In episode 17 of the WordPress Briefing, Josepha Haden Chomphosy displays on her WordCamp US keynote and digs into how taking part in open supply initiatives will help you study Twenty first Century Abilities. 

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Credit

References

WordPress 5.9 Planning

5.9 Target Features

WordCamp US 2021

Transcript

Whats up, everybody, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast the place you possibly can catch fast explanations of the concepts behind the WordPress open supply challenge, some perception into the group that helps it, and get a small record of massive issues developing within the subsequent two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. See, right here we go!

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  00:42

At present I wish to speak to you slightly bit concerning the digital divide, the place it’s, possibly a little bit of the place it’s headed, and which components of the WordPress open supply challenge and CMS will help. This can be a centered look, although, so I received’t contact on a few of the hurdles that everybody is conscious of while you get outdoors of in-person environments, issues like parental modeling or supervision, schooling on the relevance of expertise, and so on. This can be a follow-up to the dialog that I had at WordCamp US final week—and so doing slightly little bit of a deeper dive right here. And we’re gonna begin with what precisely is the digital divide. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  01:23

So the digital divide is taken into account those that profit from the digital age versus those that don’t; that looks like a very huge idea. And the present dialogue is primarily about entry, or for years that has been about entry anyway, particularly bodily entry. So those that have computer systems versus those that should not have web of their houses versus those that don’t. However I don’t essentially agree with that specific, actually centered definition of the issue. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  01:59

If the one drawback we see is entry, then the answer turns into to get low-cost gadgets and web to everybody, which actually has led to extra folks being linked than ever earlier than.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  02:12

With this proliferation of gadgets which can be thought-about each sensible and cell (cell on this context, which means handheld or pocket-sized), the dialogue over the previous few years has been shifting. It’s been shifting into extra of a dialogue across the schooling across the relevance of web entry, discussions across the high quality of entry to the Web, and likewise discussions round Wi-Fi and dial-up and the stunning price of information.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  02:42

However from my perspective, there are a variety of actually harmful assumptions that we make after we boil all of it the best way right down to who has entry and the standard of that type of entry. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  02:54

The primary harmful assumption is that we run the chance of conflating being tech-savvy with being digitally literate, and so they’re not likely the identical issues. The second assumption that we run the chance of is assuming that entry to mobile information equals entry to the web by means of every other means. And likewise assuming that price is all the time the figuring out issue.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  03:19

And the ultimate pretty harmful assumption that we’re making there may be that we enable ourselves the flexibility to mark the digital divide is fastened in our minds. As soon as we get sufficient entry to everybody, we’re simply carried out. There isn’t a extra divide. However as a means of illustration, if you concentrate on entry, not within the context of expertise, like excessive expertise, digital expertise, and within the context of like writing, you most likely personal a writing utensil, and also you most likely have entry to paper of some type, which is nice. However simply because you have got like a pencil and a chunk of paper doesn’t imply that I can ship you dwelling proper now – I assume most of you might be listening at dwelling.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  04:07

It doesn’t imply that I can ship you to your desk proper now. And take into account you ready to put in writing a best-selling novel, proper? As a result of providing you with bodily instruments no extra makes you a novelist than handing me a pc once I was a teen made me digitally literate. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  04:24

So let’s speak about what it takes to be digitally literate. I’ve lumped the next expertise into three teams. It’s broadly outlined as Twenty first-century expertise, however the teams that I’ve them in shouldn’t be a complete record of these Twenty first-century expertise. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  04:41

The primary group that could be a giant element of digital literacy is essential pondering expertise. So computational pondering and problem-solving. That specific one shouldn’t be new, precisely. However the computational pondering half actually is. Not all issues are solved with code, however the foundation for pondering by means of issues procedurally is more and more vital. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  05:04

The second in that set is communication by means of a number of media, consuming communications or content material by means of Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or every other format, but in addition creating the issues that talk—writing blogs, creating movies, each calls and standalone, and boards, issues like that. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  05:27

The third set in that group of essential pondering expertise is round collaboration, which some folks will say is extra about communication. However I discover that collaboration each on-line and in-person is a talent set all to its personal. Communication solely will get you thus far while you’re studying to prepare dinner to collaborate with folks that you simply don’t usually work with. And so, I’ve lumped that into essential pondering expertise. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  05:54

