Hey guys, today I am going to be talking about the last media skill which is “Collective Intelligence.” Collective Intelligence is the ability to incorporate knowledge and information and compare with like-minded individuals. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 71) According to Jenkins (2009, Pg 71), individuals who are of like mind get together online and share common perspectives, opinions and enterprises. In a world like this Levy believes “everyone knows something, nobody knows everything and what any one person knows can be tapped by the group as a whole.” (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 72) Jenkins (2008) believes that some individuals are explicitly working together and creating collective knowledge sources like Wikipedia and Freebase. On the contrary, some individuals are implicitly contributing new knowledge in which they experience in their everyday lives. In my opinion collective intelligence is extremely important because by sharing your opinions and experiences with others, you are able to expand your understanding of that particular idea or product because in return you can get views of others on that particular idea or product. I feel this is extremely beneficial for students like myself who browse the Internet for research purposes. Hearing people’s perspective and finding information for certain topics help students in their assignment as well as enhance students knowledge. Examples of collective intelligence are Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, Search engines like Google and Yahoo and Encyclopedia like Wikipedia. (Garza, 2010) I believe sites like Wikipedia, which are made for the purpose of Collective Intelligence, are harmful to individuals. That is because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia where everyone and anyone can edit the information. As mentioned in the Judgment blog, students like us rely on websites where we can find information pertaining to our assignments, sites like Wikipedia in which anyone can alter the information can be damaging for us. Therefore I feel sites like Wikipedia should be banned since they are unreliable and defeat the purpose of pooling knowledge towards a common goal because it could end up being false knowledge. Example of Collective intelligence is a journal article from “Inside Higher Ed” by Scott Jaschik made on January 26, 2007. This article further reinforces the idea about why Wikipedia is harmful for students and why it is now a concern for professors. This article supports my view of banning Wikipedia because according to Jaschik (2007), Wikipedia is a “reader-produced encyclopedia” where anyone can edit and alter the information.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/26/wiki

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
·      Jaschik, S. (2007, January 26). A Stand Against Wikipedia. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/26/wiki
·      Garza, G. (2010, July 21). Looking at 4 Examples of Collective Intelligence. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.brighthub.com/office/collaboration/articles/78668.aspx

·      Jenkins, H. (2008, February 8). Sharing Notes about Collective Intelligence. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://henryjenkins.org/2008/02/last_week_my_travels_took.html
Hi guys, so today I am going to be talking about another interesting media literacy skill which is called “Negotiation.” Negotiation is the ability to travelling to different communities and being able to understand different perspectives and following norms other than our own. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 98) According to Jenkins (2009, Pg 98), the communication between new social environments is bringing together groups, which are very different from each other. By coming together, each individual is being exposed to different cultural communities and how those communities operate. As this communication travels and brings together cultural groups, there is also a lot of criticizing. The culture does travel but often times the individual who began that culture gets judged about it and about their perspectives in general. (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 98) It has also been significant that by having this travelling communication about different communities, students are able to acquire multiple skills in understanding various perspectives and embracing different views. This also gives them a chance to understand different social norms and to negotiate between differing opinions. (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 100) After hearing Jenkins (2009) definition of the media skill Negotiation, I think it is a very valid and beneficial media literacy skill. Through negotiation students, like myself can get exposed to other opinions and other perspectives as well as other cultures. This motivates the students to speak out their opinions as well as form their own perceptive. Negotiation is also beneficial to today’s society because it allows us to understand and appreciate other cultures that are outside our cultural norms. Today’s western world has very similar views in everything due to the western culture that has been formed in this 21st century; through negotiation we can step out of the western views and view the world as it is. This helps us understand that there is more to the world then what we have been taught by the western society. An example of Negotiation is Youtube.com. YouTube shows different perspectives of the world other than our own backyard through the use of videos. By engaging on YouTube we can enhance our opinions and learn from other opinions as well, which proves the media skill “Negotiation.”



