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Transmedia Community

Regarding institutional guidelines, it is necessary to take into account that the House of Reading appears articulated with Agreement 021 of June 7, 2022 “Through which the Media Observatory of the University of Cundinamarca and the Reading Club “House of Reading 21st Century” are created, The Transmodern Digital Educational Model (MEDIT) proposed by the rector, Dr. Adriano Muñoz; The methodological design of the CAI of Communication and Critical Reading; and the mission functions of the University of Cundinamarca.

Some aspects that are important to reference according to MEDIT and that are promoted by the House of Reading as it seeks to develop critical thinking, that is, as it seeks to have students take a critical stance towards the world from a multidimensional field, under the seven dimensions referenced therein, are the following considerations:

  • “A free subject is the only one who self-regulates, self-manages and self-controls in order to achieve a constant and permanent improvement of himself; where his behavior influences the development of society, the exercise of democracy, the preservation of peaceful coexistence, overcoming consumerism and the lack of identity that leads to chaos and annihilation” (Muñoz, p.4)
  • “The aim is to educate young people to adopt their own lifestyle, enabling them to be happy, live well, and recognize themselves in others and in nature, understanding that life is the great challenge of the 21st century; which represents fulfillment and development as a transhuman person.” (Muñoz, p. 4)

Finally, according to Agreement 021 of 2022, the “Casa de la Lectura” Reading Club and the Media Observatory were created to contribute to ensuring the quality of learning that inspires the MEDIT Transmodern Digital Educational Model; and to fulfill the university's objective of “building and consolidating a learning community where the principles and values that inspire and give meaning to MEDIT circulate and are demonstrated, striving for an ideal of life focused on service, happiness, and peaceful coexistence.” (Agreement 021 of 2022, p. 1), goals that are present and aligned with the University of Cundinamarca's “Translocal and Transmodern” Development Plan. The purpose of the Casa de la Lectura is:

To manage in the participants of the media observatory and reading house of the 21st Century the analysis and comparison of suitable sources, which allow them to solve current problems of their personal and translocal context, from the approach of transmodernity, articulated to the expected learning results of the Institutional Learning Field Communication and Critical Reading (Agreement 021 of 2022. p. 2).

Finally, regarding the connection with the Transmedia Center's Action Plan, it includes the holding of the Grammar Olympics, period 2024-1. The Olympics have already taken place and include two articles for the next edition of the 21st Century Magazine of the University of Cundinamarca.

For this presentation, it's important to remember that the Digital Learning Plan (DLP) for the Communication and Critical Reading Learning Center (CAI) has been updated, allowing for greater integration with the House of Reading. The updated DLP includes: 1) the Critical Reading Learning Experience, which is now linked to real life and how readers engage with the world; and 2) the Expected Learning Outcome (ELO), which is: “To interpret and produce effective and critically informed communication based on experiences from translocal contexts and their interrelation with interculturality.” Finally, the House of Reading is integrated into the first phase of the DLP, from week 1 to week 7. This phase begins with the selection of a narrative comic and the formulation of the research problem to be explored throughout the CAI, leading to the “Media Observatory,” where students critically discuss, analyze, and compare different sources of information. Finally, the apprentice and their mentor, both managers of opportunities and knowledge, discuss a communication strategy or transmedia approach to communicate the previously discovered findings, propose solutions, and materialize a Social Appropriation of Knowledge in their environment. All of this takes place within the context of the CLC's CAI program at the University of Cundinamarca, under the Transmodern Digital Educational Model (MEDIT), which, it's worth remembering, engages students with their immediate context for its active transformation in relation to life, democratic values, civic responsibility, and freedom.

To transmediate the experiences of students within the university, it is necessary to create a meta-narrative in which the public (the students) can create variations in the story, recreate it, feed it, dialogue, as happens in fanfiction, wallpaper, social networks, newspapers, television, word of mouth and the new forms of interaction that the culture of convergence of different media nuance our experience of reality.

