Bassett Blog 2007/12: Why I Luv Bits

December 1, 2007
Patrick F. Bassett

NAIS President Patrick F. Bassett

I know, I know. Everyone's feeling overwhelmed by the avalanche of bits (the 1/0, on/off atoms of digital content), especially from e-mails. One knows there's a revolt coming when corporate America starts declaring "e-mail-free Fridays." (Now, how dumb is that? What's a Friday "bit holiday" going to do for your Saturday or, worse yet, your Monday?)

I'm sorry (and I know this is not going to be popular, but that's never stopped me before): I luv bits. Since the early days of my Radio-Shack TRS 80, I've been a total convert, seeing the saving, storage, retrieval, organization, writing/editing, multimedia, "mashing," networking, and sharing possibilities as amazing advances — much more important than anything before (or maybe since). My office, ever since that day, has been "paperless": (Staff and guests just laugh when they walk in.)

And now that my phone is not just my phone but also my computer, camera, video recorder, web browser, iPod, e-mail and text messaging system, what else is there to do but take advantage of it?

What's cool about bits?

1. Text messaging's creative spelling (see title): bones up one's de-coding skills to figure out vanity license plates (like RUSRIUS).
2. Edginess: frontal cortex censoring is suspended, so all edgy e-mails carry one back to the liberated days of adolescence or fast-forward one to the equally uncensored commentary you'll be guilty of as a senior citizen.
3. Friend-raising: connectivity via social networking sites encourages new friendships. (Never mind that that, so far, I have only five MySpace friends — I haven't tried yet.)
4. Multitasking: the singularity has arrived — checking e-mails while standing on a street corner.
5. Deliberate ambiguity, unless you feel compelled to signal humor with a smile :) or irony with a wink ;-).
6. Axiomatic pithiness: RU there? How existential is that text message?

1. As long as one always empties the inbox at least once a day, bit literacy gives users the freedom to choose when, and how often, to engage the bits.
   There is no need to artificially limit access to incoming e-mail (via "e-mail-free Fridays," for example). One's e-mail inbox is like the sorting room in an office mailroom: emptying your inbox before calling it a day is the answer. The strategy that makes it work is to answer those that can be answered within two minutes, delete those that are irrelevant, and transfer the remainder to one's to-do program. (Check out www.Gootodo.com, a nifty Web-based to-do program.) By achieving emptiness, you free time for focused productivity.
   
   I would add that an effective filter is critical to eliminate spam — and, for that which gets through, taking the second to click on the "unsubscribe" at the bottom of all unsolicited appeals and e-newsletters today saves a lot of deleting tomorrow.
   
   
2. Use the same discipline for one's media diet.
   Hurst recommends that we choose a limited menu, constantly pruned, of publications and other media: a print or online newsweekly, a few e-newsletters, a couple of blogs, a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, etc. Use a "tryout system" for new menu offerings, but retire an old item when adding a new item.
   
   
3. First learn, and then, in the business of schools, teach how to evaluate digital sources.
   Develop discerning habits with your e-mail. E.g. roll your mouse over links to find the true URL on all those "phishing" scams purportedly from PayPal or eBay or your bank. Resist passing along hoaxes (Hurst cites ones like "NPR is shutting down," "Congress is about to tax all Internet exchanges," or "KFC has stopped using real chicken in its food") by surveying www.snopes.com. (For fun, check out their regularly updated Hottest 25 Urban Legends. You've probably passed some of them along.)
   
   
4. Model proper sourcing and citations.
   When you keep and/or pass along interesting articles, save them in "clip format": i.e. copy and paste the article, source, author, title, date, and the URL into your e-mail — then save and/or mail to friends, so you are modeling source authentication.
   
   
5. Use "bit levers."
   Bit levelers are what Hurst calls the digital equivalent of Archimedes' fulcrum ("Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I could move the earth") to achieve the Jim Collins goals of using "technology as an accelerator." These are the really cool time-savers and productivity enhancers:
   • Of course, use SpellCheck: automatik became automatic automatically as I wrote this line.
   • Use keyboard commands (CTRL-S to save, CTRL-C to copy; CTRL-P to paste, etc.) to keep the hands on the keyboard and away from mouse, saving precious time.
   • Use macros. Create your own macros (ask your IT director to show you how) to streamline laborious tasks, similar to using Find and Replace in a Word or Excel document.
   • Try ActiveWords (PCs) or Typinator (Macs): Google for the free downloadable trial versions of these applications, which allow you to create shortcuts for actions (opening a file, folder, or program) and for words, phrases, or whole messages that one frequently types. For example, I just typed "gh" and hit the spacebar for my ActiveWords "bit lever" shortcut so that I didn't need to type out the following message (that I send out frequently):
     

     NAIS personal assistance to boards and heads on governance issues, conundrums, and crises is a SEND away by e-mailing governancehelp@nais.org: One or all of the following will respond — NAIS president Pat Bassett, COO Donna Orem, legal counsel Debra Wilson, past COO Jeff Moredock, two of whom are past school heads, all of whom serve on independent school and other non-profit boards, and any of whom can offer counsel and point to voluminous resources.

     Let's see: I just typed two characters (gh) instead of 454 (message above): that's bit literacy efficiency.
   • And, from my experience to date, the most amazing "bit lever" of all? Google. The downloadable Google Search Bar includes amazing tools:
     • Scholar Search for ERIC and other database listings of scholarly articles. I just searched for "independent schools" on Google's Scholar Search and found 959,000 hits for independent schools in 0.33 seconds — and the first five cited Independent School magazine.
     • Google Calculator for any calculation or conversion: e.g., 79/13 or 5 United States dollars in euros or three-fourths of a gallon in pints, which I just did, with these results:

       	79 / 13 = 6.07692308
       	5 U.S. dollars = 3.36654996 euros
       	(3/4) US gallon = 6 US pints

     • Google even reports UPS or FedEx tracking (type in the tracking number) and weather (type in "weather" and zip code):

       41°F Wind: SE at seven mph Humidity: 40 percent Wed 48°F | 35°F

You must be logged in to post a response to this article.

1. On 12/06/2007 Edward Hoyt (hoyt@nais.org) replied:

Please note that Bit Literacy is scheduled to be the subject of an online chat with author Mark Hurst, January 16th at 3:30 PM, hosted by TeacherPlaces Book Clubs.

Edward Hoyt, Editor of Publications, NAIS (DC)