EDUC 6816 - Weekly Reading #10

DeforestACTION, New Literacies and Authentic Research

In What Wikipedia can teach us about New Media Literacies, Henry Jenkins outlines four skills necessary to New Literacies, which he calls “a set of cultural competencies and social skills which young people need as they confront the new media landscape.” Of these skills he outlines four of particular importance:

Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others towards a common goal.

Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information source.

Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize and disseminate information.

Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms. 

This video describes a global student collaborative research and action project from DeforestACTION to stop illegal deforestation happening in Borneo.




This project relates to Mr. Jenkins’ four skills required for new literacy in the following ways:

Collective Intelligence — students in remote schools across the globe collectively monitored the Satellite images of Borneo to identify illegal timbering which triggered local, democratic, action when illegal logging was observed.

Judgment — Reliability and credibility were questions that needed answered as the students learned about deforestation, its effects on the environment and the local people, while also learning about corporate interests and governmental corruption that contributes to it.

Networking — Students were allocated plots of land to monitor for changes and disturbances. They compiled and compared these changes with other students across the globe and then disseminated that information to the eco-warriors “on-the-ground.”

Negotiation — As students digitally monitored the satelitte images of the forest, they were able to act as the eyes and ears of the local Borneo people. To do this effectively required student knowledge of the cultural, environmental and social reality of the people. Those locals, armed with the images and information possible by 21st century technology, were then free to physically confront and stop the illegal encroachment that was happening.

Real World Research Practices

"Proficiency at effectively using the new literacies of networked information technologies has become critical to our students’ success in the workplace and in their daily lives." (International Reading Association, 2009).

This project is consistent with the kind of research people might encounter in the workplace. For one, it is authentic. Students aren’t just reading about deforestation and its effects and then writing a report about it, they are using 21st century technology to learn about a problem, and then taking action to solve the problem.

The direct link between learning about a problem and taking action to solve it is an example of the types of research necessary in a business or service workplace, for example. In an innovation-economy, identifying problems, finding solutions, and putting those solutions into production is the information research required of its workers.

In that way this project is an example of that:

Identifying Problems - Illegal logging that creates deforestation.

Finding Solutions -  Using Satellite images to monitor illegal encroachment.

Solutions to Action - Alerting “on-the-ground” locals to protest the activity.

The connection between 21st century technology, global citizenship and action is a strong example of authentic research for the students. I particularly liked the direct change the students could see/experience (for example, when they triggered the alarm that illegal encroachment was happening they could visually see it stopping).

I think this has more implications than just teaching students how to research in the workplace. I think it can be a powerful motivating factor for democratic participation. Many times, I think people want to help when they see a wrong-doing, but too often they feel powerless to influence real change. This example shows a straight line between observing wrong-doing and taking action that leads directly to change. This shows students both the VALUE they have in the global world and, for educational engagement purposes, the VALUE of their learning experiences.

Sources:

Jenkins , H. What wikipedia can teach us about the new media literacies (part one) [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can_teach_us_ab.html

International Reading Association (2009). New Literacies and 21st Century Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.reading.org/Libraries/position-statements-and-resolutions/ps1067_NewLiteracies21stCentury.pdf

DeforestACTION. Retrieved from: http://dfa.tigweb.org/