ICT Literacy and Learning through Fan Culture

With innovations in technology, social change, and new sources of storytelling, now more than ever, educators are finding themselves with a front-row seat to that culture shift that comes with those changes. As classrooms must grow and adapt to new technologies and seemingly constant change, now more than ever, educators need to be supported in focusing on connecting the affinity that students have, to content outside of the classroom, to the content being taught within. Especially in the case of adolescents, educators can see first-hand how students attribute meaning and build identity through media and popular content (Alvermann et. al., 2000). The agency of the student’s existing engagement opens the door for educators to capture the excitement and momentum and redirect it to direct association within key objectives. As educators there is an expectation to recognize this change and its implications where students are active participants regardless of traditional literacy expectations, however, what they do with that information is still unknown (Black, 2009).

Due to the nature of this research, most current works of research rely heavily on existing data and focus primarily on traditional elements of new media, versus some of the more transformative aspects which may be more likely to indirectly impact student learning long-term. To understand the intersection of changing technology and its impact to student learning, there must first be an agreement in how technology-related literacy is defined, where students are directly and in-directly exposed, and examples of the types of media they are engaging with. We first examine the definition of information, communication technology literacy and how it is understood within education. Then, we focus on the exposure that the internet provides to students and how location-agnostic platforms can begin to build environments for students. Finally, we look at popular culture and fan communities as an example of mediums that students are exposed to and could engage with inside learning environments.

Defining Information Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy

            To begin, we must first understand what literacy is, how it is measured, and what literacy applies to these new technologies and their function. Literacy is defined as quality or competence in a specific subject area (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Literacy, from the public view, is thought to be tested and assessed in education through standardized testing, comprehension projects, and more. However, literacy in today’s age can be subjective to the subject matter. Although the most well-known form of literacy is reserved for “reading, writing, listening, and speaking (p. 408),” alternative forms of literacy such as mathematical literacy or digital literacy are just as important in the experiences of students (Nixon, 2003).

In the varying subject matters that literacy interacts with, technology, media, and communication are no exception. Due to the broadening nature of technology innovation, scholars are varied in how they are defining technology-related literacy. First, digital literacy as defined by Western Sydney University (2022) is that one has the skills needed to “live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies like internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices.” Next, media literacy is defined by Media Literacy Now as the ability to “apply critical thinking to media messages and to use media to create their own messages” (2022). Information, Communication Technology (ICT) literacy is defined by Huggins et. al. (2014) and the as “the ability to use technologies to support problem solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and decision-making.”  These varying definitions (and subsequent definitions) of ICT, media, and digital literacy all have their similarities.

With the varying definitions of the construct of technology-related literacy, we look to organizations to help guide how and what we should be measuring. For example, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) created metrics and standards for testing ICT literacy specifically, incorporating how broad the definition is and how much technology it could cover over time (Huggins et. al. 2014). While the definitions of digital or media literacy can be left to interpretation and can be subjective depending on location, class, etc., the broad definition of ICT literacy provides the range needed to execute research that can be iterated upon with the changing scope of technology (Huggins et. al. 2014).

ICT Literacy and the Global Workforce

As new generations become immersed in digital media platforms, they grow their ability to communicate and develop strategic skills that would be useful in creating a successful business strategy. The National Education Technology Plan (2011), as presented by the National Research Council, notes that the skills associated with ICT literacy is increasingly critical in the long-term students of students to develop the necessary skillset to support their own “lifelong learning,” while helping them to carve out a place for themselves in the global workforce. The success of student learning impacts their immediate, academic success, and their long-term career success as well, building the skillsets most often sought after in today’s world.

This need for increased ICT literacy calls into focus the idea of socio-economic access to these resources and how this can be impacted through standardized access to educational programs in technology and digital media. Education is no different as educators focus on using new digital and media sources to help engage students with “student-centered, creative learning” in efforts to build students who will be able to compete in the new competitive marketplace (Buckingham, 2013). Schools have introduced new learning programs, such as “Creative and Media Diplomas,” that Buckingham (2013) explains is an alternative to the traditional learning done in high schools, which specifically focuses on cross-disciplinary learning to build multi-skilled, literate students. However, as with most new technologies, there are significant barriers in education that impact the ability to the adoption and adaptation surrounding literacy education in ICT (Nixon, 2003).

