Hey guys, so one of the most interesting media skills is “Transmedia Navigation.” Transmedia Navigation is the ability to go after a flow of media and information across multiple platforms.” (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 85) Jenkins (2009, Pg 85) believes that storytellers develop transmedia storytelling by branding the same story on multiple touch points and networks. As viewers we come across the same information, same stories and the same characters but the portrayal is in different modes. According to the article “Transmedia Education: the 7 Principles Revisited” by Henry Jenkins (2010), Transmedia is where students actively seek content by hunting and gathering which leads them to multiple networks and platforms and from their students would have to decide which platform would have the information they seek. This process includes testing for reliability for the information, and finding the appropriate information. In my opinion, Transmedia is a valid skill. I say that because I feel Transmedia Navigation is a great way to understand the depth of the stories and make it more valuable. There are three types of learners in this world and not everyone can retain information with a certain type of media. For example one story is told in the form of a video game, audio book and movie. For visual learners a movie will explain the story very well to them and they will be able to retain the moral of the story, for auditory learners an audio book will help them retain the moral of the story and a kinesthetic learner would be more comfortable playing the video game and understanding the story. I believe Transmedia Navigation is a great tool for different types of learners and definitely helps to get the moral of the story across. An example of Transmedia Navigation is a journal article by Brent Lang called “Stretching the ‘Spider-Man’ Universe: Transmedia Spins a Vast Web of Heroes and Villains” This article emphasizes on the concept of Transmedia navigation and talks about how Sony Pictures Entertainment will be launching a series of spin-off films in order for viewers to better understand “Spiderman’s” world of superheroes and villains. Sony has also used the transmedia storytelling approach for “Spiderman” across many media platforms like spanning movies, television shows, and social media as well. (Lang, 2013) This example proves the “Transmedia Navigation” skill by using it as a source of getting the moral of story across by different modes of media.



References:

·      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc
·      Lang, B. (2013, November 27). Stretching the ‘Spider-Man’ Universe: Transmedia Spins a Vast Web of Heroes and Villains. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from https://www.thewrap.com/spider-man-universe-big-just-film-transmedia-expert-says/

·      Jenkins, H. (2010, June 21). Transmedia Education: The 7 Principles Revisited. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://henryjenkins.org/2010/06/transmedia_education_the_7_pri.html
Hi guys, so today I am going to be mentioning the fifth media literacy skill which is “Multitasking.” Everyone knows what multitasking is but how is multitasking related to media? Multitasking is the ability to browse the environment and shift focus on other tasks. (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 61) According to Jenkins (2009, pg 61), after the rise of digital media one of the most shocking changes in adults view is the decline of youth’s attention span. Attention is said to be a critical aspect of our cognitive ability. (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 61) Since digital technology has risen in many people's daily routine, researchers have tried to assess how individuals are coping in this vastly connected world and found out that it is withdrawing our capacity to function effectively and efficiently. (Whibey, 2013) Instead of paying close attention to a certain task, youth are encouraging “multitasking” where they try to accomplish different tasks in one go. I believe it is very valid skill, because multitasking is a great way of accomplishing more than one thing at a time. My theory of multitasking is that it is very important in this competitive age, everyone is moving faster to their goals and people are getting ahead of you every second of the day. When using the multitasking skill, you can accomplish so much in so little time. According to Interexchange (2012), multitasking is actually a benefit to us especially in the modern workplaces since workplaces in this age want to maximize productivity to the core with limited resources. Through multitasking, employees can handle several different responsibilities. An example of multitasking is a journal article by Anil Kumar Puthumana made on 5th January 2010. Puthumana (2010) talks about how multitasking is gaining importance in this growing age, where companies are trying to maximize productivity with minimal resources and companies are now looking for employees with multitasking abilities. This article describes the benefits of multitasking to the organizations, how multitasking helps employees as well as tips of being an effective multitasker. This example proves that if youth start multitasking at an early age, they would have a higher chance of getting a job in front of a non-multitasker.


