Literacy & Loathing in Miami

I was mostly trying to avoid getting lost yesterday, and, so, did not get my camera out.  I pulled this photo from Flickr Creative Commons.  Should see some photos appearing in my flicker badge (to the right) soon.

I’m not sure what I mean by that title.  It’s just sorta came out.  I suspect, though, that it comes from that weekend I spent in Myrtle Beach in nineteen seventy something with some old college friends, and I read Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas sitting out on the deck.  I suspect that any prolonged visit to Miami would be something of the adventure that Hunter S. Thompson described — sans the drugs of course.

At any rate, I’ll be here far too briefly to have many adventures, and I’ve already gotten lost once.  So that’s probably it.  Finally finding the restaurant last night and introducing myself to the leadership of the Miami Country Day School, I enjoyed a wonderful evening of talking about literacy and electronic media.  The headmaster of the school, John Davies, is the author of two books on the subject, Educating Students in a Media Saturated Culture (1993) and DOA: Education in the Electronic Culture (2003).

The restaurant was one of those affairs where the menu doesn’t simply say Ribs or Snapper.  Each dish takes at least five words to describe it, each with at least as many syllables, and the food is arranged symmetrically, either horizontally or vertically.  It was good eatin’.  My dad was say, “You’re in high cotton now!”

They asked me lots of questions, most of which I was fairly well prepared to answer.  It surprised me.  We also got pretty deeply into the ethics part of literacy, bouncing back and forth a lot of questions and positions.  I can’t say that I learned anything new, but I further realized how complex discussions of ethics and information can become — even if you leave religion out of the formula.  We (my generation) are so seated in a published print information landscape, and even if we do become savvy with using the new information landscape, we still carry a lot of baggage with us about information.  These are issues that I have to put myself on the couch over and hammer them out.

At any rate, It will be a long day of presentation, conversation, and learning, hot and humid, and then a drive up to Orlando for work with Orange County Schools tomorrow.


Image Citation:
Minor, Steve. “Lincoln Theater (1936).” Lumierefl’s Photostream. 26 Jun 2007. 14 Aug 2007 <http://flickr.com/photos/sminor/631654599/>.

5 thoughts on “Literacy & Loathing in Miami”

  1. Best wishes in Orange County Wednesday. I wish I could come see your presentation, but I am a Tech person and not an Instructional person so I’m not allowed. However, I did get to see your presentation at NECC and I recommended you to some of my teachers.

    Now, just so you know, 2¢ Worth is blocked by the OCPS web filters. Doug Johnson and Will Richardson are also blocked. But, Wesley Fryer, Scott McLeod, and Steve Hargadon are not blocked. I don’t think anyone is playing favorites, but rather the district is blocking a format rather than content. (And not doing it very consistently.)

    So, perhaps you can mention during your presentation that districts need to revisit and revise their web blocking strategies periodically. And encourage them to allow “professional blogs” as a content type.

    I read 2¢ Worth at home, but having it and other professional educational blogs accessible at school would be much better. At least, in my humble opinion.

  2. As a new director of an Academic Center of Excellence that utilizes distance learning, podcasting, blogging (on a minor level), and whatever we feel that we can tackle, I want to blog with my students about leadership. Do you have any tips on how to broach this topic and how I could go about establishing this?
    I am so impressed by you site. I will visit often!

  3. Best of luck getting around down there in Miami. And be safe on the drive up the Turnpike (watch for those State Troopers, they like to nab ya!)

    Wish I was in Orange County to listen to you David. Here’s hoping Polk Cty will get on the bandwagon!

    Tom.

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