Category: Uncategorized

Superbloom: Examining the Perils of Social Media

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Since 2010, when The Shallows by Nicholas Carr was published, I have recommended it so many times. That book explained how our lives changed when we put smart phones in our pockets –capable of bringing more information than we could ever imagine to our fingertips. So, I immediately purchased Superbloom (his 2025 publication) and I was surprised to be a bit less surprised! Most likely I was not as blown away (although the book is good and I will post more about it) because I have been researching changing literacy since the turn of the century and am in total agreement with the perils of social media Carr lays out … like a blooming field of flowers with photos and hashtags more important than the actual blossoms themselves. (See a photo of poppies similar to the viral post from a social media influencer that caused trampling of the field of poppies).

By Bluesnote – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77472535

DIGITAL IDENTITY: the foundation of Digital Citizenship

Carr shares a fascinating take on how social media forms our digital identity. Here is a passage from Superbloom (via Substack):

Social identity plays an important organizing role online as well, but it can also, when it usurps individual character, lead to a kind of self-stereotyping. It becomes a cage, if a comfortable one. In social media’s flux, identity serves as a defense mechanism. It gives the entropic mirrorball self an appearance of stability and cohesion by reducing it to a set of ready-made tribal markers: hashtags, emojis, slogans, gestures, acronyms, flags, in-jokes, buzzwords. This is who I am. This and this and this. The self is formed through a curation of symbols.

Social media is a disembodied self; however, having spent nearly two decades in a virtual world, I believe one can have an avatar in a persistent space that is embodied. This was not addressed in the book but I think perhaps it is important to point out that when one is embodied in an avatar with other humans, it is not the same as the endless disposable scroll. Digital identity can be more intentional when one enters a virtual place with real human beings to interact and form purposeful communities rather than “advertisements” of themselves. This important difference will be essential in teaching the next generation about digital identity, particularly when AI characters, NPCs, virtual companions, non-human agents, and other “individuals” are simulating humans even as we speak.

I feel the AI “urge”! Always at the ready

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You can’t escape it! You look up something and AI provides the answer. You write something and AI wants to suggest a revision. Can’t we make it GO AWAY?!?

Artificial intelligence has been around for decades and has a parallel “rise” alongside the Internet. But suddenly, it is inescapable. I think a lot of us share an unsettling feeling that AI is always there–wanting to help us. I don’t want that help but when I make a sign (since I am not a graphic designer) or want a title, or quick ideas, there is this urge to simply ask AI. That urge is disturbing! I want my own ideas and my own “imperfect” communication and – more than anything else- I want the next generation to value human expression and creativity.

ChatGTP is not my friend or companion or helper. The picture below is not important. I am simply adding to the clutter of nonstop content creation flooding the sea of information chaos that humans can no longer effectively navigate. Recognizing this “urge” to weave AI into life must certainly be part of digital citizenship and my hope is that we figure out how to suppress it and value our own thoughts, ideas, vocabulary, unique voice and even our human limitations.

Library Media Format Tree

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Looking through my digital photos, I stumbled on this “media format tree” I created at my beloved school library where I served as librarian for 25 years. The tree branch mounted on the ceiling was from the peach tree in my yard, which provided me with many memories (and much philosophical meaning). But that’s a different story.

As media formats rapidly evolved over my career from primarily print in 1990 to primarily digital in 2015, I witnessed personally the close of the Gutenberg Parenthesis and it had a huge influence on my profession and the world. I worked during the age when book was king of the information hierarchy and I have done many presentations on the toppling of that hierarchy. Print formats are “fixed” and they do not change when you return to them again and again; yet digital content is “fluid” and seems to constantly evolve leading to sense of being washed out to sea as the next wave comes your way.

On my media tree, you may see newsprint, microfiche, CD’s and DVD’s, filmstrips, catalog cards, and floppy disks. Many of these formats are now rarely (or never) used and they remind me of the importance of archival. If we do not migrate formats they often become unusable as evidenced by the Museum of Obsolete Media.

You may also see buckets of crayons and writing materials on the library tables because I asked students to bring journals with them. Connecting literature to our lives with writing activities was a joy! (Then the digital revolution put iPads into the hands of the children and the halls and cafeteria became silent as they stared into them.) On the far right of this picture there is a tip of the hat glimpse at the fish bowl where Dewey the fish (actually Dewey 1.1, Dewey 1.2 and many more over the many years!) swam happily illustrating that a library is a living organism.

Around 2008, early one morning, I turned on all the lights as I always did- since I loved bringing the library to life before the teachers and students began to arrive- and I had this premonition. It was a sense that the space would be changing. It was such a strong feeling that, looking back, I could imagine the floor was shaking! What will happen to this space? I thought. I jumped ahead as an early adopter of the metaverse because I wanted to explore best practices before the children arrived. And they did. They are greatly in need of some metaphorical boats to help navigate the constant sea of information chaos.

