After reading Jenkins, I most identified with the Participation Gap section found on page 12 outlining the three core problems of participatory culture. It's interesting that Jenkins discusses this participatory culture as if all young people are engaging wholeheartedly in media and all its advancements, yet there are still a large number of students who have inadequate access (if any access at all) to new media technologies.
I think this struck me most because I co-teach a computer class with 7th graders and, with technology seemingly available to all, I was amazed at how many students did not know a lot about computers, even some of the most basic skills. Not until reading about the participation gap did it dawn on me that many of our students simply don't have access to technology. Since smartphones, IPad's, tablets and the like are commonplace in our society, I mistakenly assumed that the majority of our students had access at their fingertips, or at the very least, had experience with technology.
And so in realizing this, I can now see the lack of the new skills being utilized like distributed cognition or networking especially since the new skills actually build on the foundations of literacy, research and technical skills and critical analysis; skills that may not be sharpened; skills that may already be limited.
In Green's model, the operational, cultural and critical dimensions are definitely affected negatively as students' lack of access to technology determines how competent they will be in literacy. Competency in how to handle written language, how to grasp meanings within practices and how to both transform and perform literacy is then compromised when all students are learning at different levels, not because of the inability of some to learn, but because of the lack of access for some.
Jenkins' writing points out that access to outdated technology at a public venue is no comparison to what one is able to achieve with technology in their home with the ability to access data, Internet, etc. My biggest question is how do we effectively make changes for our students? Researchers and educators, like Jenkins and Green, have identified ways in which new media and literacies can positively aid in youth learning, as well as what hinders all youth from learning at the same pace or in the same capacity. I just feel frustrated that if educators can identify the problem and the solution, why are so many of our children still struggling to succeed.
I had a very similar experience to you. At the beginning of my student teaching experience I was assigning written assignments to be typed and I wasn’t getting a lot of assignment in at all. I addressed some of the students and I asked why they didn’t turn in their assignment and their explanation was that they never had a chance to get to the library. That’s when I had the realization that not everyone has a computer or printer at home. They are becoming more and more common but from now on I try to remember that for some it’s just not accessible or affordable. I ended up extending the assignment and informing that it could be turned in hand written and I receive much more results. With future assignments, if formal I incorporated computer lab time for publishing. Schools are receiving more funding for technology but this doesn’t help with our homework assignments.
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