Inspired by Ofri Cnaani's and Todd Shalom's participatory art walks, this interactive walk focus on finding evidence of participatory cultures in our everyday environment. Using found objects that related to some dimension of participatory culture, participants write collective "Lesson Poems."
The goals for this lesson are for educators to explain Henry Jenkins' aspects of participatory culture and their relevance to inclusive lesson planing; and to become familiar with Wiggins and McTighe's recommendations for developing learning experiences based on the Understanding by Design curriculum approach.
- Partner Walk: Participants begin their walk by discussing the term "collective intelligence" with a partner, as they head to the starting location for the first part of the activity.
- Solo Scavenger Hunt: Participants are sent prompts and have five minutes to walk through a designated area, find a scene representing this prompt; and send a photo related to that prompt to the group. Prompts might include "play", "transmedia navigation"; "multitasking", and "distributed cognition."
- Partner Walk: Participants discuss another term related to participatory cultures, such as "appropriate", en route to the starting point for the second part of the activity.
- Collective Found Object Poem: Participants gather objects related to some dimension of participatory culture and arrange these in a Lesson Poem (See below).
Throughout the walk, participants might be thinking about how they are practicing these elements of participatory culture. As they are sent to scour their environment for scenes relevant to dimensions of participatory culture, they are engaging in collective intelligence, play, multitasking, and distributed cognition. As they compose their poem, they engage in transmedia navigation, play, and appropriation (remix & mash-up). Through literal and metaphoric interpretations of found objects to elements of Wiggins & McTighe's WHERETO mnemonic, they grapple with the meaning and intent of each of those elements lesson design.
"WHERETO"
Lesson Poem
This "Lesson Poem" was structured as an acrostic, after Wiggens & McTighe's (Understanding by Design) mnemonic "WHERETO." WHERETO is a mnemonic for designing learning experiences, prompting curriculum designers to remember to explain Where the lesson is heading and Why; Hook and Hold students' interest; develop Experiences that Equip students for success and make understandings real; provide opportunities to Revise, Revisit, Reflect and Rethink; and Express understandings and engage in self-Evaluation; Tailor instruction to every learner; and Organize learning experiences for deeper understanding.
Students collected objects that related to some aspect of participatory culture, and composed those found objects into this WHERETO lesson poem. Students engaged in discussion and reflection before "remixing" the poem. They could move a found object to a different line. Students then evaluated and reflected on this remix and the overall experience of composing a 'lesson poem.'
Cover Image: Class composition of WHERETO Lesson Poem