Computer Literacy

Here is an excellent lecture by Howard Rheingold.



Rheingold is flamboyant and a bit of a flamboyant nut, but I found this talk to be very good. It gives some sensible advice about how to be "literate" in the new world of on-line information.

• I find his discussion of "the five literacies" --
  attention, participation, critical consumption, and network awareness -- to be excellent. These are good categories by which to think about learning in today's networked digital world.


• The stuff about "crap detection" is excellent.


• The material about multi-tasking and attention is useful because the younger generation is unaware of how they are losing the social skills of attentiveness. His comments on participation are spot on.


• His comments about the divergence of schooling and education are good. His critique of peer-to-peer education is on target.


• I loved the bit about the "Penguin revolution" in Chile where the students used flash mobs to put pressure on the government to fund education.


• Rheingold's bit about "emergent global emergency response" is fascinating. It appeals to me because I'm a radical direct democracy advocate with a jaded view toward bureaucracy.