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Daily Archives: September 20, 2022

Gen Z Never Learned to Read Cursive – How will they interpret the past?

The Atlantic: “In 2010, cursive was omitted from the new national Common Core standards for K–12 education. The students in my class, and their peers, were then somewhere in elementary school. Handwriting instruction had already been declining as laptops and tablets and lessons in “keyboarding” assumed an ever more prominent place in the classroom. Most of my students remembered getting no more than a year or so of somewhat desultory cursive training, which was often pushed aside by a growing emphasis on “teaching to the test.” Now in college, they represent the vanguard of a cursiveless world. Although I was unaware of it at the time, the 2010 Common Core policy on cursive had generated an uproar. Jeremiads about the impending decline of civilization appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and elsewhere. Defenders of script argued variously that knowledge of cursive was “a basic right,” a key connection between hand and brain, an essential form of self-discipline, and a fundamental expression of identity. Its disappearance would represent a craven submission to “the tyranny of ‘relevance.’ ” In the future, cursive will have to be taught to scholars the way Elizabethan secretary hand or paleography is today. Within a decade, cursive’s embattled advocates had succeeded in passing measures requiring some sort of cursive instruction in more than 20 states. At the same time, the struggle for cursive became part of a growing, politicized nostalgia for a lost past. In 2016, Louisiana’s state senators reminded their constituents that the Declaration of Independence had been written in cursive and cried out “America!” as they unanimously voted to restore handwriting instruction across the state…”

News Platform and Social Media and News Fact Sheet

Pew Research Center: “The transition of the news industry away from print, television and radio into digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. It is also reflected in the ways individual Americans say they are getting their news. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news… Continue Reading

Tracked: How colleges use AI to monitor student protests

The Dallas Morning News, Arijit (Ari) D. Sen [subscription or online database access. Note – they are also making public nearly 3,000 documents, covering more than 56,000 pages from these schools]: “The pitch was attractive and simple. For a few thousand dollars a year, Social Sentinel offered schools across the country sophisticated technology to scan… Continue Reading

Voter Registration: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress

CRS Report – Voter Registration: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress, September 19, 2022: “Voter registration policies are typically determined by state and local governments, subject to certain federal requirements. Historically, much of thefederalpolicy discussion surrounding voter registration has focused on providing access to registration opportunities. Some federal statutes that primarily address preserving voting access… Continue Reading

Does this button work? Investigating YouTube’s ineffective user controls

Mozilla: “Powered by 22,722 volunteers, Mozilla scrutinized YouTube to determine how much control people actually have over the platform’s recommendation algorithm. This is what we learned….Our work is the largest experimental audit of YouTube by independent researchers, powered by Mozilla’s RegretsReporter. Using RegretsReporter, an open source tool Mozilla built to study YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, we… Continue Reading

How to Create a Professional Roadmap in PowerPoint

MakeUseOf: “A professional roadmap is an indispensable project management tool that helps you to create a visual timeline for projects, goals, or assignments. It helps to track progress and ensure that all project participants are on the same page at every stage. You can create a professional roadmap using different tools. However, today we’ll show… Continue Reading

These new interactive maps reveal the incredible global journeys of migrating birds

PopSci: “The Bird Migration Explorer, from the National Audubon Society and partners, shows you where birds go and how they get there. Many birds make incredible trips every year. The Arctic tern completes globe-trotting flights from one pole to another, clocking in 49,700 miles in a year; and the bar-tailed godwit holds the record for… Continue Reading

How to unlock your smartphone camera’s best hidden features

Popular Photography: Whether you’re shooting Android or iPhone, here’s how to get the most out of your device’s built-in camera app. “What could be more fundamental to photography today than our smartphone cameras? They’re ever-present, ready in moments, and the technology behind them makes it easy to capture great photos in most situations. And yet, I… Continue Reading

The Global Faith and Media Study

A Groundbreaking Study of Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Faith and Religion in the Media: “The first and largest study of its kind about the portrayal of faith and religion in the news media as seen by newsroom decision-makers and the general population, covering 18+ countries and major religions around the globe.” Continue Reading

Statement to the January 6th Committee on Reforming the Insurrection Act

Brennan Center for Justice: “On September 20, 2022, Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director of the Liberty & National Security Program, and Joseph Nunn, Counsel, submitted a written statement to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Their statement describes the history and flaws of the Insurrection Act and… Continue Reading