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Do you Remix?
April 10, 2008

How many of your students do you think are remixing content online - that is, taking content and changing it or mixing it up with other content? A few years ago, a Pew Internet and American Life Project study placed the number of students remixing content at about 1 in 5. At a recent conference presentation, Dr. Henry Jenkins of the MIT Comparative Media Studies program placed the number much higher today. And here is the real surprise, he suggests that it is nothing new.

Dr. Jenkins noted that one of the highlights of remixing right now is Soulja Boy, a hip-hop artist who rose to stardom on the power of remix culture and YouTube. Soulja Boy started with an instructional video on how to do the Soulja Boy dance. Then, instead of holding on to his content, Soulja Boy actively encouraged remixing of his song and dance. Since then, Spongebob, Dora, and many others have been spotted on YouTube Crankin' Dat Soulja Boy.

Juxtaposed with the recent success of Soulja Boy for Dr. Jenkins is the classic American remix success story, Moby Dick. The rambling novel is much better understood when it is approached as a remix/mashup of many different content sources including encyclopedia matter, play scripts, adventure stories, and much more. The MIT Comparative Media Studies program is putting together educational resource kits to help teachers teach Moby Dick in this new way. The kits will be available online for free at some point in the future.

Posted by Chris Harris on April 10, 2008 | Comments (0)