We Were Knowledge Couriers, My Father and I

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“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” (Chiseled on stone at Farley Post Office in NYC). Information delivery is important and has been essential to humans for thousands of years.

My father was a mailman, and he estimated that he walked around the world twice over the many years of carrying his mailbag.  My career as a librarian spanned 30 years and I came to realize we were both in the information delivery service!

Information delivery requires discerning priorities.  All data is not equal, and we are now drowning in it!  AI is rapidly becoming our number one information delivery service provider, which raises the question about how human beings prioritize the value of information and the evolving process of information seeking behavior.

Humans should be able to discern and prioritize information from accurate sources and experts.  Humans should not be robbed of the quest for knowledge and the journey through the “snow, rain, hear or gloom of night” to bring it forth!

Just think, for years it has been a federal crime to open mail that is not addressed to you!  Yet privacy is now on shaky ground. 

While we waited for days for news to arrive in the mail, we now expect answers to come to us instantly and rarely care where those answers came from nor the long history of humans working hard who created those answers. While a letter from one we love touched us deeply in the past, we now simply scroll and delete messages too quickly to bother with any reflection or savoring of the tactility.  

I often think of my father’s wisdom even though he is now gone.  I’ve never known anyone wiser, yet I had to watch his brain fail the last decade of his life with dementia.  The human brain is the most incredible and mysterious thing on our planet.  AI can never replicate it.

AI image generated by CoPilot

Grammar Cops Blow Their Lexical Whistles

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Is grammar dead now that we use emojis, autocorrected texts and fast-paced instant messages? The Grammar Cops at the Community Virtual Library advocate for good grammar in digital culture through understanding of registers of language.

Understanding when to use formal grammar and when to let it go is a 21st century metaliteracy skill. The Grammar Cops believe that grammar is simply good manners to your reader or listener and is essential to good communication. Language is a living thing and is constantly changing. So, the rules are changing and sometimes they can be broken. Only a good writer can successfully break the rules!

What a lively discussion was had on the virtual beach outside the Community Virtual Library. Come inside CVL to schedule a visit with the Grammar Cops and bring the discussion to your own virtual community or class.

Introducing Enchanting Virtual Reality Soon at Your Local Library

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Is #VR coming to libraries? Yes! But how and why? Librarians have always been in the forefront of innovative technology and have fearlessly adopted changing information formats for centuries. Virtual reality is simply another information format and certainly librarians are exploring uses.

Circulating VR Experiences as Resources

While the Covid 19 Pandemic may have closed many library buildings and slowed the use of VR headsets within them, many libraries plan to provide VR experiences to patrons in the near future including educational simulations such as going inside the human body, exploring space, viewing art museums or encountering historical events. Most librarians and educators agree that VR headsets should not be used by persons under the age of 13 or by those with health problems. Virtual reality on a desktop includes environments like Minecraft which has been widely recognized as an educational space for young people. Researchers currently seek to identify the best practices and purposes for virtual reality for various age groups and perhaps the library is a good place for this exploration.

Libraries Built Inside Virtual Spaces

Putting on a headset to “go inside a book” such as The Diary of Anne Frank might provide a powerful experience, particularly for visual learners. Yet sharing VR as “library resources” is not the only way to utilize virtual environments. The library itself can be built in a virtual space so that patrons can enter together and talk with real people in the same way one might in a physical space. Library programs such as exhibits, storytelling, book discussions, special events, workshops, anything we think of doing in a physical library, can take place in a virtual library. In fact, some things that cannot possibly be experienced in the physical world can happen virtually, such as falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland or walking on Mars.

The Community Virtual Library is an example of a “real library in a virtual world” with a main branch in Second Life and outpost branches in numerous other virtual spaces including both desktop and headset VR. Librarians, educators, and lifelong learners can collaborate and learn best practices for virtual environments at CVL and the partnering educational institutions of the Virtual World Education Consortium hosted in sky pavilion above the virtual library.

Community Virtual Library in Second Life
CVL Reference Desk

Tech Geeks Help with Constant Changes in Digital Tools

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For 14 years now, I’ve been working with machinima in Second Life and other virtual worlds. I have always been disappointed in my video quality because getting those screen settings set up correctly has been troublesome! First, the viewer has to record with a good graphics card. Then, you have to capture the video in the highest possible quality. And, finally, you have to have the correct settings in the video editor.

Here is my very first machinima recorded at ISTE Island back in 2007. My daughter met me inworld and I took a shot of her crossing a bridge before heading over to the library (what became the Community Virtual Library). Okay- I know it is unwatchable quality! But the memory of that first capture is so vivid and real to me, I just want to keep it in the archives!

Learning to work and help learners in virtual environments requires juggling multiple programs. It is difficult to keep up with the format changes, especially as video has improved with HD and formats (mp4, etc). Having a PLC (professional learning community) is essential and a colleague just took the time to share screens with me and go through all my settings! Thanks so much, Sitearm.

