Cathy Davidson, a professor of English and interdisciplinary studies at Duke University, teaches a couple of undergraduate classes that are "peer-driven, peer-assessed, and peer-led": "This Is Your Brain on the Internet” and “Twenty-First Century Literacies.” In these classes, students have to master traditional media too ("whether regarding neural networks or novels," Davidson writes), but these … [Read more...] about ‘Digital literacy’ defined – by students
Social Media
Why social media help private citizens want to help solve public problems
A few years ago, during the huge flap among Facebook users about its then new "News Feed," a journalist asked Mark Zuckerberg why it was so important to have that new feature, author/activist Eli Pariser relates in a TED Talk. Zuckerberg responded, "A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa." Whether or not Zuckerberg … [Read more...] about Why social media help private citizens want to help solve public problems
Smart young YouTube vlogger on education’s fail
I watched 20-something Dan Brown's compelling 6.5-min. "Open letter to educators" on YouTube this morning after an educator I admire and follow on Twitter, Tom Whitby, tweeted about it. In it, Dan, aka pogobat, very engagingly asks what it means to receive an education now, in these discontinuous times, and explains how the institutional education we've long revered is beginning to fail many … [Read more...] about Smart young YouTube vlogger on education’s fail
Virginia school officials, pls get this right!
Read the lede anecdote of this Washington Post story and tell me if you think Kimiya's 11th-grade English teacher didn't come up with a brilliant solution to help her. Using Twitter. And yet the Virginia Board of Education apparently thinks that the use of social media in school assignments could be the slippery slope that leads to more teachers becoming sexual predators. "The push for new … [Read more...] about Virginia school officials, pls get this right!
Google’s new social tool ‘+1’
When the New York Times reported that Google is "trying again in social networking," I thought it meant a significant new product on the level of Chrome or Picasa. Then I read down further: "Google’s +1 is remarkably similar to Facebook’s Like button," except that you're "liking" search results. It's personalized search. When you find a store, news article, recipe, photo, advertisement, etc. and … [Read more...] about Google’s new social tool ‘+1’