Participatory Culture

 Participatory Culture: What is it?

    Participatory Culture is a very important addition to learning in classrooms. It allows students to express their artistic desires to produce the learning experience they want. Jenkins describes Participatory Culture as the following:

1. Relatively low barrier to artistic expression and civic engagement
2. Strong support for creating and sharing one's creations with others
3. Has some type of informal mentorship that passes knowledge from the most experienced to the novices
4. Members believe that their contributions matter
5. Members feel some degree of social connection with one another

Of all of these defining points, I believe the most important is the second one. The foundation of participatory culture revolves around the group aspect, so sharing creations with each other is crucial

How can it be embraced in classrooms?

    Participatory Culture has an important role in classrooms if utilized correctly. Teachers can separate students into their own groups of 3-4. After this, students are encouraged to form meaningful peer relations in their groups and encourage one another on their learning journey.

    One way teachers can do this is to create online discussion groups. In those groups, students can share their research findings, produce new ideas, and comment on other students' progress! If the discussion groups are slowing down, teachers can join in and prod along the conversation. In this scenario, all 5 points of Participatory Culture are possible and encouraged!