Juggling Multiple Applications and Screens

Sitearm working in Virbela and sharing tools

Searching for Help Online

During our screensharing session, Sitearm and I looked up free open source editing software (Shotcut) on Selby Evan’s blog because we found the problem with my poor quality machinima. I was using an old outdated version of Adobe Premiere that is incompatible with the higher quality video available now. Free open source software tools may not have all the “bells and whistles” of professional software, but hey- the price is right!

Machimima Quality Comparison

Take a look at these two versions (raw footage) of our recent CVL tour to 3rdRock at the immersive storybook Alice in Wonderland.
First, the video exported using Adobe Premiere (720×480) at 30 fps. Scroll to minute 2:14 or so to get a good comparison.

Wonderland Version 1

Now- compare with this higher quality version of Wonderland from Shotcut (1920×1080) at 60 fps. Scroll to minute 1:19 to see the same scene as the one above.

Wonderland Version 2

Shooting, editing, and sharing machinima can be time-consuming and I do not consider myself a professional. However, archiving educational experiences in virtual environments is important in order to document the potential they hold for learning in the future. Digital archival has become essential for us all- both professionally and personally- as much of life is spent online.

We can share tips and tricks on youtube as tutorials are plentiful. There is no way we can individually keep up with all the changing technology tools available but developing a PLC (or a PLN if you prefer to call it a professional/personal learning network) is sure a big help. Visit the Community Virtual Library if finding colleagues in virtual learning environments would benefit your teaching, learning or life.

Through the #VR Looking-Glass to Wonderland

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A group of us (librarians and educators at the Community Virtual Library) visited the virtual world of 3rdRock to experience Alice in Wonderland in a 3D immersive environment. Wow! This was not only reading but entering the book!

A librarian at the University of Hawaii created this immersive storybook complete with various scenes from the story with passages of text. Thinking about how children (as well as readers/learners of all ages) will experience literature in the future was a fascinating topic during our tour. Talk about metaliteracy! We enjoyed conversing at the Mad Hatter’s tea party!

While we were fully immersed in the 3D storytelling, we were not wearing virtual reality headsets. Virtual worlds are viewed on a desktop and we believe they are part of virtual reality. Desktop VR allows for many productive tools built into the interface and is less uncomfortable than the “trapped feeling” I get with my VR headset. Of course, as VR evolves, it may become more comfortable. Who knows what the future holds for VR but it may not be ready for young people since research has not been done on how it impacts developing minds. In a virtual world, students could create their own storybook content or develop 3D objects on various subjects. Building in VR currently requires additional programs like Unity or Unreal Engine.

Watching a machinima of our Wonderland virtual field trip does not do is justice! You really need to “be there” inside the story, but this video is meant to archive the event. The group started out in Kitely at the CVL Hypergrid Resource Library and then jumped over to 3rdRock to visit Wonderland as part of the ACRL Virtual World Interest Group which is part of the American Library Association.

Digital Natives Stand Down! Digital Elderly Lead the Way

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Enough already with the “young people know everything about technology” conversation! For years we have heard that young people growing up online find technology so easy and intuitive. Perhaps they were “born digital” as natives in Internet culture and adjust easily to constant upgrades and new apps; but most of the tools they master quickly are for personal entertainment. Older adults, with a lifetime of experience and knowledge, are willing to persevere toward critical thinking and I find them inspirational. Learning should be fun–true! But it also takes hard work sometimes.

Anyone who has explored virtual worlds has probably bumped into Selby “Thinkerer” Evans who is a virtual world champion for learning and building professional learning communities.

After a lifetime of school (teaching, serving as a librarian, and earning a PhD because I love school so much!), I am still learning from Selby who is turning 91 years of age today. What an amazing teacher! Happy 91st Birthday, Selby!

Personal Symbolic Models of Metaliteracy Built in 3D

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Recently, the Virtual World MOOC 2020 shared presentations on numerous educational programs including one on Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling, a creative process developed by Niela Miller. Niela provides training on facilitating symbolic modeling for various topics, subjects or purposes and I chose to utilize this creative process for understanding our personal responsibility for metaliteracy.

A session on Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling was held in October 2020 with individuals creating models of how it feels to become metaliterate as literacy has changed. (Note: You may want to fast forward past the first 30 minutes as it is the Nonprofit Commons Meeting with introductions).

Watch as three participants share the 3D model they create and then discuss how they feel about metaliteracy. The process leads the individual to a personal reflection.

Understanding how literacy has changed in digital culture requires critical thinking. The concept of metaliteracy means we think about how we both produce and consume information. The impact of the internet and networked culture has dramatically changed the way we communicate and often we are faced with an overwhelming amount of information each day.

A Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling Exhibit is scheduled to open soon at InfoLit Island for the Virtual World Education Round Table. Sheila Webber, information literacy expert in the UK shares regularly on the Information Literacy Weblog. Digital citizens around the world unite virtually!