Convergence Culture - What is it?

According to the Henry Jenkins video, convergence culture is what occurs "when old and new media collide." This doesn't mean that old media goes into the wastebasket and new media takes its place, but rather that old media is updated and integrated into a new media that assists in creating what Dr. Jenkins refers to as a "participatory culture."

Convergence culture has its place in education in the area of technology integration in the classroom. Overhead projectors and filmstrips are no more; media usage in the classroom is even moving past powerpoints now to Smart Boards and Mimios. The more students are exposed to technology in the classroom and have experience with using the technology, the more comfortable they'll be integrating new technology into their everyday lives, thus enhancing the convergence culture.

Schools are limiting kids' access to digital tools by not allowing students to be signed into social networking sites and by limiting access to computers in general. Granted, the use of social networking sites, blogging sites, etc. need to be monitored in the classroom; students can't just be freely using these sites at their own will. But, all students need to have access to a multitude of digital tools so, as Jenkins proposes, the "participation gap" can be lessened.