I didn’t get to attend “Transmedia, Hollywood”, last week’s symposium co-hosted by USC’s Dr. Henry Jenkins, that many of my friends are blogging about this week. Which is too bad, because having worked in all kinds of media I find “transmedia storytelling”, the process of dispersing elements of a story systematically across multiple media platforms, incredibly exciting. According to Jenkins (2011), “[t]ransmedia allows gifted storytellers to expand their canvas and share more of their vision with their most dedicated fans”. Intertwining stories and visuals are important elements of transmedia and many see a bright future for those who are capable of delivering these multifaceted concepts. Jeff Gomez, who runs transmedia consulting firm and production company Starlight Runner Entertainment, explains, “transmedia development is a complex and highly detailed process where story is absolutely critical…” (Weinstein, J.L., 2011).
What a great time to be a storyteller!
The rosy future of transmedia underscores the fact that knowing how to tell and interpret stories across all mediums is an essential skill for the 21st century. However, we are currently missing the opportunity to teach this essential skill to the next generation of storytellers. It is another work of Jenkins that particularly underscores this conundrum, his White Paper titled Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (2006). In this paper he underscores the fact that while a foundation of traditional literacy is still important, new media literacy skills are absolutely essential to successfully negotiating our way through today’s cultural landscape. These literacies include play, performance, simulation, judgment, negotiation and several other behavioral skills that are noticeably absent from today’s traditional classroom.
Even if every child doesn’t aspire to be a great storyteller (however, judging by the amount of time the average kid spends with media, 8.5 hours per day (Rideout et al, 2010), they all certainly watch, listen and/or participate in stories), isn’t it incumbent upon us to help them acquire the skills they need to tell or “read” stories that play across current mediums, or mediums yet to be invented?
Besides who’s going to entertain us when we’re sitting in the nursing home?
Due to either the media-maker or the mother in me, I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about how to plant the seeds of new media literacy in education. What I’ve learned is this: for most students, the doors to practicing these skills in school are closed, mostly due to safety and privacy concerns. A possible end-around to this roadblock is to equip students with the skills necessary to navigate the ethical decisions that loom in cyberspace. That means starting out by teaching them digital citizenship and research skills. Perhaps if students are well-equipped, adults will relax and gain confidence in their ability to make wise digital choices, thus opening the doors to new media literacy in school.
My own children attend a public charter school that uses Waldorf teaching methods, which places a strong emphasis on many of the new media literacy behaviors outlined in the White Paper. Charter schools are one place where innovation can sometimes find a way into the classroom; in this case the administrator has allowed me to turn middle school “civics” into “cybercivics”. Together we are learning what it means to be wise users of new media. It’s a journey towards helping these students incorporate new media tools in the service of telling their own great stories. I’m writing about it here http://dianagraber-cybercivics.blogspot.com/
I know this is just one small step. But sometimes it’s the small steps that lead to the great ideas that transfix huge audiences (just ask J.K Rowlings!). So, watch out Hollywood!
References
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Clinton, K., Weigel, M., & Robinson, A. J. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved September, 12, 2010 from http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/the-literacies.php
Jenkins, H. (2011, Apr. 8). Seven Myths About Transmedia Storytelling Debunked. Fast Company. Retrieved April 13, 2011 from http://www.fastcompany.com/1745746/seven-myths-about-transmedia-storytelling-debunked
Rideout, V.J., Foehr, U.G., & Roberts, D.F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8- to 18- year olds. A Kaiser Family Foundation Study. Retrieved October 18, 2010 from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/8010.cfm
Weinstein, J.L. (2011, Apr. 11). Former Fox Atomic Execs See the Future in ‘Transmedia’. The Wrap. Retrieved April, 13, 2011 from http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/blacklight-transmedia-25918
Media producer (www.graberproductions.com), co-Founder of CyberWise (www.cyberwise.org), New Media Literacy educator (http://dianagraber-cybercivics.blogspot.com/),and ponderer of all things related to media and (positive) social change, thus the M.A. in Media Psychology and Social Change.
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Saludas!
Gracias por la informacion en relacion con http://transmedianext.com/. Un buen recordatorio que esto es una oportunidad internacional para la buena narracion! Verdad?