R: Chapter 5 blogposts....

I'd like to respond to a little of each:

1. [Lexi] "Is fanfic overreaching or is it the best motivator for student involvement that incorporates media literacy?"
Popular culture may be the best motivator, but is it the best method? I don't necessarily agree that fan-fiction, with its focus on reading/writing, promotes media literacy, though it's a great supportive workshop for burgeoning authors. What's missing from this equation is visual literacy. [See "digital storytelling" blogpost below.] Digital storytelling, I believe, resolves this missing factor. When someone starts creating through a particular medium, they also gain insights on how others create. What's more, they begin to see media in a whole new way.

2. [Catherine] I loved going through this website and looking at some of these kids' comments: http://kidspeakonline.org/kidssaying.html. This, for me, is the most interesting section of this chapter. "Countering such claims, the books' defenders were forced to argue that fantasies do not really matter, when in fact, what we have said so far suggests that the immersive quality of the books is what makes them such a powerful catalyst for creative expression" (197). Yet, creative expression is precisely what I am seeing in the comments of these young fans, who have acquired more than just a tinge of political awareness. Let me say, for a ten year old that's quite an accomplishment. What's more is that this "accidental" feature of the Potter Wars also compels children to reread the novels in a different way, to consider what material may be deemed as controversial and why.

3. [Mandy] "As we grow more diverse in media, digital databases, etc. I wonder...will possibly one day we be at the same disadvantages as our elders?"
Well, first clarify what one counts as a "disadvantage." Is it more likely that subsequent generations, those born into it, will have an easier time participating in what we now call digital culture? Both Apple and Microsoft have tried to meet this concern early on. For instance, the Windows operating system (following Apple's lead, in fact) was designed with new users in mind. Its "user-friendliness" aided in establishing Microsoft as the global superpower we know today. However, this only takes into account the practical applications of this technology. When we consider how digital culture affects the ways in which subsequent generations will learn...well, we've hit upon a controversial topic that hasn't even begun to be explored. The educational system will surely need to change along with it, right? (In this sense, I think, children are the ones who may find "disadvantages".)