References:

·      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc
·      Puthumana, A. (2010, January 5). Multitasking: Giving an edge over others. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.deccanherald.com/content/45083/multitasking-giving-edge-over-others.html
·      The Value of Multitasking in the Modern Workplace. (2012, June 25). Retrieved December 5, 2015, from https://www.interexchange.org/career-training-usa/news/value-multitasking-modern-workplace/

·      Wihbey, J. (2013, July 11). Multitasking, social media and distraction: Research review - Journalist's Resource. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/social-media/multitasking-social-media-distraction-what-does-research-say
Hey guys, so the fourth media literacy skill that is considered important is “Appropriation.” Appropriation is the ability to meaningfully represent and mix media content.(Jenkins, 2009: pg 55) According to journalists, young people in this era participate in illegal actions where they use the work of others for example ripping and burning others music files and sharing them as well. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 55) Jenkins (2009, pg 55) believes that art does not come from an artists imagination rather it comes from their previous experiences and culture. In general they believe that artists work very hard in order to produce their art therefore no one has the right to make use of their art. I contradict to that belief, I believe that downloading or sharing others music is not wrong. Yes if you use it to your advantage and present that you have created that piece of art then I agree that is wrong, but downloading music is not wrong in my opinion. Illegally downloading a music album for example for your iPod from a website online instead of legally purchasing it, is not something wrong. Artists have created these pieces of art for the public to listen to or watch, it is very expensive to legally purchase every album that releases in the market every time, for that reason using illegal websites to download is actually a benefit for artists. According to Richards (2012) If people had to purchase every single album then that would get expensive and not a lot of people would purchase it, by downloading from external parties, the artist’s art is being more exposed to the world and they are getting more fans for their art. An example of Appropriation would be the picture shown below. This shows you a small example of what I had previously talked about but in a more sarcastic tone of why people download illegally. To conclude, I feel downloading music should not be counted as illegal because in this day and age where the world is frequently in a recession and consumers are barely able to meet their needs, people are not able to afford a new album every time it releases. This would also benefits the artist and could gain popularity for their future albums; therefore downloading music off of free online websites should be legalized.



References:

·      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc

·      Richards, S. (2012, November 12). The Illegal Downloading Debate: Is it OK to Download Songs without Paying? Retrieved December 5, 2015, from https://longzijun.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/the-illegal-downloading-debate-is-it-ok-to-download-songs-without-paying/
Hi guys, so today I am going to be talking about the third media literacy skill which is Simulation. Simulation is the ability to interpret and portray models of real-world practices. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 41) Simulation is important to individuals because through this individuals will be experiencing real world situations rather than just reading a book and taking knowledge from there for example. As said in (Jenkins, 2009: pg 42), we learn simulations through trail and error that leads new discoveries found by researches to be refined to make it better. In an example of a student like myself, I think simulation is very valid because through simulation students like myself who are not fans of reading can actually get to experience the content. This makes it easier for us students to understand the content or take knowledge from the content since we are not fans of reading. Individuals who are not readers for example, will have a harder time understanding the content because reading is not their forte. For individuals like that simulation works best. As said in (Jenkins, 2009: pg 42), educators always believed that students learn much better through direct observations and experimentation rather than listening to a class lecture or reading a book to retain knowledge. An example of simulation is a journal article called “The Assassin’s Perspective: Teaching History with Video Games” by Nicolas Trepanier. This article from the American Historical Association talks about how playing the game “Assassins Creed” has imparted so much knowledge into students and created an interest for the War of Spanish. (Trépanier, 2014) In this article, it was said that before an undergraduate seminar, the students were asked to play this video game and then come to class. After playing the game, the level of discussion of the student’s rose and student’s tone, scope, approach and arguments were so deep and thought provoking showing their knowledge about the Spanish war. (Trépanier, 2014) Trépanier (2014) also mentioned that making the students play the video game before the seminar raised their engagement level and raised it so high, which she doesn’t recall seeing among other undergraduates. This example shows how the level of knowledge and interest rises when media is included in the learning, which proves simulation as a valid media literacy skill.

https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2014/the-assassin’s-perspective

References:

