Chapter
6 Digital Design: English Language
Learners and Reader Reviews in Online Fiction
I will be honest up front
and say that this chapter was hard for me to get through. I am not a big fan of anime or pop
culture itself. Reading a comic
book is even a stretch for me! So
reading about fan fiction and how these random people are taking someone else’s
original work and changing them did not really thrill me. I love reading novels, novels with
sequels especially. They idea of my favorite authors having their stories
changed and characters interfered with is unpleasant to say the least. But, that is only MY opinion. Apparently, there are many individuals
who love to read these types of fiction stories. This chapter discusses one particular site called Fanfiction.net,
which includes stories written by fans that include their favorite pop culture
characters. These fans extend the
plotlines of their favorite icons and create new relationships or expand the
characters from the original series.
I again had trouble finding
a connection between this reading and education in general. I finally came across a quote that
helped a bit. According to Gee
(2004, 99) “Fanfiction.net provides clear examples of how youth are learning to
use new ICT’s to develop ‘communicational links between people and
organizations’ as well as between ‘people and various sorts of tools and
technologies’”. (Page 117) So, I think the author is saying, as
educators, we need to make sure we are engaging our students in activities
where they will be exposed to pop culture and other forms of current media. I do try to include technology and
media in my classroom, but because of the age of my students, I don’t think fan
fiction will be something I will use much. I am interested to check the website out for myself, though.
I am not a big fan of Anime either or some of the other topics discussed in the chapter. I do see a connection between the use of fan fiction and learning. It's just like any technological gadget, it's something that the kids are exposed to and use. Using their culture makes it more real when you can connect it somehow to your content. I think of it as another tool in my tool box.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, I had my reservations about Fanfiction because for one thing I had never heard of it. I too had a hard time reading the chapter and then read some other articles about it. One was concerned that the stories were rated but were not rated properly. That worries me because how violent are they?Is the language bad? Adult content? I then read an article by International Reading Association that talked about the benefits. What I took away from Chapter 6 was Nanako and her fans worked cooperatively and kids can be teachers as well. She was appreciated for her multi-cultural background and valued as a writer. In that situation it was a win win.
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