It’s Not About You

Hi all, welcome to issue #243 of Digitally Literate.

I helped post the following this week:

• High Tech Means Missed Connections – I wrote up this post about the challenges of online learning in rural spaces.
• Taking Our Children to Work – In this episode of the Technopanic Podcast, Kristen and I have our kids join us to talk about learning from home.
• Soundtrack Of Your Life – In this post I share how I have students create a soundtrack that becomes a multimodal autobiography that combines text, images, and music.

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.

Flogging Molly – “If I Ever Leave This World Alive”

I love Flogging Molly, and this song is one of my absolute favorites. It was the last song played at my wedding, and I try to have it played at most weddings I attend. Sadly…the DJ usually has never heard of the group…or song. 🙁

This acoustic version from a fireside in their tenement square is wonderful. Enjoy.

Want to Find a Misinformed Public? Facebook’s Already Done It

There’s a good number of people that believe that Covid-19 is a hoax. It can be hard to talk to them, especially when you need to be responsible for their health…or yours. Perhaps this ultimately is a disorder.

Last week I shared a couple stories about the need for social media to flatten these curves of misinformation. After Facebook indicated that they would begin to tamp down instances of pseudoscience, researchers tested this theory by using the social network to target ads to people interested in “pseudoscience.” The results, shall we say, are not surprising.

To close this discussion, perhaps there is a need for receptiveness cues in our conversations as we talk to others.

9 Ways Schools Will Look Different When (And If) They Reopen

Three-quarters of U.S. states have now officially closed their schools for the rest of the academic year. While remote learning continues, there are big questions about what happens next fall.

Here are nine possible options:

• Stepped-up health and hygiene measures
• Class sizes of 12 or fewer
• Staggered schedules
• Younger kids first?
• New calendars
• Different attendance policies
• No assemblies, sports games or parent-teacher conferences
• Remote learning continues
• Social, emotional and practical help for kids

Digital Policy for a Lockdown: How Tech Can Help Us Adapt to a Radically Altered World

Kara Swisher had a piece this week that discussed how the tech industry can play a pivotal role in shaping our post-pandemic world and solving some of our societal challenges.

This policy report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change outlines
The Covid-19 pandemic has sent the world into crisis mode. However, amongst the hardship & difficulty there is an opportunity to modernize, to address the power of technologies for social good.

The Erosion of Deep Literacy

Adam Garfinkle with an interesting long read about deep literacy, and the impacts on our lives. This piece examines the possible erosion, or transformation of literacy as we live and learn in an age of screentime.

Deep literacy has wondrous effects, nurturing our capacity for abstract thought, enabling us to pose and answer difficult questions, empowering our creativity and imagination, and refining our capacity for empathy. It is also generative of successive new insight, as the brain’s circuitry for reading recursively builds itself forward. It is and does all these things in part because it touches off a “revolution in the brain,” meaning that it has distinctive and describable neurophysiological consequences.

The Starfish Model

This wonderful graphic by Bryan Mathers illustrates a discussion tool for considering the health of a project. Read more about the retrospective starfish model here.

8 ways to stay positive during a lockdown

A couple tips to keep a strong mindset in trying times:

• Research & plan a “staycation”
• Read positive news online
• Make connecting with friends & family a priority
• Make essential purchases online
• Devote some time to learning each day
• Use tech resources for working out
• Play online games with friends old & new
• Start a gratitude journal

Life is a team sport; it’s not about you.

Sue Enquist

Digitally Literate is a weekly review of the news, notes, tips, and tricks from the week that resonated with me. I leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs. Feel free to pay attention if you’d like to check my notes. 🙂

There’s a lot of confusion about the use of masks while out in public. There’s also a certain amount of stubborn bravado in not wearing masks while out in public.

The masks are not about you. It is a sign that you’re thoughtful about others. “My mask protects you; your masks protect me.”

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