The narrative proposed below metaphorically articulates the Reading House Rooms, the PAD, the Medit, the basic knowledge for research (STI), the promotion of reading, and the experience of being a student at the University of Cundinamarca committed to the positive transformation of their environment:

Some moments that the student will experience at the CLC CAI are: 1) Cultivate their interests and passions for reading, since we only read what we like, that is our key. 2) Construct a problem question after problematizing the environment. That question, as a door, It can lead you to places we don't know. 3) Explore complex thinking by identifying different dimensions of what you investigate, relating the disciplinary to the cultural or to literary aspects. The bridges you can find between science, art, technology, and society will be your own pathor contribution, their exploration of the first three rooms of the House of Reading. 4) They seek different perspectives in the media observatory to create a critical message that synthesizes or explains the complexity of what they addressed in their question, like someone unravels a labyrinthof different ideas and visions. 5) This message will later be disseminated from the Transmedia Center, through various products, and will propose solutions to this problem, to defeat the Minotaur. The thinker is the one who defeats the Minotaur, be it shyness, fear of public speaking, difficulty in synthesizing the message, etc.

Script for video or website:

Reading is your key to exploring this uncertain and ever-changing world, but what do you like? What interests you? What excites you? What troubles you? You can explore your affinities or delve into the deepest part of your being: What is it that you would like to know or explore? What sparks your curiosity, that leads you to investigate the world and yourself? What is it that you need to know?

We don't need an immediate answer. It's also valid to explore for the sake of exploring: to read for the pleasure of reading, without knowing what you'll find… Because we'll never fully know what we'll find when we open a book. Nor do we know what will happen in our future, but we can better understand the world and the possibilities it offers if we explore reading and the arts in conjunction with the academic disciplines of each of our fields.

Be yourself, be a hero. Cultivate yourself. Reading is a source of self-discovery; it allows you to uncover your identity and your own potential. It's an activity you enjoy without being passive. Imagine more to understand better. Which characters inspire you? Would it be good to explore new role models? Reading and choosing come from the same Latin word., legere, What do you choose, what do you decide?

Choose your problem, your interest, or your passion very carefully; That desire, that affinity, that need are the keys that will lead you to open and cross the door of The House of Reading.We don't possess the ultimate truth here, but we engage in conversation with people who think differently simply for the pleasure of discussing what we love and what motivates us. We talk to improve our reading skills, and we read to improve our speaking skills. We discuss the media, what we see and consume there. We talk to understand each other and the world, to transform it around life, democratic values, civility, and freedom—principles of our MEDIT educational model.

Each question is a doorto a different world. Therefore, in this section you will construct your gateway, you will construct your problem question: define its scope, contextualize it. We may not find the answer if it is too general, or it may be too abstract and unsolvable, as sometimes happens in art. Therefore, it is important that you define and contextualize it.

In the Communication and Critical Reading Learning Center, we will create various communication products and activities related to this issue: We will search for bibliography in databases, review writing and interpretation standards, hold grammar competitions, and create reviews, essays, and posters to explain why our chosen topic is important, why this problem is worthy of study, and what solutions we envision. We will compare different sources of information on the subject. We will even look for fake news to compare perspectives, identify potential interests, assess the consequences, and avoid falling victim to manipulation. In short, we will delve deeply into this phenomenon to understand it and construct a message.

Later, in CAI II, we will consider how to disseminate this message, who needs to know it, what the solution is, or if there isn't one yet, how we can build a way out together: How do we communicate it, how do we make it relevant? To do this, we will create a podcast or online radio program, digital newspapers, articles, and other transmedia resources to share and internalize this knowledge, both for ourselves and for the community. You are a protagonist in your own life and in this region. Take advantage of the experience and knowledge of your teachers.

Don't forget that the keymust fit with the door. Is that topic worth the time you're going to dedicate to it? doorIt takes you to pathWhat do you want to know?

At the House of Reading we offer you three doors, three paths, three reading rooms: the literary, the cultural and the transdisciplinary: 1) The literary(with narrative, stories, tales, literature. If something has survived in history it is because it is valuable), 2) the cultural(with the arts, film, music, dance, etc.), and 3) transdisciplinarity(where each academic discipline is listed, the other components we study at the University, and how they relate to each other). You can explore the content there to delve deeper into your question.

Each of those paths, if you explore them in depth, intertwines with each other: you will find science in fiction stories, you will find literary stories in science, and all of it stems from culture, our point of reference, which is what we are.