These global observations do rely on an understanding of the differences in traditional literacy education versus the self-exposure the new digital age provides to students. The implication of changing technology and even simple access to the internet is changing the definition of ICT literacy on a global scale (Black, 2009). Participatory media is the new normal online, from social media like Twitter, to community platforms like Discord, and even content media like Twitch. These participatory platforms are growing quickly and supplementing physical interactions with digital ones, thinning the divide between online and offline worlds (Wright & Webb, 2011). For example, instead of game nights at a friend’s house, kids can opt for their favorite video games while connecting with other players from across the globe.

Difficulties for Educators

In many cases, research on these topics are an uphill battle as curriculum and administration limitations can cause the argument to require more resources than what is currently available due to the “newness’ of much of these opportunities (Nixon, 2003). Without educators having the support, skillset, or resources to keep pace with the level of advancement that their students or research participants face in an organically digital world, any progress, research, or deeper learning will be, as Nixon (2003) states, “limited,” which reinforces the need for such research and development.

Often times, students can be the first to adopt a new technology before educators even know what they’re engaging with. Through self-reflection, and study of one’s own curriculum, educators can position themselves to grow with their students and perform content analyses of their own (McKinney, 2007). Another area of consideration, is the long-term benefits to such research as the metrics seem to shift just as quickly the technology does. ICT literacy assessments can quickly become outdated if educators are not rigorous in their own continuing education and self-reflection (Huggins et al. 2014). The global workforce and its needed skillsets is difficult to predetermine without closer examination and continuous observation. In building an approach for research, the above points are important considerations. Utilizing a scholarly approach to this type of technological-participatory based teaching, can ensure that educators have the guidance, support and resources to execute this research in their own learning environments.

Methodology in Assessing ICT Literacy

Understanding the subjective nature of literacy, its models can be helpful in determining how literacy is assessed and understood.  We will be focusing on two primary models as it relates to ICT. First, there is the model developed by Peter Freebody and Allan Luke (Freebody & Luke, 1990). This approach focuses on four main areas that enable people to decode content, participate in its meanings, use the text, and respond and transform (Nixon, 2003). Simply put: the expectation with this methodology is that a person could encode, decode, and critically use and manipulate the knowledge found in texts to be considered “literate” in an area.

Secondly, there is the 3D model poised by Bill Green. This model focuses on both the practical, theoretical, and reflective practices of a subject and focuses on how and where they may overlap, specifically the “operational, cultural, and critical” (Green, 1988). The operational is the practical piece where there is the measure of “doing.” This can be as simple as turning on the TV, downloading Netflix, logging in, and watching a movie, all the way to how to build the app itself. Next is cultural, where there is “understanding.” This is deeper and focuses on the aspect of why we chose that app, movie, or why we engage with that type of media. Lastly, is critical, which focuses on the ability to deconstruct, reflect, and discuss practices both in and out of the communities where these discussions are made (Nixon, 2003).

At the core of each model, there is an expectation of participation. This implies that literacy, from a scholarly perspective, cannot be measured without active participation by the party that’s being assessed. In forming how a research approach would be implemented, it is imperative to keep these models in mind as we develop engaging data collection practices. These practices are focused on leveraging participatory practices and platforms, to create a true-to-life research environment while prioritizing student learning and long-term growth.

Participatory Media’s Impacts on Literacy

Participating in these types of media or participatory platforms provide indirect education through exposure and experience for students. Regardless of ethnicity, gender, economic status, or location, the globalization of technology access has made it easier than ever for students to indirectly learn skills like critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving and collaboration with peers (Huggins et al., 2014). In participatory media, participants are given the ability to create, debate, discuss, inspire, and transform existing works across the globe (Givens-Carrol, 2015). This common discourse and vernacular become the standard, and once an individual has understood the standard, they can grow and help mold it (Spurgeon, 2015). For example, the common internet shorthand many still use to this day has been adapted across languages and cultures, developing a sort of web exclusive vernacular that has seeped into the popular culture (Howard, 2008). This means, that in a digital space where translations can be done automatically, participants are creating and conditioning others to a totally new way of speaking, all without formally educating.

