๐ Bringing back the web: The digital literacies we need right now


Who are we when we’re online? And how can we engage in digital spaces in ways that don’t undermine the mandates, practices, and ethos of higher education? The keynote explores the underpinnings of our emergent information ecosystem. Digital and open spaces are being weaponized, while pervasive surveillance and predatory practices are normalized. Trolling and bots are regular features of social landscapes, and people are often hesitant to engage online in fighting the echo chamber. Concepts of what it means to know are increasingly generated outside the academy, in Silicon Valley AI frameworks.
What does this mean for higher ed, and for the future of knowledge in a data society? This keynote, from Virginia Tech’s Digital Literacy Symposium, explores ideas grounded in adult education, critical pedagogy histories, and contemporary open practicesโincluding participatory digital literacies and the pro-social webโthat may be ways we can ALL help bring the web back from the brink.