The second huge bucket for digital literacy is definitely actually digital literacy. So I’ve three, three issues in right here as nicely. Evaluating data is clearly extremely vital within the surroundings that we’re in proper now, for simply data’s sake. However then issues like understanding the variations between copyright versus copyleft licenses, understanding the distinction between an .org ending URL and a .com ending URL, and evaluating the overall veracity of sources that you simply’re discovering on the internet.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  06:32

The second a part of that group is media use and creation, understanding the distinction between people who eat and folk who create the content material we’ve got, learn how to discover data on-line, and probably the most smart locations to maintain data on-line. And the third space of digital literacy that I discover to be vitally vital is the ethics of licenses each round use and entry. So once more, issues like copyright vs. Copy, copyleft. And particularly for WordPress, which means understanding issues just like the Artistic Commons licenses, GPL, MIT, however then additionally copyright is its personal sophisticated query unto itself. However the different issues that present up for us for WordPress that present up for us with expertise are additionally issues like open entry versus proprietary data and sources. And issues like plagiarism versus sampling.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  07:33

And our third huge bucket, which has change into more and more advanced, however the third huge bucket for digital literacy to my thoughts is definitely thought-about one thing that I name life expertise. So issues like self-direction, realizing what you wish to do subsequent, and learn how to get it carried out. Time administration can be in there, realizing how a lot time one thing will take and having the ability to just be sure you are getting issues carried out over time, versus attempting to perform every thing on the final second. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  08:03

An enormous a part of these life expertise is cross-cultural and social communication. The web is difficult, proper? As a result of it’s concurrently extremely insular and more and more world. Like you possibly can if you happen to wished solely ever learn issues that already affirm your current biases. However the very nature of the web, the very nature of the online, implies that the world is way smaller. We’ve got extra prepared entry sooner to everybody all over the place on the planet than we used to have. This implies, after all, that cultural consciousness is an absolute should now greater than ever. That is for what it’s definitely worth the time of yr once I give this speak. And that’s due to this final a part of the life expertise part, which is digital citizenship. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  08:54

Digital citizenship usually is the second week of October 2 or the third week of October. And it’s one in every of my favourite weeks as a result of it’s one thing that comes up on a regular basis in our ecosystem. It comes up on a regular basis and open supply typically, however actually for WordPress. So these are our three huge buckets of digital literacy, a subset of Twenty first-century expertise as an entire.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  09:22

That’s a number of stuff, I do know. And it’s additionally actually arduous to determine how one can study any of these expertise, and from my expertise, I actually imagine that WordPress as an open supply challenge will help folks study these issues.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  09:43

As soon as upon a time, ages and ages in the past, my mom advised me that to ensure that me to change into a greater author, I must learn and to be able to change into a greater communicator, it will most likely assist if I spent slightly bit extra time writing, and I’ve all the time felt that the identical have to be true for all of the issues that we study, you discover a constructive instance and research it to change into higher. Or, relying on what you’re studying and the way you’re attempting to study it, you discover a passive instance of one thing that you really want to have the ability to do higher from an lively standpoint and take part in that in order that your lively manufacturing of the opposite half is best.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  10:24

Listed below are just a few components of the WordPress challenge and WordPress itself that may assist with this.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  10:31

So there are first just a few actually particular groups; if you happen to’re contributing to a crew like Themes, or Plugins, or Core, the three areas of these digital literacy expertise that you’ve got a chance to study there. For essential pondering, you’re going to run into problem-solving and computational pondering. You’re additionally going to run into distributed collaboration, which was actually vital as only a idea once I first wrote this speak. And now it’s at the moment actually vital as a actuality as a result of we’ve got a bunch of firms which can be going to both distant work or partially distributed or absolutely distributed. And that’s the best way that WordPress has labored for a fairly very long time.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  11:19