·      Trépanier, N. (2014, May 1). The Assassin's Perspective: Teaching History with Video Games. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2014/the-assassin’s-perspective

·      
      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc
Hi guys, so the second media literacy skill that is important to media is “Performance.” Performance is the ability to adopt alternate selections for the purpose of improvisation and findings. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 47) According to Jenkins (2009: pg 47), By using the performance media skill, individuals would be able to connect with the character and have a captivating experience. By connecting with the character, the individual can also reflect on his values, choices, beliefs and question themselves. In my opinion, performance is a valid skill because I feel that by experiencing this an individual can enjoy himself as well as take a lesson out of it. Everything you do should have a purpose to it and should be worthwhile at the end. In our daily lives we often listen to music and do not think about the message of what were listening to. When we take the time and listen to the song, we are able to find the message of the song that connects to an issue that is happening in the world. For example the artist “Beyonce” created a song named “Flawless” which portrayed the idea of feminism and compared society’s views on male roles and female roles and how women are taught to fulfill traditional gender roles but can do much more than those roles. An example of performance would be the Disney movie “Mulan.” Mulan is a story about a girl who enrolls herself into war because she wanted to prove to herself and her dad that women are equal to men and can a fight a war. Mulan first step was to registers herself into war as a man so that she can get in. At the end it is revealed that despite being a women, she made a difference and is pronounced as a hero. This relates to the performance skill because as said in the definition, performance is a skill that suggests people to adopt to a new thinking and change the web into something playful and knowledgeable. This example of Mulan shows how a movie can change the mentality of her town stating that women are as capable as men. The role of this movie is to teach kids that women are capable of doing the same things as men.




References:

·      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc
Hey guys, so today I am going to start with the first media literacy skill which is called “Play.” Play is the capacity to analyze with the surroundings in order to solve problems. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 35) According to Jenkins (2009, Pg 35), play is an important media literacy skill because it helps shape relationships to their communities and surroundings. Through “play” we can experiment with different roles and try to find how it suits us and what it teaches us. I believe play is a valid skill for media because from play we can improve our knowledge, enhance our skills and shape our relationships. Play is also significant to our culture because it not only expands our knowledge but also helps us to work on our skills which we can use in our daily lives such as problem solving, concentration, communication and etc... Play is also very valid because in this day and age it is important for us to be very knowledgeable and very skilful since this world is very competitive and is moving very fast. Since play helps us improve our skills we can use those skills to move ahead faster in our life. We can also develop a richer understanding of our social roles and ourselves by further enhancing the play media skill. Further by using this the play skill, we would be able to exercise more skills and further enhance them, for example improve our communication skill by talking to others via social media. An example of the media literacy skill “Play” is a baseball card shown below. When a child looks at a series of baseball cards, he uses three learning skills. First in order for the child to understand the batting averages they would need to make use of their math skills. The child would be required to read the back of cards and understand the subsets as well as calculate differences, that would require math skills. (Alcox, 2015) Next in order to arrange their cards they need to exercise their classification skills, and finally in order to discuss their cards and learn how to play them safely, the child would make use of their communication skills and knowledge skills which could potentially be from their previous experience in baseball. This example portrays how a small type of media either online or physical, like playing with a baseball card can further enhance a child’s skills and at the same time can become an enjoyable pastime. This is a perfect example of "Play" because as said in the definition, it helps us improve three skills in one type of media.



References:

·      Alcox, D. (2015). Why Should a kid start collecting baseball cards? Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.sportscardfun.com/why-should-a-kid-start-collecting-baseball-cards.asp

·      Jenkins, H. et al (2009). “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century”. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://bit.ly/1AaI4rc

Welcome to my New Media Skills and Literacy blog.

This blog will cover ten different aspects of new media skills and literacy. Each concept will be defined and further explained using examples that can be found in our society.

Click on the blog tab to further enhance your knowledge on New Media Skills and Literacy.

Thank you,

Anusha Gulzar

About Me

My name is Anusha Gulzar and I am a 3rd Year Business Student at Brock University. This blog will identify ten different types of Media Skills and Literacies. Hope this is informative and enjoyable.