Furthermore, and most importantly, this globalization and self-directed learning can drive action, directly impacting the media fans consume. Through the digital feedback machine that is the internet, participants can provide input and direction to things like brands, creators, or authorities in specific spaces, like influencers, authors, or politicians. As Jenkins (2016) explains, we are now in a space where the interests of the producer and the interests of the consumer are impacting one another. Audiences no longer hold an expectation of passive consumption, but are now actively engaged in the ideation, creation, and iterative nature of the content consumed (Spurgeon and Edmond, 2015). More than ever, the creators of original IP or the brands that own them are engaging with their fans to continue the works created. DeAndrea (2012) explores the larger idea of co-creating content in participatory media, highlighting the idea of co-creative collaboration, where the feedback loop inspires original or new, transformative IP. This globalization is then expedited and enriched by participation, growing capabilities, and skillsets through repetitive use through that feedback loop.

Fan Culture in the Classroom

This engagement with participatory media and ICT has illustrated, more clearly than ever, the impact and ability that these properties have to engage and empower students. In that understanding, it is vital to focus on areas where there is already a heavy presence of interest. Specifically in today’s popular culture, nothing is more pervasive than that of fandom. The idea of belonging is nothing new. The idea that being a fan of a particular IP, or general genre, gives in some ways exclusivity to the community surrounding those subjects. Keeping in mind Green’s 3D model of operational, cultural, and critical, new technologies give students the ability to build those literacy skillsets, while participating in conversations that mean something to them as an individual.

Focusing on the operational practices as an example, Jenkins explains what differentiates fans from those who casually engage online, explaining that they are the “most active segment of the media audience” (2016). The first place, and in many cases the most obvious, where the fan voice is heard is in communication in virtual communities via social media. This is commonly studied as computer mediated communication (CMC) as defined by Wright and Webb (2011) and speaks to a variety of the experience participants can have online. This includes multi-communication, polychronic communication, and metacommunication, all of which simply point to one’s abilities to participate in many different conversations with different technologies at once, both online and in person (Wright and Webb, 2011).  We see the previously referred to vernacular present in these forms of communication, like the term “head cannon” where a fan (or community) has a branch of a narrative that they believe to be true, regardless if it was explicitly (or even hinted to) within the original IP. This ability to not only exist, but clearly communicate and be involved within these platforms fits within the model defined by Green, proving that functional skillsets and understanding can be achieved through participatory or virtual platforms.

Considerations for Practice

Within participatory media and ICT, there are many different avenues in building programs or research methods to explore the application of participatory media exercises to ICT literacy. There is fan fiction, or other forms of transformative media, which gives a creative license to adapt or redesign narratives that a fan has a particular connection with (Edfeldt et al., 2012). Fans are actively participating in the globalization of content and storytelling via participatory media, sharing their original content or adaptations with fellow participants from across the globe. Those participants then have an opportunity to iterate on that new content, continuing the cycle of transformative content, or providing immediate feedback to the fan’s adaptation.

An example of this transformative content is scanlation. This is a process by which where students are translating popular, comics (specifically manga books) for a wider online, global audience that may not have access or speak it in the original language (Edfeldt et al., 2012). Though this is not entirely original in nature, fans are still transforming the text and making it their own. In the classroom, educators can reinforce ICT literacy by inviting the students to engage with media through a transformative exercise like scanlation, parody, imitation, or cross-textual interpretation (Alvermann et. al., 2000). This can also manifest in forms that intersect with the critical practices, as students can create responsive media where they critically break down or respond to pieces of media.

In observing the spectrum of fan culture and how every person can experience it differently, educators can build on those relationships through critical reflection and ask their students to “dig deeper” to reinforce key learning objectives. (Alvermann et. al., 2000). The myth that fans are purely passive, consumers has given way to the virtual communities that have emerged in its place. Communities of active, self-governing communities of fans, generating and innovating on the original intellectual property or IP (Edfeldt et al., 2012).  In these informal environments, students are actively learning skillsets that are traditionally taught in classroom instruction. Thus, there is an ability to challenge students to think critically about the source of the content they consume, the collaborative nature of the works’ legacy, and their relationship to it (DeAndrea, 2012).

In understanding the potential that such platforms could have, a basis for participatory, fan-centered research is possible. This type of student centered, scholarly technology-based research provides an active learning environment where momentum and innovation can be leveraged to benefit student learning. This research addresses two questions:

RQ1: How can participatory media support student learning, ICT literacy, and engagement?

RQ2: How can fan culture specifically shape ICT literacy and be leveraged by educators to support students over time?  

References

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