Category: socialnetworking
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Tips for Discussing Conspiracy Theories with Students
Conspiracy theories are far more than an amusement today. The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania this week released a study finding that a “Belief in Conspiracy Theories Is a Barrier to Controlling Spread of COVID-19.” Folks who profess beliefs in different outlier conspiracy theories today are more likely to reject mask…
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Reflections on AI, China-U.S. Relations, Education & Innovation
The rapid improvement of artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning algorithms and systems is one of the most important technological trends to study, discuss, and understand today in 2020. In addition to the adult Sunday School class I’m teaching this year, which is using a book on artificial intelligence as a guiding text (“2084: Artificial…
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Twitter Threads as Bear Traps
Living as we do amidst an overwhelming quantity of digital information, each one of us needs to develop better skills for filtering our feeds. We also need to use tools and workflows which help us readily FIND STUFF LATER. We’ve all likely had this experience: Someone shares an interesting website with us, or we stumble…
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Podcast473: Brainstorming About “Conspiracies and Culture Wars” with Brian Turnbaugh and Wesley Fryer
This podcast is a recording of a conversation between Brian Turnbaugh (@wegotwits) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussing a proposed workshop at the virtual version of the Summer Institute on Digital Literacy, coming to a screen near you July 19-24, 2020. The proposed title is, “Conspiracies and Culture Wars,” and the Google Doc of resources we…
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“PlanDemic” Disinformation Teachable Moment During COVID-19
All of us using the Internet today, regardless of age or past education credentials, need additional media literacy skills in our present age of “information pollution” and the neo-coronavirus pandemic. This past week, large numbers of people on social media shared video links to a purported “documentary” titled “Plandemic” which allegedly reveals “the hidden agenda…
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3 Ways to Become a More Connected Educator During the COVID-19 Crisis
The neo-Coronavius / COVID-19 crisis is upon us in the United States. As we grapple as teachers with how to maintain wellness and self-care for ourselves, our families, and our students, it’s important to consider how we can each become more connected to our educator colleagues around the world for support and idea sharing. In…
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Podcast471: Let’s Talk About Social Identity and FOMO
This podcast is a recording of a digital citizenship presentation for high school students shared by Dr. Wesley Fryer at Casady School in Oklahoma City on February 27, 2020. The goal of this talk was to encourage students to think more deeply and critically about their own identities, how those identities are shaped, and specifically…
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Thoughts on Content Filtering, Parent Education, and School Laptop Initiatives
The Oklahoman, our largest Oklahoma City based newspaper by circulation, published a scathing article today about Norman Public Schools’ new MacBook Air and iPad “1 to 1 Learning” initiative. The article is titled, “‘They want them gone’: Norman parents complain of school devices.” In case The Oklahoman puts this article behind their paywall as they…
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The Tyranny of Current Events
A few weeks ago, I shared and led a lesson at our church which included discussion about the famous Apollo 8 mission to the moon in December 1968. Apollo 8 was: the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first to reach the Moon, orbit it, and return. Its three-astronaut crew—Frank Borman,…
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Tips for Media Literacy and Avoiding Foreign Political Propaganda Influence
The United States is not only engaged in a new “Tech Cold War” against China and Russia, we are also under information influence attack from foreign as well as domestic adversaries who are aggressively working to build “followers” on Facebook and other social media platforms they can use to exert unconstitutional influence on our political…