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DL 237

The Knapsack Problem

Published: March 14, 2020 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to Digitally Literate, issue 237. Your go-to source for insightful content on education, technology, and the digital landscape.

🔖 Key Takeaways

Hi all, welcome to issue 237 of Digitally Literate.

I posted and shared the following this week:

If you haven't already, please subscribe if you would like this newsletter to show up in your inbox. Feel free to reach out and let me know what you think of this work at hello@digitallyliterate.net.

📺 Watch

Think Like a Coder is a 10-episode series that challenges viewers with programming puzzles as the main characters—a girl and her robot companion—attempt to save a world that has been plunged into turmoil. In our digital age, coding has become a basic literacy skill which gives us deeper understanding of the technology we use everyday.

Follow along with the lessons for episode one on the TED-Ed website. I'm using this as a challenge with my kids as we're remaining sequestered over the next week or so.

📚 Read

Communities across the globe are feeling the effects of the Coronavirus this week. If you're sick and tired of reading about COVID-19, I don't blame you. I'll try to provide a balanced mixture of info about the global pandemic as I share the news of the week.

One of the most insightful pieces about planning for instruction as educational institutions move to online-only offerings comes from Sean Michael Morris. The post shares valuable insight on the ethos—the what and why of online pedagogy—as opposed to just focusing on the how.

Additional resources: NY Times regularly updated projects for engaging youth, guidance on making learning materials accessible, and if you're in higher ed, please help document your experiences.

This week, the CDC issued guidelines for "community mitigation strategies" to limit COVID-19 spread, including recommendations for "social distancing"—a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people.

Ezra Klein indicates this may prevent the pandemic from worsening, but may also cause a "social recession" in which populations already vulnerable to isolation and loneliness may be at extreme risk.

In earlier issues, we've examined possible negative impacts of digital spaces on relationships and mental health. As I connect with others online, I'm encouraged by what I see, but also trying to identify ways to support others' mental health and stay connected.

As a member of the Screentime Research Group, I spend a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about the challenges of living and learning in the age of screens.

This post in Slate by jane c. hu indicates that research examining screentime and behavior is difficult to design and execute, leaving us with fewer causal conclusions and more associative studies to rely on for decision-making and policy.

The knapsack problem is a fictional dilemma in which you are constrained to fill a fixed-size knapsack with your most valuable items.

This thought experiment provides new opportunities for engaging in computing and processing tasks. It also gives us an opportunity to think about computational thinking and real-life problems.

Humans may struggle with optimizing multiple smaller problems due to "choice overload." But we've also learned how to store only the most pertinent stimuli in our mental knapsacks as we go through the day. Computers aren't there yet.

Google crunched the data on hundreds of high-performing teams and found that one variable mattered more than any other: "emotional safety"—also known as psychological security, or trust.

Researcher David Rock studied the brain science of trust and engagement at work and breaks it down into 5 key ingredients—SCARF:

🔨 Do

These three tactics will help you focus on the task at hand:

As we navigate new work-from-home realities, focus becomes both more difficult and more essential.

🤔 Consider

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

Norman Vincent Peale

Peale's reminder about the power of perspective connects to this week's themes. As the world shifts to social distancing and remote everything, our mental framing determines whether we experience isolation or intentional connection, whether online learning feels like a poor substitute or a new opportunity.

Help encourage others to wash their hands with this infographic maker.

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