Wikipedias/Wikis

What fascinates to me about the article Interactive Audiences? The Collective Intelligence of Media Fans by Henry Jenkins is learning that even before On Line technology existed, there was already a “web” network where “ fan communities” could participate in learning about new technologies and where they could “debate theories and assess new technologies” through magazines they read or by listening to the radio. This idea came about through the works of Hugo Gernsbeck in the 1920’s and the 1930’s. This concept was a realization of what Jenkins described as Pierre Levy’s idea of “the cosmopedia,” or the idea that “…citizens more fully realize the potentials of the new media environment.” No doubt, new technology has had its pros and cons. Before this high speed super highway, fans communicated or rallied together either ineffectively or inefficiently. They now do so quicker and with more favorable results. However, technology can leave out groups of fans either due to the fact that they are slow to equip themselves with On Line access or they are slow to view current material and end up learning more about it than they were ready for. This would be like going to the movies after someone told you what it was about. It takes the fun out of it. This article also reminds me of the article Why Heather Can Write. In that article, fans were using the net to recreate a novel, here fans are using the net and other technologies to recreate movies and television shows. This desire to recreate someone else’s work reminds me of the idea behind Wiki’s. Here, the author’s original work is constantly being edited by random viewers. In David Perry’s article Wikipedia and the New Curriculum: Digital Literacy Is Knowing How We Store What We Know he writes strongly about the importance of schools allowing students to use Wikipedia as a tool and to understand its function and benefits. Our school system would be one that he would not want to work at because we disallow the use of this site. I believe this is the case because unlike his ideal scenario of students actually “…consult[ing] the discussion and history pages…” this type of inquiry is something that they would not do on their own. The students that we teach would use the information as gospel without doing any further research on its authenticity.