DL 301
Watching Robots
Welcome back! This is Digitally Literate, issue #301.
This week I date:
- How to Talk About Mental Health – Guidance on how to discuss mental health and well-being.
- Getting Started With Ungrading – Reflections on integrating ungrading into my teaching practice.
🔖 Key Takeaways
- School Culture Wars: Educators are navigating an increasingly politicized landscape as they tackle mask mandates, critical race theory, and gender identity.
- Parenting Challenges: Parents are at their breaking point, juggling immense pressures while striving to support their children.
- Persuasion Lessons from Robots: Sporadic social interactions can spread new information more effectively than mass communication.
📚 This Week’s Highlights
1. Don't Be a Sucker (1947)
In this anti-fascist film produced by the US Military in the wake of WWII, the producers deconstruct the politically motivated social engineering of Germany by the Nazi regime.
Why this matters: Timeless lessons about the dangers of propaganda and social engineering.
2. School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’
From mask mandates to critical race theory and gender identity, educators are besieged. “You are just trying to keep everything from collapsing,” one official said.
Schools were already facing a crisis of historic proportions. They are reopening just as a highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus is tearing through communities. They need to create a safe environment for teachers and students while helping children who have been through major trauma.
But at this critical moment, many school officials find themselves engulfed in highly partisan battles, which often have distracted from the most urgent issues.
Why this matters: Educators are being asked to balance public health, student well-being, and deeply divided public opinion.
3. Parents Are Not Okay
An honest exploration of how parents are coping—barely—amid the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.
Parents aren’t even at a breaking point anymore. We’re broken. And yet we’ll go on because that’s what we do: We sweep up all our pieces and put them back together as best we can. We carry on chipped and leaking and broken because we have no other choice. And we pray that if we can just keep going, our kids will survive too.
Why this matters: A reminder to offer grace and support to those juggling immense responsibilities.
4. What Robots Teach Us About Persuasion
Experiments with robot swarms reveal that sporadic social interactions spread new information better than one-size-fits-all approaches.
Why this matters: A lesson for educators, leaders, and communicators on the power of tailored, personal interactions.
5. 9 Apps to Help Kids Sharpen Their Coding Skills
A roundup of platforms that make learning to code fun and accessible for kids.
Why this matters: Coding is an essential skill for the future and a gateway to creativity and problem-solving.
🛠️ DO: Navigate Vaccine Conversations
Kindness and understanding are key when talking with vaccine-hesitant individuals.
- Check your biases at the door.
- See if the person is open to the conversation.
- Be kind and civil.
- Identify the obstacle.
- Use tailored arguments and humble texts.
🌟 Closing Reflection
The sun is new each day.
— Heraclitus
Reflect and Engage
- How can schools better navigate politically charged topics? Share your thoughts in School Culture Wars.
- What role does personalized persuasion play in education and outreach? Reflect in Persuasion Through Robotics.
- How can parents balance personal well-being with their responsibilities? Explore more in Supporting Vaccine Conversations.
Thank you for reading Digitally Literate. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions. Connect with me at hello@digitallyliterate.net or explore Newsletter Index for all past issues.
Greetings Earthlings! Outkast - Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac) (Animated Music Video)