Furthermore, all roads lead to the same place, the same goal, which is a fourth room, the transmedia roomFrom the House of Reading, where the OER (Open Educational Resource) is realized: “to develop reading and writing skills that allow you to be a participant and prosumer in the transmodern and hypermediated society,” that is, a citizen who recognizes complexity, who receives different perspectives through social media, YouTube, podcasts, radio, newspapers, and television; who listens to word of mouth and seeks to see reality directly, according to their own criteria. A citizen who does not adopt a single truth without first listening to others, allowing them to be themselves, and hopefully accepting them in a non-violent way. That is the path of life that reading marks. That is the path that each of us eventually explores. Deep down, we all think differently; what is valuable is that we coexist peacefully with those differences.

At the House of Reading, we offer this advice: as we learn new things, we must have the courage to change our perspective. No one has all the knowledge in the world. We all make mistakes; it's part of life. But learning something new helps us correct ourselves and build ourselves as a society. In this pathWe are not alone.

Learning to read is learning to see complexity, and learning to see complexity is traversing a mazeof ideas that may be contradictory.

When you start exploring something in depth, you realize that everything can be complex, and following the thread can be very difficult. Our minds wander back and forth. Sometimes it's necessary to review and revisit things to clarify them. What's easy for one person might be difficult for another… and everyone experiences and perceives things in their own unique way.

To navigate and unravel the labyrinth of perspectives that complicate any phenomenon you study, you must adopt a critical and reflective approach to the texts you read and the cultural products you consume. You must evaluate and organize them, because you are in the Media Observatory. You must identify who says what and why. It is recommended that you map this labyrinth and distinguish the variables that comprise the problem. You can use graphic organizers, create a mind map, an organizational chart, a synoptic chart, etc.

Mapping the labyrinth means creating an action plan, a step-by-step guide where you can plan your actions, correlate them with objectives, and allow space to separate and integrate different elements. Stick to your plan. If necessary, redefine the issues you're facing.

This map of the labyrinth, this action plan, this timeline, this graphic organizer of ideas, or these resources that you create to graph knowledge; will allow you to be aware of what you understand and what you don't understand, the steps you must follow to successfully complete your CAI, recognize the moment when new doubts arise, note down possible solutions and perspectives of escape from the labyrinth of complexity.

In short, you'll review a range of resources to gain a comprehensive overview that will allow you to follow the thread of ideas and create a clear and coherent narrative—a text that is easy to understand, without any knots in its lines. It's no coincidence that the word "text" comes from the word "fabric.".

Think clearly to communicate clearly. Create the message: Poster, scientific infographic, column, Master Class: if you have a plan and a communication structure, you'll reach your target audience effectively.

We've all felt fear and anxiety. When speaking in public, for example, 751% of the population experiences them. They may never completely disappear, but by confronting them, you begin to understand them and grow above them. Conquer your fears. Transmediate your message.

In Greek mythology, Theseus, a hero, willingly enters the inescapable labyrinth that King Minos had Daedalus build to imprison the Minotaur, a creature to whom a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens was sent periodically to be devoured. With the help of Ariadne, Minos's daughter, Theseus obtains a magic thread that will allow him to find his way back to the labyrinth's exit after defeating the Minotaur. Theseus manages to kill the beast and escape the labyrinth thanks to the thread he had left behind.

This legend has been interpreted in many ways. We invite you to explore its history and some of the metaphors used to interpret it.

For the House of Reading, the Minotaur, half bull, half man, represents that sometimes irrational force we face. The Minotaur can be misinformation, the hatred that circulates, bad experiences, a part of ourselves.

In your map, the minotaur represents the difficulties you must overcome to solve or make visible the problem you identified: ignorance, shyness in communicating, difficulties in understanding and getting out of the labyrinth, personal challenges that arise in order to complete university, etc.

You choose what each element of this metaphor means: the thread Ariadne gives to Theseus, King Minos who orders the labyrinth built, Theseus who willingly enters the labyrinth, or the role of the Minotaur, punished. That's how metaphors are; they aren't explicit. Teachers, for example, can sometimes offer you Ariadne's thread to find the way out, other times we can be King Minos building a labyrinth of activities, other times we can be the monster who assigns the grade, or we can be Theseus confronting a Minotaur who thinks differently. You build it.