So I’ve all the time felt prefer it was vital as a result of it was vital to WordPress, nevertheless it’s additionally changing into more and more an vital a part of simply learn how to exist on the planet for the time being. For these three groups, the issues you could actually faucet into and observe for the life talent part are digital literacy, nope, digital citizenship, self-direction, and time administration clearly comes up in any open supply challenge since you are volunteering your time and it’s as much as you to type of determine how a lot you possibly can commit or not numerous different components of time administration and directing one’s personal challenge. Now, however you additionally get the chance to check and observe your cross-cultural communication, social communication and studying what it means to collaborate throughout cultures in that means.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  12:15

On the digital literacy facet, you additionally get slightly little bit of that data analysis and synthesis for what it’s value. After which clearly get to study extra concerning the ethics of assorted kinds of licenses and the way use and entry relate to these issues.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  12:35

We even have a crew or two; these usually are not actually groups or twos. These are issues that you are able to do which can be both solo actions or group actions. One is working or trying out the help boards, and the opposite is running a blog. We’ll begin with help boards. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  12:52

When you’re doing this as a gaggle exercise, there are a few additional issues that you could observe right here. However suppose you’re doing it as a solo, simply strategy to give again to the challenge form of factor or strategy to study a few of these expertise form of factor. In that case, you may get virtually all of those digital literacy expertise woven into working within the help boards, relying on what’s occurring within the second and the questions folks have introduced up. However for essential pondering, clearly, you get some drawback fixing in there, not as a lot the computational pondering because the procedural pondering half. However you actually additionally get to faucet into communication with a number of kinds of media, collaboration in individual and on-line, relying on whether or not you’re doing this as a solo effort or a gaggle effort. After which, after all, analysis, which I didn’t actually carry up in any of these groupings for digital literacy, is actually an important a part of it.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  13:49

For the digital literacy grouping of expertise associated to digital literacy, you get to work on evaluating data and, relying on how sophisticated a solution is perhaps. You too can get that chance to observe synthesizing advanced data and analysis, a digital literacy talent. After which, as soon as folks have responded to a subject you’ve answered, you additionally get to faucet into that life talent part. You get to be you get the chance to observe digital citizenship associated to synchronous or asynchronous dialog. You additionally get to see extra about how cross-cultural communication and collaboration works and social communication throughout these numerous boundaries that naturally present up after we’re working throughout cultures that means. And as I discussed beforehand, data synthesis, as nicely.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  14:53

The second that I’ve talked about could be like a solo effort or a gaggle effort, relying on what you do. Running a blog, for most individuals who use WordPress, might be the commonest software of how WordPress will help you do stuff. So I usually see it as probably the most related and probably the most instantly accessible to anybody. However you understand, you bought to satisfy folks the place they’re. So, I might strongly imagine that that is our greatest means to assist folks study this stuff. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  15:30

So running a blog for the essential pondering kinds of issues, you have got a chance to observe communication throughout mediums. You’ll most likely get a chance to observe your analysis expertise, likelihood is, you’re going to get the chance to observe some drawback fixing, and truthfully, like if you happen to’re internet hosting your web site, problem-solving goes to come back up when utilizing WordPress as quickly as you add in plugins and themes, since you generally type of have to determine what’s working and what’s not, and what’s taking part in properly with different issues and what’s not. It’s potential that with running a blog, you’re additionally going to have a chance to get to observe some distributed collaboration. However that’s most likely going to rely on what you’re doing together with your web site as nicely.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  16:30

Licenses and the way they apply to the factor that you simply’re utilizing really feel a bit completely different if you end up the one who’s creating. And so studying about how these issues work and don’t work and the way they’ll finest go well with what you’re attempting to do. Running a blog is totally a superb alternative to dig into {that a} bit and study a bit extra about that. So far as your life expertise go,

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  16:56

that’s the place you, once more, get to observe some digital citizenship by determining who your audiences are and likewise when it’s a must to talk with them by way of the feedback or every other means that you’ve got constructed up a suggestions mechanism there. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  17:11

Self-direction clearly will come into this, possibly time administration in case you are running a blog on, I used to be gonna say on a paid foundation, however that’s not likely I don’t know, on a challenge foundation, like a few of us are college students and have to put in writing issues based mostly on deadlines. And so, you understand, self-direction, probably time administration, all the time cross-cultural communication, social communication, analysis, all of this stuff present up in there.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  17:41