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 I feel the most important skill for media is “Judgment.” Judgment is the ability to evaluate and check for reliable and credible information sources. (Jenkins, 2009: pg 79) According to Jenkins (2009, Pg 79), Misinformation is emerging in this day and age and it is important to be careful of the information you retain. It is important when retaining knowledge to make sure we determine how trustworthy the place is which provides you with the information. As we mentioned in the Networking blog, there are various search engines that give you the perspectives and information from others, but at the same time selected of that sites may be harmful. According to me Judgment is a very important and valid skill because I feel Judgment is a skill which is not only compulsory for media but for every aspect in life. Deciding whether something or someone is harmful or beneficial for you is very important because one wrong decision can cost you a lot. According to Jay (2015), there are four steps to make sure information on the web is reliable and accurate. The first step is to consider the source. The credibility of the database determines if the information provided is accurate and suitable for us. The second step would be to check the offline sources. In that you can see if there is a real person to contact through email or telephone. Additional to that see if their information is backed up by references and if they stated those references. The third step would be to avoid websites that are user-created. These types of websites are very easy to edit and makes them unreliable, so if that website is user-created, it’s a bad choice. The final step to check if the website is reliable is to examine the level of professionalism on the website. In order to check the professionalism, make sure the website does not consists of any grammar or spelling mistakes. This will imply that the website is organized and accurate. (Jay, 2015) Judgment is not only important to avoid getting wrong information, but if that information is used for an assignment for example, it could cost you a failing grade. An example of Judgment is the picture, which is attached below. This picture is an example of phishing scam, which is sent by email by a Visa company. This picture highlights the unprofessionalism in this picture and shows how we can identify it as a scam.



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

·      Jay, C. (2015). How to Make Sure Information on the Web Is Accurate. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-sure-information-accurate-29521.html
Hi guys, so today I am going to be talking about another interesting media skill which is “Networking.”  Networking is the ability to search for, blend, and spread information.(Jenkins, 2009: Pg 91) According to Jenkins (2009, Pg 91), A resourceful student is no long resourceful if he/she personally possesses a wide range of resources from which to choose, rather a student is resourceful when a student can productively navigate through a frequently changing world of information. Students achieve this by visiting various socially based search engines such as google.com, amazon.com, and yahoo.com. Jenkins (2009, Pg 93) also believes that students should smartly identify which social group is most reliable, relevant and appropriate in order to get the best results and get them in a safe way. Examples of identifications could be similar tastes, similar viewpoints, similar goals, trusted, unbiased, and popularity. (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 93) Networking is not only about seeking resources, rather it is also a process of synthesis where seeking multiple resources helps you produce new and fresh knowledge (Jenkins, 2009: Pg 94) After reading all that information about Networking from Jenkins, I think networking is a valid point. As Jenkins (2009, Pg 93) said, “Networking involves the ability to navigate across different social communities” I believe that is very valid and very important. I feel these websites are very important to the youths of today because they not only are easily accessible but in fact they are very beneficial. Networking broadens student’s exposure to different perspectives so that they are exposed to reality and the different views of others. This could help students expand their knowledge and could help them amend their perspectives of certain aspects in life. Networking is not only done for knowledge, there is also something known as “Social Networking.” Social Networking is the exercise of expanding individual’s social contacts by making connections with others through certain social platforms. (Rouse, 2015) Depending on the certain social platform, individuals can register themselves as a member and contact any other member on the platform. Examples include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. (Rouse, 2015) An example of Networking is a search engine called google.com. Graduate students of Stanford University’s Larry Page and Sergei Brin found Google.com in 1998. Since then it has become the #1 search engine in the world and does at least 1.1 Trillion searches per year (Sullivan, 2015) Google.com provides information from all over the world and proves the “Networking skill.”



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
·      Sullivan, D. (2015, January 16). Google Still Doing At Least 1 Trillion Searches Per Year. Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://searchengineland.com/google-1-trillion-searches-per-year-212940

·      Rouse, M. (2015, July 1). What is Social Networking? Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-networking
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/

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.