Building New Literacy in a New Age: Proposed Format

In periods of transition, many people naturally try to solve new problems in old ways.

They usually fail.

Literacy, in its traditional sense, is viewed as an important indicator of how well someone can function in society. Likewise, in the Age of Information, new literacy skills need to be developed. 

In our section of a larger class project, not only do we wish to show the need for these skills, but we also want to further develop them in ourselves. Multi-media platforms are an excellent way to spread information.

Consider the above video from YouTube channel SciShow.  

Dialectical Thinking - Video Claim

So I have not got specific feedback on my video yet besides "likes," but I have been sharing my last blog post and getting lots of feedback! I have not had anyone directly disagree with my argument yet unfortunately, but I have had people talk about how the idea I am proposing has limits and exceptions, which I feel makes it discussable and interesting enough that I feel I can keep moving forward with it.

Everyone so far that I've talked to in person has stated that they find the topic interesting and thought-provoking. So far the groups I have consulted I would categorize as "homies" and "peers." I want to strengthen the "punch" of my argument by better outlining consequences of success or failure.

Social proof: Amateurs vs. Experts

I unfortunately haven't gotten any useful feedback from my posts on social media with this video. I think this largely stems from the fact that I never post anything on my Facebook, and when I do I never get very many likes so I don't think that anybody really saw it.

Although my social media efforts ended without any gains, I talked to a few people about this idea and got some useful critiques. I discovered that with few exceptions (Such as TED talks) the experts who do great things rarely come out publicly on Social Media and present their discoveries in terms the lay-man can understand, and are thus misunderstood or completely ignored. What often happens is that the expert talks with someone else, and that person filters their content (dumbs it down) to where it's consumable by the mass media. This leads to a disconnect between the experts and the consumers of information.

Quidditch: Digital Collaboration is building real world relationships

I'm Jackson Berg, avid Quidditch player, and digital collaboration enthusiast.