DL 308

For The Public Good

Welcome back. Here's Digitally Literate, issue #308.

This week I post the following:

As I sit down to write this week's issue, I'm learning about the sudden passing of two giants in the fields of digital literacy. Drs. Michele Knobel and David O'Brien. Much of Michele's work was written with Colin Lankshear. These two not only framed most of my thinking about digital and new literacies, but they also published most of this content openly along the way while blogging about their work. They are one of the key reasons why I work the way that I do. Dave also inspired most of my work as he investigated digital and new literacy practices, especially as they connect to content area instruction. He informally mentored me throughout my career and framed most of my thinking and the words I use to express what I see.

🔖 Key Takeaways

📚 This Week’s Highlights

Synthetic media, better known as deepfakes, could be a goldmine for filmmakers. But the technology has already terrorized women who have had their faces inserted into pornography. And it could potentially disrupt society.

Several years ago, I first started writing about deepfakes here in this newsletter. I wasn't sure if I should even write about this technology as it has its roots in pornography and revenge porn. I'm glad that I've been following this topic.

Why this matters: Staying informed about the implications of deepfake technology helps us advocate for its responsible use.

Peter Greene writing about one of the key challenges involved in teaching. It is never enough.

There is never enough time. There are never enough resources. There is never enough you.

We ask teachers to do more with increasingly less. As the pandemic reverberates across society, we've asked teachers to put their lives on the line to serve us and our children. When they ask for safety in the form of virtual learning, vaccinations, testing, or masking policies, we mock and threaten them. We peer into their classrooms and demand to know what they're teaching and think that we could do it better.

The teacher appreciation t-shirts, coffee shop gift cards, and exhortations of self-care do nothing.

Pay teachers. Treat them with respect. Treat teachers as a valuable natural resource.
Why this matters: Teachers deserve better support, resources, and recognition for their critical role in society.

3. Facebook’s Effort to Attract Preteens Goes Beyond Instagram Kids, Documents Show

I'm continuing to unpack the Facebook Files, A Wall Street Journal investigation. Internal Facebook documents reviewed show Facebook formed a team to study preteens, set a three-year goal to create more products for them, and commissioned strategy papers about the long-term business opportunities presented by these potential users. In one presentation, it contemplated whether there might be a way to engage children during playdates.

Facebook isn’t the only technology company to court children and face scrutiny for doing so. Virtually every major social media platform, including Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, has confronted legal or regulatory problems related to how children use its products. Federal privacy law forbids data collection on children under 13, and lawmakers have criticized tech companies for not doing more to protect kids online from predators and harmful content.

“With the ubiquity of tablets and phones, kids are getting on the internet as young as six years old. We can’t ignore this and we have a responsibility to figure it out,” said a 2018 document labeled confidential. “Imagine a Facebook experience designed for youth.”
Why this matters: Protecting children online requires transparency and accountability from tech companies.

Shauna Shames writes that there is no such thing as the so-called work/family conflict. This is not only a personal observation. Scholars have found that good jobs – full-time, with benefits – and family, without help, are simply incompatible.

Will the U.S. take something positive from this crisis by learning an enduring lesson about the power of child care? Americans tend to think of having children as an expensive, private choice. The alternative is to think of it as a public good. There are many potential options when child care is made a priority in a society.
Why this matters: Societal change starts with recognizing and investing in shared responsibilities like child care.

Last week, Oakland education activist Dirk Tillotson was murdered in his home. In this piece Courtney Martin indicates that Tillotson described himself as the “patron saint of lost causes.”

Some great quotes from this piece:

“You gotta dig in where you can,” he says. “Don’t overthink it. Especially if it’s what the teachers want. Just don’t be an asshole.”

“Make sure the teachers know you’re not blaming anyone,” he goes on. “You’re there to help them get more support, more books, more partners.”

"The system is the villain. It’s built to serve some kids and leave other kids behind. It’s life or death, not to sound too dramatic, but it is. That’s what we should be talking about.”

You can read more about Dirk’s work on his blog, Great School Voices, and donate to a Go Fund Me to support his family here.
Why this matters: Dirk’s legacy reminds us of the importance of fighting systemic inequities with humility and determination.

Sidequests, often seen in video games, have become a powerful storytelling tool for TV and movies, adding depth and nuance to main narratives.
Why this matters: These narrative techniques enrich storytelling by mimicking real-life detours and complexities.

🛠️ DO: Embrace the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Michael Hyatt on the not-so-linear path necessary to build perseverance and determination.

Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren literally wrote the book on reading. They identify four levels of reading:

  1. Openness: See problems others overlook.
  2. Ownership: Take initiative to solve challenges.
  3. Grayscale Thinking: Make creative connections across fields.
  4. Risk Tolerance: Embrace calculated risks.
  5. Resilience: Recover from setbacks with persistence.
  6. Resourcefulness: Find innovative solutions.
  7. Patience: Stay committed to long-term goals.
  8. Belief: Trust in yourself and your work.

Learn more here.

🌟 Closing Reflection

"Time moves in one direction, memory in another."
— William Gibson

Reflect and Engage

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.

Thanks again all. I'm off to figure out how to bake these blueberry cookies.