Transmedia Play- Literacy Across Media

8/11/2019 Transmedia Play- Literacy Across Media

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Available online at www.jmle.org

The National Association for Media Literacy EducationsJournal of Media Literacy Education 5:2 (2013) 366-369

Available online at www.jmle.org

Transmedia Play: Literacy Across MediaMeryl Alper

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Abstract

Transmedia play is a new way to understand how children develop critical media literacy and new media literacies through theirinteractions with contemporary media that links stories and structures across platforms. This essay highlights ve characteristics oftransmedia play that make it particularly useful for learning: resourcefulness , sociality , mobility , accessibility , and replayability , andexplains how each characteristic relates to digital and media literacy education.

Keywords : transmedia, media literacy, play

Over the past decade, within the context ofan increasingly media saturated world, transmedia has evolved as a way to understand the complexrelationships between media audiences, producers,and content. Coined by media scholar Marsha Kinder(1991), transmedia refers to a set of narrative and non-narrative media elements that are spread systematicallyacross multiple platforms. Narrative elements include

things like plot, setting, and characters, while non-narrative elements tend to be modes of participation (forexample, ways to contribute to an online community ortypes of actions in a video game) or design features (suchas menu structure in an e-book or even instructionaldesign in an in-person activity; see Herr-Stephensonand Alper 2013 for examples).

Transmedia takes various shapes dependingon the context, audience, and purpose, a set of formsdescribed as transmedia logics (Jenkins 2011). HenryJenkins (2006) has extended Kinders work particularly

through his discussion of one such logic, transmediastorytelling, whereby elements of a story developacross multiple media platforms to constitute a largerstory world. Transmedia play (Herr-Stephenson andAlper 2013), another transmedia logic, is a related

but distinct concept from transmedia storytelling. Itinvolves experimentation with and participation in atransmedia experience, but also applies to media thathas no storyline; for example, crossword puzzles oropen-ended videogames.

While transmedia logics frequently structurecontemporary entertainment franchises and brandingstrategies, its application towards enhancing andenriching learning experiences with media is largelyunderdeveloped. Kinder describes Saturday morningTV shows in the 1980s, such as Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles or Garfeld and Friends , as inexorably linked to

post-World War II consumer culture, presenting children

with opportunities to recognize, distinguish, andcombine different popular genres and their respectiveiconography that cut across movies, television, comic

books, commercials, video games, and toys (Kinder,47). Transmedia relies upon childrens abilities todecode, remix, create, and circulate many kinds ofmedia content, from Sesame Street to Star Wars , acrosscontexts, including school, extended learning programs,and home environments. The value of these activitiesfor learning is just beginning to be explored by mediaresearchers. Such explorations are timely, as childrens

content producers increasingly look to transmedia as part of a strategy for incorporating media into new andexisting properties, and as educators look ever more tonew media as a site for meaningful opportunities forchildren, transmedia can be a resource for learning invarious contexts. Transmedia play is a way of thinking aboutchildrens experimentation with, expression through,and participation in media. Within a networkedsociety, where learners are required to nd, assemble,

Rebecca Herr-Stephenson Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA


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and reassemble information dispersed across variousknowledge communities, transmedia requires creativeand collaborative reworking of media content. Thisincludes materials that may or may not be designed withexplicit learning goals in mind. Transmedia navigation,described as the ability to follow the ow of storiesand information across multiple modalities (Jenkins2006, 4), is at the heart of the new media literaciesframework. Pedagogical approaches to transmediado not exclusively focus on new or digital media.Older platforms, such as print books, magazineadvertisements, and analog radio, can also be leveragedin critical and creative ways in a learning environment.Transmedia experiences invite children to draw uponmultiple literacies, including digital, textual, visual,and media literacies, as well as social skills and culturalcompetencies. We believe that transmedia play is also well

aligned with The Core Principles of Media LiteracyEducation (National Association for Media LiteracyEducation 2007). For example, transmedia playencourages critical and active inquiry (the rst CorePrinciple), asking young people not only to considerthat all media messages are produced for a speci c

purpose, but also to gain a deeper understanding of howthose media messages are systematically spread acrossvarious networks. The second Core Principle of MediaLiteracy Education states, Media Literacy Educationexpands the concept of literacy (i.e., reading and writing)

