Henry Jenkins and New Media Literacy

The lecture was very informitive of how the internet has changed our culture. It has brought the entire world into a social circle which is something that was not possible a few years ago. The internet has made it possible for people to have access to knowlegde that they did not even know excisted. People can expand there minds without leaving the house. It is amazing and it happened in such a short period of time. Henry Jenkins wrote a book called "Convergence Culture", which, as he described it is the intersection of commercial culture and amiture culture. Convergence is a culture rather than a technological process. We now live in a world where every story, image, sound, idea, brand, and relationship will play itself out across all media platforms. What is new in the media today will be old news tomorrow. It is constantly growing.
Some implications of convergence culture of education are that children have the knowlegde at their finger tips. They no longer need the classroom to learn. They can choose to learn what they want. There are so many web pages with information that can help a child with their homework or just for advice. The problem is that the children are more experienced with this new technology then the educators. The teachers need to be up to date with the convergence culture to be able to teach the students how to use the technology correctly. The internet has the ablility to be harmful. Schools are putting limits on the use of computers in the classroom because they only see the posibility of the children using the technology in a negitive fasion. They are not seeing how many positive aspects can come out of outsourcing in the classroom. I love having this class because I have learned so many things that will be helpful when I am in the classroom. I think that schools should make it manditory to have their teachers in technology classes and incorporate it in the classroom.
Here is the link to view his lecture:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ardhuq677cU