Replied to Is Social Media Giving You Value? by an author (Activate Learning Solutions)

If it’s not giving you value then consider:

  1. What can you change (tweaks to behaviour, mindset or habits) to hone your filtering skills?
  2. What are the conversations and communities that you enjoy and give you personal satisfaction in participating? Do more of those and delete the rest.
  3. Do you have FOMO? Don’t. Trust me, you’re not missing out on anything. Use that time you scrolled your feed to feed your mind with something else.
  4. Do you feel the pressure to show and share everything in the spirit of “working out loud”? Don’t. You really don’t need to.  If it’s going to make you feel resentment or unacknowledged, think of what is important to YOU and share that to communities who value your work and who will support, credit and acknowledge it.  Much of “working out loud” actually happens in closed ‘safe’ online communities as many people are not comfortable with doing this on the open networks.  Seek out those spaces instead.
Helen Blunden reflects on her changing value associated with social media. For Blunden, the conversations, networks and learnings that were so prevalent in the past has become more difficult. She talks about stepping back from the social and distraction to instead focus on the private and personal. Although I have had a similar response of late, I am always reminded that this is not the case for everyone. I also wonder what positive participation might look like moving forward.
Bookmarked Technology, Ranked (Paleofuture)
The world is filled with amazing technologies, many that are so old we don’t even think of them as technologies at all.
This list of technologies is a useful reminder that the notion of technology (and literacy) exists beyond the digital. This is a useful resource in regards to teaching digital technologies curriculum.
Replied to Balancing Professional Responsibility & Accountability (andreastringer.blogspot.com)
Being linked to a salary increase, teachers and their supervisors experience an amplified workload and additional pressure. Does the outcome justify the time and effort required? If the outcome or focus is on professional growth, coaching, especially in a teacher’s first five years of teaching, could be more effective than this documented accreditation process. Coaching may also support teacher wellbeing and ultimately influence teacher retention.
The question of professionalism and accountability is such an interesting topic Andrea. I remember writing about this a few years ago in response to the question of performance pay. It feels like it is a misreading of trust and coaching.
Replied to Who is going to help build a pro-social web? by dave dave
Please participate. Do it well. Put your values on the internet. Our society is literally being shaped by the internet right now, and will be for the foreseeable future. We are all watching the web we’re building. The web is us. Help build a good one.
I feel like I find myself in both camps Dave. I have been critical of way spaces and devices. However, I still participate, just differently.

I am not sure what the ‘answer’ to the current situation is. I like your hopeful suggestion. For me it is about participating on my own terms, whether this be via webmentions or in a shared space that allows for more ownership, such as a social media space using Edublogs. I am not sure if this is the positive participation you are thinking about. I am mindful that this may not be for everyone, but it at least moves to something other.

Bookmarked Why Is Digital Sociology? (tressiemc)
Digital sociology is because race, class, and gender are. Digital sociology is because capitalism is. Digital sociology is because inequality is. Digital sociology is immersed in the technologies reshaping social processes and, like the classic imperative to stand apart, must wrestle with our social location in a digital society. We should study groups because that is what we do. We should make testable hypotheses and revisit the assumptions in our empirical claims to knowledge. We should examine anew if place is a suitable proxy for space and if either approximate status in a digitally-mediated world. We should attend to power beyond the strength off weak ties. The digital society is not just social ties. It is also currencies and exchanges and power relations and asymmetries. Digital sociology should disaggregate these to their respective subfield experts but also keep an eye on their synthesis and integration. Digital sociology needs more big theory as well as testable theory.
Tressie McMillan Cottom discusses what is different about digital sociology. This reminds me of the discussions about digital literacies and digital fluency. I must admit I get a little lost in the debate sometimes.

via Chris Aldrich

Replied to Data Obfuscation and Facial Recognition Faceoff: Possible #Netnarr Field Guide Topics (CogDogBlog)
Do the assignments you assign? I blabbed about this recently for the Ontario Extend mOOC I was facilitating, so it’s also appropriate for the Networked Narratives course I co-teach with Mia Z…
Alan, I wonder about obfuscating data via mobile browser? I am also interested in the way that our participation with things such as facial recognition ironically is what makes them possible. For examples, I was reading about how DNA testing is partly dependant on past tests, while Turn It In works because institutions allow us to turn our work into billions for others.
Bookmarked How China Turned a City Into a Prison (nytimes.com)
Children are interrogated. Neighbors become informants. Mosques are monitored. Cameras are everywhere.
Chris Buckley, Paul Moz and Austin Ramzy report on the step up of surveillance in China in response to the Uighurs. This reminds me of an ABC investigation into China’s social credit. Although it might seem harmless to accept Westfield’s capturing of gender or McDonald’s personalised drive-thru service, but this is only the beginning. We need to be informed and have an eye on tomorrow.
Bookmarked I'm Author Austin Kleon, and This Is How I Parent  (Offspring)
Austin Kleon doesn’t glamorize creative work. It’s hard. (Hence, the “work.”) But the bestselling author has found ways to stay the course in the face of burnout, self-doubt, and yes, even raising children. He shares his wisdom in his new book Keep Going, which comes out tomorrow. Today, he talks to us about how he parents.
I always like following Kleon’s tips and reflections associated with parenting. I was just wondering about the place of Kleon’s wife in all of this. It reminded me of Douglas Rushkoff’s argument that being human is a team sport, I think the same could be said about parenting.