to include all forms of media. Transmedia play alsoencourages new types of reading and authorship usinga wide array of media texts. Since there are many waysto enter a transmedia storyworld, students with variedlearning styles have multiple opportunities to revisita story and reinforce skills of analysis and expressionover sustained periods of time. Transmedia encouragesengaged participation and citizenship (the fourth CorePrinciple), with a particular emphasis on understandingthe ways in which media elements travel locally as wellas transnationally. Learners not only construct their ownmeanings from transmedia messages, but also derivemeaning from the paths they make for consuming,creating, and sharing media elements. Transmedia play is a new way to understand howchildren develop critical media literacy and new medialiteracies through their interactions with contemporarymedia that links stories and structures across platforms.This essay highlights ve characteristics of transmedia

play that make it particularly useful for learning:resourcefulness , sociality , mobility , accessibility , and

replayability , and explains how each characteristicrelates to digital and media literacy education (Gillmor2010; Hobbs 2010).

Five Characteristics of Transmedia Play Well-crafted and well-designed transmedia playexperiences have the potential to be a valuable toolfor enhanced and expanded learning, contributing toefforts to address some of the most pressing challengesfacing educators and childrens media producers. Herr-Stephenson and Alper (2013) identi ed ve qualities oftransmedia play that spark potential for young peoplesexperiential learning and literacy development. Therst of these characteristics is resourcefulness , orthe ability to act with/react to diverse, challengingsituations by thinking creatively about solutions thatleverage any and all available tools and materials (3).Children are encouraged to make connections between

elements of a transmedia story found in differentmedia. For example, in Scholastics historical ction/adventure transmedia property The 39 Clues , readingthe series not only involves books, but also engagingwith a number of game-like elements of the story,including nding collectable cards and participating inan ongoing interactive game. As it relates to digital andmedia literacy education, resourcefulness can entailanalyzing materials spread across online and/or of inecommunities, or making connections across subjectareas using media.

Another characteristic of transmedia play is thatit is inherently social , and involves play that generallyhappens in conversation with others who may be co-located physically and/or linked digitally throughmedia and technology. In this case, social may meanyoung people sharing proximal space and/or connecteddigitally with one another over a distance. Conversationsset within the context of transmedia play can also sparkdiscussions about social responsibility and social action.For example, the Harry Potter Alliances Imagine

Better project seeks to create a space where youngfans of properties such as The Hunger Games series,Glee , and of course, the Harry Potter series, can buildan engaged community committed to social justiceissues. With younger children, participation in fandomcan be a next step in imaginary play, with childrenimagining possible publics with whom they mightengage. Social and civic engagement, a key digitaland media literacy competency, is well aligned withtransmedia play. Transmedia (literally meaning across media)


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possible starting points for future research directionsas well. For example, depending on the type of mobile

platform, are there clear differences in learningoutcomes when a child begins participating in atransmedia experience through an interactive app asopposed a printed book? How much of an impact doeshaving access to all of the media, versus selected access

points, make in the quality and appeal of a transmediaexperience among children? If a transmedia playexperience takes place over a prolonged period of time,how does the duration of participation affect learning? These questions are just a few of the manyareas for investigation within a transmedia and learningresearch and development agenda. As the complexrelationships between media audiences, producers, andcontent continues to evolve, let us forge collaborationsamong researchers, designers, and media literacyeducation practitioners to determine how best to utilize

transmedia logics to craft enticing learning experiencesand environments for youth of today and tomorrow.

References

Gillmor, Dan. 2010. Mediactive . [Used under aCreative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License]. Retrievedfrom http://mediactive.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/mediactive_gillmor.pdf

Herr-Stephenson, Becky, Meryl Alper, Erin Reilly, and

Henry Jenkins. 2013. T Is for Transmedia: Learningthrough Transmedia Play . Los Angeles and NewYork: USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and TheJoan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

Hobbs, Renee. 2010. Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action . Washington, DC: The AspenInstitute.

Jenkins, Henry. 2006. Convergence Culture: WhereOld and New Media Collide . New York: New YorkUniversity Press.

. 2011. Transmedia 202: Further Re ections .[Blog post, August 11]. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_ further_re.html

Jenkins, Henry, Ravi Purushotma, Katherine Clinton,Margaret Weigel, and Alice J. Robinson. 2006.Confronting the Challenges of ParticipatoryCulture: Media Education for the 21st Century .Chicago: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthurFoundation.

Kinder, Marsha. 1991. Playing with Power in Movies,

Television, and Video Games: From MuppetBabies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Berkeley:University of California Press.

National Association for Media Literacy Education.2007. Core Principles of Media Literacy Educationin the United States . Retrieved from http://namle.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/CorePrinciples.

pdf.

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Transmedia Play- Literacy Across Media