Irreal

I don’t know what to make of this. The TL;DR is that after many years, Sweden is returning to more traditional methods in education, including an emphasis on physical books and handwriting. On the one hand, there is some actual scientific research showing that taking notes by hand rather than a keyboard helps with retention. There are also claims that handwriting helps with cognitive development although I’m not sure the evidence is as strong.

On the other hand, this whole thing reeks of politics having little to do with education or what’s best for children. The claim, of course, is that it is what’s best for children but those words are a sure sign that you should be checking for your wallet.

In Sweden’s case, the change seems largely driven by the ascendance of a more conservative government. This doesn’t mean the conservatives are evil or stupid but they are conservative; They’re resistant to change—or at lease rapid change—and tend to like things “the way they were”. A lot of what they claim seems more nostalgic than scientific.

It is—for me—hard to see how reading a physical book is much different from reading the exact same material on a tablet or computer. Of course, I was a bit surprised that handwritten notes were more effective than typed ones so my intuition is probably suspect.

It is, I think, a valid criticism that doing things digitally just because it seems trendy without considering how it’s going to improve learning is a waste of time and money. As usual it’s the politicos driving that process just as it’s (probably) the politicos driving the current retrenchment.

The wisest path is probably taking the best from each method but that’s so politically unsatisfying. For example, if writing by hand really is better, why not write on a tablet with a stylus and gain both improved retention and all the benefits of having a digital record of your writing?

If you’re like me, you love those weird stories about seemingly impossible things happening with computers and the Internet. My favorite is A Story About Magic. Even if you know the story, follow the link to see a picture of the actual switch in one of the comments.

One of the most perplexing stories is The 500 Mile Email. A seemingly impossible tail that turns out to have a simple answer.

And, of course, there’s the famous The Story of Mel, a real programmer. Every computer geek of my generation knew the story and none of us believed it was real but it was. Follow the link above to find out about Mel.

If you love these types of stories, here’s a wonderful reference for you. It’s got links to the stories above as well as many others. I’m keeping it in an open tab in my browser so I can read one or two stories a day. They’re not all as good as the Magic story or as baffling as the 500 mile email but they’re all worth reading and fun for the real geek.

As most of you know, I’m an Apple user so Six Colors, a site dedicated to Apple news, is in my feed. I just noticed this article about Watch Duty, an app that tracks wild fire information and makes it immediately available to those at risk from the fires. The Six Colors article is fairly short but it points to a longer article from The Verge about the app and the people behind it.

Despite being featured on Six Colors, Watch Duty is cross platform and available on both iOS and Android. The entire point of Watch Duty is about protecting people from the fires. It’s not about engagement, tracking users, gathering user information, or making money.

Take a look at The Verge article to see why this app is needed. The fires, often driven by 90 MPH winds, can overwhelm an area in just a couple of minutes. The current government based warning systems often have a 15 minute lag time. The difference can be measured in lives. Watch Duty’s primary objective is to provide useful information in the shortest possible time so that people can make informed decisions on what to do.

Currently all the attention is, of course, on the California wild fires but Watch Duty plans to extend coverage to the entire U.S. and even over seas. It’s a perfect example of what the Web and current technology can and should provide: an apolitical, not-for-profit service dedicated to helping people and saving lives.

There’s plenty of room on the Web for making money too and Irreal’s not against that but sometimes there are more important things. I know this first hand because members of my family lost their house in the California fires. By lost, I mean nothing left but ashes. Happily they’re safe and I don’t know if they used Watch Duty but this is an app that can save peoples’ lives. We should all support it as much as we can.