The article points out that media has changed immensely in the past few decades. The shift from traditional literacy to new media literacy is both an exciting change and a challenge for educators. I agree with the article that it is important for educators to think about how to incorporate new media into the curriculum. Also, I believe that we should not be afraid of accepting new media although it might seem like it’s slowly taking over the old media’s place. For example, when Kindle first came out, a lot of people were worried that it’s going to ruin the physical books and reading experience. Convenience of Kindle definitely makes it easier for people on the go to read whenever they want and carry as many books as possible at once. However, there are people who prefer the texture and feel of physical books. Kindle and other ebooks also allow users to annotate their book without having to worry about ruining the book and to see other people’s annotation. These advantages make it more available for participation. Moreover, things like audio books can help people understand and enjoy literature in a different way.

New media has changed many activities from an individual activity to a social experience. Social networks allow people to share anything they want with a large group of people in a very simple way. As a photographer, social media creates a platform for me to share the art I created with other people. I can get comments and suggestions very quickly. It even allowed me to get photography jobs because other people saw the pictures I took on Facebook and decided they are good. This allowed me to be an active participant. Without this platform or without digital camera, sharing my work with other people would have been much much harder. I also get a sense of satisfaction from this experience which encouraged me to be a better photographer. Therefore, I also benefit from this participatory activity.

Overall, as we have mentioned many times in this class and in this article, there are many challenges and unknowns with new media but we should not be discouraged from learning and using different forms of media. We will only be able to fully discover the potential of new media if we are open-minded and want to figure out how to use it better.