and the networks supporting artistic distribution. The Pew study suggests something more: young people who create and circulate their own media are more likely to respect the intellectual property rights of others because they feel a greater stake in the cultural economy. Both reports suggest we are moving away from a world in which some produce and many consume media, toward one in which everyone has a more active stake in the culture that is produced.

David Buckingham argues that young people's lack of interest in news and their disconnection from politics reflects their perception of disempowerment.

"By and large, young people are not defined by society as political subjects, let alone as political agents. Even in the areas of social life that affect and concern them to a much greater extent than adults-most notably education-political debate is conducted almost entirely 'over their heads'"

Politics, as constructed by the news, becomes a spectator sport, something we watch but do not do. Yet, the new participatory culture offers many opportunities for youth to engage in civic debates, to participate in community life, to become political leaders, even if sometimes only through the "second lives" offered by massively multiplayer games or online fan communities.

Empowerment comes from making meaningful decisions within a real civic context: we learn the skills of citizenship by becoming political actors and gradually coming to understand the choices we make in political terms. Today's children learn through play the skills they will apply to more serious tasks later. The challenge is how to connect decisions in the context of our everyday lives with the decisions made at local, state, or national levels. The step from watching television news and acting politically seems greater than the transition from being a political actor in a game world to acting politically in the "real world."

Participating in these affinity spaces also has economic implications. We suspect that young people who spend more time playing within these new media environments will feel greater comfort interacting with one another via electronic channels, will have greater fluidity in navigating information landscapes, will be better able to multitask and make rapid decisions about the quality of information they are receiving, and will be able to collaborate better with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. These claims are borne out by research conducted by Beck and Wade into the ways that early game play experiences affect subsequent work habits and professional activities. Beck and Wade conclude that gamers were more open to taking risks and engaging in competition but also more open to collaborating with others and more willing to revise earlier assumptions.

This focus on the value of participating within the new media culture stands in striking contrast to recent reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation that have bemoaned the amount of time young people spend on "screen media." The Kaiser reports collapse a range of different media consumption and production activities into the general category of "screen time" without reflecting very deeply on the different degrees of social connectivity, creativity, and learning involved. We do not mean to dismiss the very real concerns they raise: that mediated experience may squeeze out time for other learning activities; that contemporary children often lack access to real world play spaces, with adverse health consequences, that adults may inadequately supervise and interact with children about the media they consume (and produce); or concerns about the moral values and commercialization in much contemporary entertainment. Yet, the focus on negative effects of media consumption offers an incomplete picture. These accounts do not appropriately value the skills and knowledge young people are gaining through their involvement with new media, and as a consequence, they may mislead us about the roles teachers and parents should play in helping children learn and grow.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (Part One)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I spent Thursday in New York speaking on a panel with the University of Chicago's Nicole Pinkard and the University of Southern California's Mimi Ito as part of the public launch of the MacArthur Foundation's exciting slate of new initiatives in the area of youth, learning, and digital media.

# data[].attributes.body
A participatory culture is what the world really needs? Probably yes, but with caution. Our pupils can be tricked into believe into fake news, non-scientific informations such as chemtrails conspiracy theory, or, in order to enhance their status, they could adhere to the common thoughts, without developing their owns. It's up to us, teachers and parents, to help them and to provide them the correct scientific and cultural informations.

# data[].attributes.body
Participartory culture will be the future for our students therefore I will try to develop with them some kinds of activities which will be helpful for this purpose.

# data[].attributes.body
You can use several tools to facilitate and improve the motivation and collaborative learning, are an example eTwinning projects, through which you can create an active learning environment, a team working together to a common goal, which, while maintaining the individual responsibility, you are confronted, they share ideas and practice in view of a participatory culture.

# data[].attributes.body
IN OUR SCHOOL WE NEED INTERNET BUT IT IS OUT OF SERVICE MOST OF THE TIME BUT I THINK THAT IT IS VERY USEFUL TO GET INFORMATION,  TASKS, TYPES OF EVALUATION, VIDEOS, GAMES AND A  LONG ETC