Blog Wired has a fascinating article out about a newly-released and free facial recognition tool that, coupled with existing video monitoring, claims to keep schools safer. From the article by Issie Lapowski: “RealNetworks has developed a facial recognition tool that it hopes will help schools more accurately monitor who gets past their front doors. Today, the company launched a website where school administrators can download the tool, called SAFR, for free and integrate it with their own camera systems … [F]acial recognition technology often misidentifies black people and women at higher rates than white men. “The use of facial recognition in schools creates an unprecedented level of surveillance and scrutiny,” says John Cusick, a fellow at the Legal Defense Fund. Glaser … is all too aware of the risks of facial recognition technology being used improperly. “I personally agree you can overdo school surveillance. The question is whether it will do any good. Read the full article here.
*Data Storytelling: How to Tell a Story With Data Over the past few years, data storytelling has taken off. This is not only because data and the role it plays in our lives is increasing. It’s also because storytelling is the way we as humans have always come to understand ourselves and the world we live in. The fact that it shows up in many places and in many forms can confuse some people, so I will help you better understand why it matters and how to make a data story that will help you set and accomplish your goals. I’ve been practicing data storytelling for almost a decade, and here I will break down the basics for non-designers to get started. Table of Contents (click to jump ahead): What is data storytelling? Data storytelling is the best way to use data to create new knowledge and new decisions or actions. Storytelling is something most marketers are somewhat familiar with. Related: What Is Data Visualization? Why is data storytelling important? Now let’s talk about why data is the center point. For example: 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4.
untitled Martin Seligman on positive psychology Seligman believes that there are three different types of happy lives: the pleasant life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life. Create an infographic explaining the three lives. The infographic should include a spokesperson who seems to represent each type of life; this could be someone you know, celebrity, a historical figure, or a character from TV, movies, or literature. Try what Seligman calls the “Gratitude Visit” [16:53]. Keep a written journal or a video diary to record your feelings before and after the exercise. Want to be happy? We all want to be happy.
City Digits Project *Data Literacy for High School Librarians | An IMLS-Funded Project of the University of Michigan School of Information and University Library Research, create, and present school projects online - Biteslide Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world Slavin worries about our reliance on algorithms: “We’re writing these things that we can no longer read. And we’ve rendered something illegible, and we’ve lost the sense of what’s actually happening in this world that we’ve made.” What’s more, Slavin believes we may not even realize it, as the algorithms “acquire the sensibility of truth because they repeat over and over again, and they ossify and calcify, and they become real.” Imagine Slavin’s examples taken two or three steps further, and create a short story set in a world that is completely dominated by computer algorithms. MoveOn’s former executive director and online activist Eli Pariser took the TED stage in 2011 to warn about the unintended consequences of algorithms that personalize people’s online experiences.
Why Kids Need Data Literacy, and How You Can Teach It Samantha Viotty’s activity for visualizing data networks has gummy bears representing people and toothpicks signifying their relationships. Photo courtesy of Samatha Viotty Data is all around us, from the output of your Fitbit to interactive maps that track voters to the latest visualization of the New York Times front page. With the rise of mobile devices and wearable technology, data is more available to general audiences, and the amount being generated has also exploded. According to IBM, 90 percent of the world’s data has been created in the last two years. This vast pool of information is being used to advocate for change, justify decisions, and suggest personal action plans—such as the U.S. One reason data literacy is vital is that “[i]n what some are calling a ‘post-truth world,’ students seem to focus on numbers a lot,” says Jo Angela Oehrli, learning librarian/children’s literature librarian at the University of Michigan Libraries. What are data literacy and data science? U.S.
*The SLIDE Study: A chat with Deb Kachel (Part 2) And exploring the interactive data tools - NeverEndingSearch In my last post, I shared news of the School Librarian Investigation—Decline or Evolution?, or SLIDE research project. The study emphasizes a critical equity issue: our most vulnerable students are those most impacted by a declining numbers of school librarians. I recently chatted with project director, Deb Kachel to dig a little deeper into what the study means and her hopes for its impact and use. Deb’s partner in this IMLS-funded project is principal investigator Keith Curry Lance. Joyce: What’s different about this study and why is sharing these data so important? Deb: Well, I think what you should know is that Keith and I submitted three IMLS grant proposals before this study was funded. We actually have been working since 2017, to try to get this data project funded. This is a piece of hard data relating to equity. Many librarians and education leaders will say that we’re losing school librarians because library aides and paraprofessionals are now being hired to run the library.
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