Available online at www.jmle.org The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education 2:2 (2010) 113 - 123 Digging into YouTube Videos: Using Media Literacy and Participatory Culture to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding Kristen Bloom & Kelly Marie Johnston School of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA Abstract It has been said that Web 2.0 is changing the way students learn. The time of the teacher as the primary source of information is a relic of the past. The role of the educator, as a result of new media, has changed substantially from one that is focused on the one-way transfer of information to one that trains students how to participate in digital environments with intelligence, skill, and literacy. It is our contention that educators and learners can exploit this media to engage in cross-cultural exchange and ultimately greater cross- cultural understanding. This paper will elaborate on the ways in which teachers and students can use YouTube as a site for cultivating cross-cultural exchange and understanding by establishing video-pal relationships with other students from outside their home culture. Digital exchanges can help students and teachers build connections with their colleagues abroad and to develop an international per- spective. Keywords: YouTube, Cross-Cultural Education, Media Literacy, Web 2.0, Participatory Culture, Social Networking, Vlogging Introduction ful cultivation of intentions to learn new skills, ways It has been said that Web 2.0 is changing the of thinking, and knowledge that will enable learners way students learn. The time of the teacher as the pri- to actively and successfully participate in the environ- mary or only source of information is a relic of the past. ments in which they inhabit. New technologies and the We now live and learn in an era in which emerging me- emergence of Web 2.0 participatory culture have cre- dia and the so-called “information revolution” are rede- ated a globally integrated virtual environment in which fining education, socialization, and access to social and people conduct business, engage in social relationships, intellectual capital. Individual learners—whether they undertake various types of research and so on. are affiliated with a formal educational institution or Web 2.0—which refers in general to a variety of not—are less reliant on an institution that “pushes” in- social networking platforms and media for collaborative formation to the learner and more interested, and likely, content development, such as blogs, wikis, YouTube to “pull” their own learning from multiple sources. The (and similar websites for sharing digital video), Face- role of the educator, as a result of these new media, book, MySpace and so on—is commonly referred to has changed substantially from one that is focused on as “participatory culture.” Since “participatory culture the one-way transfer of information to one that trains shifts the focus of literacy from individual expression to students how to participate in this new environment community involvement” (Jenkins et al. 2009, xiii), it with intelligence, skill, and literacy. Then, within this is our contention that educators and learners can exploit context and drawing upon Dewey’s argument as quoted this media to engage in cross-cultural exchange and ul- by Koliba (2004), “‘education can and should only oc- timately greater cross-cultural understanding. This pa- cur in the context of active relationships—as instances per will elaborate on the ways in which teachers and of communication with others. [Dewey] saw all com- students can use YouTube as a site for cultivating cross- munication as potentially educative in nature’ and ‘as- cultural exchange and understanding by establishing serted that, in order for an experience, there must be video-pal relationships with other students from outside an intentional effort to communicate the value of the their home culture. We will present examples and sug- experience to a person’s learning’” (Koliba 2004, 297; gest practices that educators might consider adding to quoted in Kimoto et al. 2009, 362).Therefore, educa- their pedagogical toolboxes and relate those practices to tion, to a large extent, concerns itself with the mind- 114 K. Bloom & K. Johnston / Journal of Media Literacy Education 2:2 (2010) 113 - 123 the core principles of media literacy education outlined Many educators view Web 2.0 and students’ by the National Association of Media Literacy Educa- connectivity (along with their various devices) as dis- tion (NAMLE) in 2007. tractions to learning. Others view technology as tools This paper builds on findings put forward by to increase access to all types of information and ex- several scholars (e.g. Alvermann 2008; Ching-Chiu and periences via various media, and construe Web 2.0 as Polaniecki 2008), which illustrate that students who an opportunity for intellectual growth and socialization engage in the process of producing their own media through skill-building, learning, and social networking become more savvy consumers of media and become (Carlson 2005). No matter which camp an educator al- proficient in working in shared spaces that are occupied lies him or herself with, students are connected, learn- by diverse populations of users. It is our contention that ing, and communicating through Facebook, MySpace, students from various cultures can forge ‘video-pal’ re- and other social networking sites; they are creating and lationships in order to embark upon a common goal to sharing blogs, vlogs (video blogs), and participating in further develop their respective media literacies and to developing content via wikis and other collaborative broaden their worldviews as they share ideas, images, platforms. As “students these days are more apt to take and perspectives with one another throughout the ex- control of their learning and choose unconventional change. Students from around the world are already technological methods to learn better” (Carlson 2005, encountering one another in multiple social network- A34) it is imperative that educators help their students ing contexts; some benefit from these interactions while to navigate and participate in this new social space, cul- others, sadly, miss the opportunity to learn about the ture, and learning environment with the requisite skills ‘other’ by failing to recognize that those they encounter that constitute media literacy. may have different perspectives, worldviews, or cultur- Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton and Ro- al lenses through which they construe events and media bison (2009) define a participatory culture as “a cul- representations of events. Teachers can draw upon this ture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression rich reservoir of social diversity present in online com- and civic engagement, strong support for creating and munities and guide students to consciously engage with sharing creations, and some type of informal men- others in cross-cultural exchanges with the dual inten- torship whereby experienced participants pass along tion of developing various media literacies and increas- knowledge to novices” (xi). Further, they claim that ing students’ understanding of other cultures. the four forms of participatory culture—affiliations, We will begin by defining media literacy within expressions, collaborative problem-solving, and circu- the context of participatory culture and elaborating on lations—require “new literacies…[that] involve social the ways in which the practices we propose are related skills developed through collaboration and networking” to those literacies. Then we will provide examples of (xiii). Jenkins et al. write that the new skills required for the ways in which YouTube can be used as an educa- media literacy include: play, performance, simulation, tional tool, particularly for cross-cultural exchange and appropriation, multitasking, distributed cognition, col- understanding. To this end, we then offer instructional lective intelligence, judgment, transmedia navigation, strategies for exploring YouTube such as the ways that networking, and negotiation (xiv). students can critically evaluate their own and their video Negotiation, according to Jenkins et al., refers pals’ content. Next we address the topics of resistance to “the ability to travel across diverse communities, and incomprehension and propose ways in which teach- discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and ers can mitigate such obstacles by making a commit- grasping and following alternative norms” (xiv; em- ment to the core principles of MLE. Finally, throughout phasis added). Intrinsic to this aspect of media literacy the paper we highlight correlations between various ex- is the ability to allow for diverse opinions, perspectives, ercises and relevant media literacy core principles. and appearances. Similarly, a core principle of media literacy education, according NAMLE (2007), is the Participatory Culture and exploration of “representations, misrepresentation and Media Literacy Education lack of representation of cultures and countries in the “What began as entertainment had turned into a legiti- global community” (section 4.5). The above objectives mate educational experience.” (Ching-Chiu and are critical learning points precisely because Web 2.0 Polaniecki 2008, 95) puts students in contact with other students from a vari- ety of social and cultural backgrounds in the somewhat 115 K. Bloom & K. Johnston / Journal of Media Literacy