You too can be Theseus, the hero; other times you can offer Ariadne's thread or idea to help someone else. Sometimes you can build the labyrinth, or be the labyrinth that no one understands, or even express ideas that are a minotaur to someone else. The choice is yours. This is the thread of a story that you weave.

Remember two things: Don't confuse an "enemy" with a person. It's usually ignorance, intransigence, or fear that we must confront, because these are often the gateways to toxic feelings and relationships. Second: we are only as tall as the Minotaur we choose to face. It also takes courage to listen to others in order to coexist and live in peace.

The Communication and Critical Reading Learning Community (CAI) begins with students identifying a contextual problem. Based on this problem, students develop a series of academic and transmedia products necessary for their university studies and professional practice.

Since the House of Reading is an integral part of the CAI (College of Arts and Research), the first step to "entering" is knowing what you want to read or allowing yourself the opportunity to explore freely: Determine the general topic to read or research, and then refine that topic by focusing on a contextual problem to understand and solve. Choosing a topic of interest, a passion, a hobby, a literary genre, or an aspect the student wants to cultivate—all of this sets the stage. This topic or contextual problem to be analyzed should encompass or synthesize the students' deepest interests. It should not be something they respond to superficially, but rather something that compels them, engages them, and deeply interests them; it is a topic on which they will freely invest their reading time, even outside the university facilities. Therefore, it is important that it be meaningful and profound for the learner.

Answering a question or solving a problem, depending on its nature, can be complex, and identifying and relating the variables can sometimes make it a labyrinth.

Once a student finds their key to the house of reading—that is, once they formulate their research question or passion—they enter what is metaphorically a "labyrinth" in the investigative process. And in this labyrinth, to answer their question, they must find reliable sources of information, compare them, identify their characteristics, consult databases, and actively seek out the different positions that support various perspectives. In the act of delving deeper into the reality of their chosen topic, the student develops the cognitive skills of critical thinking, enabling them to better understand the world and position themselves more effectively to ethically transform their context. The key to critical thinking, then, is the topic, problem, or passion that the student seeks to explore.

Hence the proposed symbolic act of Entering the House, in which the student creates their own key based on their passion, problem, interest, or project. This key unlocks their ability to develop metacognitive skills within the labyrinth of texts, ideas, and contradictory thoughts characteristic of a complex and uncertain reality.

In other words, the Thematic Labyrinth is the narrative used in the Reading Club and consists of the first stage of the CAI (Comprehensive Academic Initiative): the formulation of a contextual problem. From there, the student explores their interests and, over time, can develop and find resources related to those interests within the Thematic Labyrinth, as well as connect with other people and groups with similar interests.

The purpose of creating the labyrinth map is to develop metacognitive skills, enabling students to create a learning plan for the entire Communication and Critical Reading course. Furthermore, they will be able to regulate their learning and recognize the importance of this component in understanding their problems, interests, projects, and in daily life.

The content and scope of the House of Reading consists of:

The literary, cultural, and transdisciplinary rooms are the starting point for students at CAI CLC 1. CAI 2 aims to achieve transmedia interaction, that is, a convergence between different media. All of this culminates, but does not end, with the Thinker.

In the process of determining the research question and defining the contextual problem, students join one of the rooms, depending on the nature of the problem they are investigating. The problem may be more academic or disciplinary, related to literature, or to the cultural and artistic dimension of society.

For the design, a banner, a presentation, and a Genially presentation are proposed to give the Transmedia Center the ability to update itself. The following page from the University of the Andes, which explores museums around the world, serves as a reference:

Source: Virtual Museums of the World | University of the Andes (uniandes.edu.co)

The presentation of each of the rooms is on the drive:

This room is accessed through CAI 2, where critical, systemic thinking continues to be synthesized and explored, and communication and reading skills are developed also at a transmedia level, for the Social Appropriation of Knowledge.

Design:

The same structure as the previous rooms is proposed, but it must include the possibility of creating forums, wikis, networks like Viva Engage, so that the children can find other knowledge and create virtual learning communities around their interests.

For the formation of virtual learning communities, it is important to establish rules of interaction within the group, since the larger the group, the more likely there may be problems or randomness, depending on the level of interaction required.

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