Now, some might disagree with me on the ‘literacy’ thing (we’ve had this conversation, right, Chris?), but one of the things that iGen has made clear to me is that this is not simply about learning to use this or that software, or just discussing creativity. It’s made me see my part in the world of digital media, and how the internet is so revolutionary. I wasn’t in the dark about this before, but I have the ‘tools’, so to speak, to better understand the digital world and the impact it has on actual life.

There was some overlap between the podcast and remix projects, but I think I felt that my topics were different enough that I wasn’t repeating the theme of community too much. When I was creating and analysing my video remix, however, what I kept returning to was how this seemed to be a crux of participatory culture. Taking other people’s stuff and making it your own, insofar as giving it a new/revised meaning in a new context, is a whole other level of sharing. A remix is possible because of communication technologies, because of distribution ‘by the people, for the people’. And it enables further creativity, further education.

An (interesting) aside is that, in the seminars, by the requirement to produce, create, etc. our own seminar, we each were able to contribute to the overall ‘meaning’ of the unit, more than just by being a student responding to questions. (And in having input into the assignments as well, of course.) It’s like a little image of participatory culture – where the hierarchy of producer/tutor and consumer/student is evened out somewhat. Which is not to say that Tama had no authority and didn’t guide our learning…

I’ve found creating and theorising a good balance. I am perhaps left a little unsure about distinctions between participatory culture & produsage, and other terms like sharing, remixing, p2p, social networking, etc. I know what they are, but sometimes they merge into a big ball in my head. Perhaps there’s truth in this, that they bring us to a single understanding. Or maybe I need to read and understand it further first.

Overall, this has been one of my favourite units in my university career (it’s not a long list, so lucky you) and has demonstrated some vital information to me.

One of the changes I would make is have the assignments cover a broader scope – they were all (both) basically about community and so on, which I guess is sort of an overarching concept tying all the threads of the unit (our seminar topics) together, so I can see why this was the theme. Maybe that was an aspect that I really only learned myself, and the fact that I did it that way, rather than have it signposted is what increases its value as something learned. Either way, it’s an area of the course I feel like talking about a little bit.

I agree with Joanne that citizen journalism would be a good topic to be included in the unit, together with the effects of blogging and the wikipedia, which I think they have constituted the citizen journalism.

I raised this question because it seems to me that everything we have talked about in this unit are more or less produsage of some sort. We, internet users, contributing what we have produced to the internet, and the others look at, or even make use of what we have contributed. I do agree with what is it said in the video that Alex suggested, that people will eventually get a share of revenue from what they have put up. We are evolving to an era that even the lowest level of the society can have a say, because of the huge ripple effect of the internet. I am not quite sure if the predictions in that video would come true, but what matters is, we will have a lot more choices on getting what we want to get and know.