I would like to start off this week’s blog introducing what I do for living or I should say what my job is all about. I work for an educational consulting company that works with a lot of international students from China and Korea. We assist them with the application process when applying to schools and create the support they need upon arrival. We help seek for tutors and communicate with their teachers so that we are able to help them succeed through out the time they are here studying in the U.S.
Many of the international students arrive to the U.S. not speaking English at all. By this meaning, English barrier is a major challenge for them overall. With my job experience, I had witnessed multiple cases that the student themselves aren’t confident about their work because of the English proficiency. This is also one of the reasons they are not as engaged in class comparing to their peers.
What is Participartoy Culture?
According to Jenkins (2009), participatory culture is:
- With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement
- With strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others
- With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices
- Where members believe that their contributions matter
- Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created
Over the years, the schools had created more opportunities and had focus a lot more on their international students. For example, a local high school we work with, now 30% of their students are international from other countries. The school used to not have an international student director where students that can go to for questions regarding their classes or schedule. They used not have a tab for international students on their official website. They started preparing and organizing a two-day orientation for the international students. For the first day of the orientations, they focus heavily and had all international students attend. The second day is where all new (international and domestic) students meet up.
During the orientation for international students, International Director and teachers are to work closely with them, informing the resources that are available for them. As Jenkins (2009) indicated, “Much writing about twenty-first century literacies seems to assume that communicating through visual, digital, or audiovisual media will displace reading and writing.” Teachers are to inform the new students how to access school assignments and lectures online. 
As Jenkins (2009) had also stated, “Educators must work together to ensure that every American young person has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant, can articulate their understanding of how media shapes perceptions, and has been socialized into the emerging ethical standards that should shape their practices as media makers and participants in online communities.” This high school had chose to use Google classroom for their class interactions and their assignments. Google classroom allows them to submit their assignments where the teacher can give feedback directly on work they had done
I have also experienced multiple cases where school had informed us how our students had plagiarized. As English being their second language, the teachers had also shared lectures on how to access materials and what sources are appropriate for researches or essays. These videos on Google classroom are to help assist these new learners about the skills they should develop over time. Besides from that, the school offers an online tutor where seniors are to assist new coming students such as proof reading and scheduling tutor hours. As Jenkins (2009) had indicated “Our goals should be to encourage youth to develop the skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks, and self-confidence needed to be full participants in contemporary culture.” This high school is trying to assist by offering help to their international students by providing available resources so they are nourish to adapt to the culture. These resources can help student build confidence on their work and improve their skills overtime.
In regards to this week’s topic on participatory culture, do you believe with such diverse background, which platform (affiliation, expression, collaborative problem solving or circulation) works best/most effective? Why do you think that?
References:
Google for Education: Google SVA Scholarship (n.d.). Retrieved from Google, edu.google.com/k-12-solutions/classroom/?modal_active=none.
Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Puruhsotma, R., Robinson, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century [White paper]. Retrieved July 22, 2018 from: https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
Additional Video:
First-genchallenges.wordpress 