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DL 247

Remember Your Anchors

Published: May 23, 2020 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to Digitally Literate, issue 247. Your go-to source for insightful content on education, technology, and the digital landscape.

🔖 Key Takeaways

Hi all, welcome to issue 247 of Digitally Literate.

I also helped post the following:

📺 Watch

Jesse Stommel offered this virtual keynote at the University Innovation Alliance Spring 2020 Convening. The slides, and full breakdown of this talk are available here.

What I value most about this post is the way Stommel shares the materials. I've been trying to find a way to balance sharing materials from a talk in a blog post. I really like how Jesse shares some text and insight, and intersperses some slides and then finally shares the video.

A great exemplar as you consider how to share materials online with context.

📚 Read

As the academic year closes for most institutions from K-12 through higher ed, our collective focus turns to the next opening in the Fall.

Bryan Alexander continues to carefully examine the possibilities as we plan the fall of 2020 in higher ed. This future may include teaching behind plexiglass as we strive to protect all individuals. There are also questions about the erosion of trust and leadership in our universities that has been laid bare in our current milieu.

Parents and learners in Pre-K through 12 are asking the purpose of online learning, and whether we should be focused on the mental health of children and teachers.

Mark Lilla suggests that we should stop asking pundits and prophets to predict the future. It doesn't exist. It will exist only after we have made it.

One common voice in this discussion is the refrain of the classroom teacher that once again steps up to do the most with the fewest resources. This post by Harley Litzelman details the spatial, logistical, pedagogical, disciplinary, and epidemiological nightmare into which non-teaching decision-makers are welcoming your children.

Metrics for phased reopening. A frontline guide for local decision-makers.

This great resource provides a playbook for phased reopening…as well as a "metrics scorecard" to see exactly how you're doing in the transition. Valuable guidance as you seek to understand and plan.

The Information Apocalypse Is Already Here, And Reality Is Losing

We've spent more than three years preparing for an information apocalypse. It seems like with the coronavirus we're only seeing these trends accelerate.

As it turns out, the tools needed to unmoor people from our shared reality already exist and are less technological than societal.

This post identifies some guidance on how to fact-check misinfo on your timeline:

While on this topic, there is debate about the real statistics around COVID-19. The COVID Tracking Project released a white paper that compiles the latest numbers on tests, confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and patient outcomes from every US state and territory.

Teaching Strategies of Award-Winning Online Instructors

A recent study gleaned five insights on virtual instruction by examining the techniques shared in common by top-rated online instructors:

  1. Authentic and relevant course material
  2. A variety of multimedia resources
  3. Student creation of content—individually and collaboratively
  4. Student reflection on learning
  5. Explanation of purpose

As Machines Get Smarter, How Will We Relate to Them?

Much of the Internet has become unintelligible lately. What this means is that it is almost impossible to understand the algorithms and pipelines that connect us to the digital. This will become even more of a challenge as we consider artificial intelligence (AI), drones, and autonomous vehicles.

As we're all sequestered in our homes, it seems like drones were ready for this moment and are watching us.

We need to regularly think about these moral crumple zones in our lives—the places where humans absorb blame when algorithmic systems fail.

🔨 Do

When you know what you really want in life, working toward it will feel exciting and energizing, rather than draining. As you make your way through this new normal, keep it simple as you create that life:

  1. Eliminate excuses and stay flexible
  2. Examine and define your values
  3. Refine
  4. Create a plan
  5. Focus and apply

🤔 Consider

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Mother Teresa

Teresa's observation resonates as we examine fall planning focused primarily on logistics and safety while sidelining the deeper need for connection. The information apocalypse thrives when people feel isolated and unmoored. Remembering our anchors—our values, our relationships, our shared humanity—may be the best defense against both loneliness and disinformation.

VUCA or BANI? You decide. I'll stick with FUBAR BUNDY.

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