And, you understand, I actually imagine on this idea of how running a blog and bringing folks into sustaining an internet site can educate you all of those expertise. As a result of once I was youthful, I used to be a foul communicator. And now, I’m throughout the board recognized for my efficient communication and my capability to work throughout cultures. And so the defining second, which was like a four-year second, and so not essentially a second, however the factor that actually made all of the distinction was when my mother challenged me to put in writing each single day. She had famous that I used to be not essentially nice at getting from one level to the subsequent. I wasn’t essentially nice at constructing my arguments once I needed to clarify one thing to folks. And she or he urged that writing each day would assist me faucet into this huge factor about communication and dealing with different folks collaboration, all of that. And as an grownup on the opposite facet of it. Like, I believed she was tremendous unsuitable once I was youthful, as a result of don’t all of us suppose our mother and father are unsuitable after we’re youthful. However as an grownup on the opposite facet of it, not solely was that a chance for me to actually discover ways to talk higher. Nevertheless it additionally, once I have a look at it, gave me entry to alternatives to observe all kinds of Twenty first-century expertise and digital literacy expertise in an surroundings that was comparatively protected. And so, I’m a giant proponent of this explicit one.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  19:26

One other crew that helps us faucet into and observe a number of our digital literacy expertise is the Documentation crew. I like to recommend that you simply let this be a supervised exercise if you happen to’re doing this with college students as a result of, you understand, it’s a wiki. You may put bizarre issues in there on accident or simply inaccurate issues. So for essential pondering, the first talent that you simply’re going to have the ability to observe if you happen to’re engaged on documentation is collaboration. You’ll suppose that it was additionally like data synthesis and data analysis. However for lots of the work that we’re doing, the documentation exists. And what we’re taking a look at is attempting to determine the place it now not matches what’s at the moment within the CMS, or at the moment within the challenge or at the moment within the crew, no matter it’s that you simply’re engaged on at that second. And so, it’s a powerful collaborative effort within the WordPress challenge. It’s a must to have carried out the overall work to determine what must be modified within the documentation. However a number of instances, it’s good to determine who has entry to make the adjustments, what has prevented us from making adjustments prior to now, and issues like that. And so I say, collaboration is the one one to study and demanding pondering, nevertheless it’s truly a very huge one and might take a good quantity of effort on this explicit context.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  20:49

From the digital literacy facet, after all, there may be evaluating data. However this explicit kind of knowledge analysis is slightly completely different for documentation. And this truly is true for the Documentation crew, for the Coaching crew, and likewise for the brand new Study crew. This query is true for all of them. There’s a big distinction between presentation versus software of knowledge. The best way you current data for individuals who already realize it and simply want affirmation of one thing or are utilizing it for reference materials is basically completely different from when persons are taking a look at a chunk of documentation that ought to be telling them learn how to accomplish one thing. They usually attempt to apply it both to their very own processes for the time being or apply it to instructing different folks. And so evaluating data to make it possible for what’s introduced could be utilized, and the entire ways in which that very sophisticated journey with managing data can type of work or not, relying on how issues are entering into your part of the open supply challenge for the time being.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  21:59

The third group of expertise you could actually dig into in these groups, once more, is digital citizenship, principally, every thing is digital citizenship in WordPress as a result of we’re simply folks on-line.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  22:24

And this remaining grouping that we’ve got this remaining crew and group of expertise. So the Neighborhood crew is a considerable and far-ranging crew; they’ve many issues that fall into their space of experience. And so this has historically type of functioned as a linchpin round schooling and making certain that that was all related for customers and attendees of occasions. The Neighborhood crew will stay pivotal to so many issues that we do now. However now that we’ve got actually woke up the Study crew and re-enlivened that Coaching crew, this can shift slightly over time. However sure, in order that grain of salt that relying on while you hearken to this, if you happen to hearken to it in 2050, possibly it’s not correct anymore. Hopefully, most of what I say shouldn’t be correct in 2050. However you understand, nonetheless.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  23:27

 Anyway! Vital pondering that’s the place we had been. So the essential pondering group of expertise contained in the Neighborhood crew, you’ll have a chance to observe problem-solving. And continuously additionally procedural pondering, relying on what you’re engaged on in that crew. Multimedia communication is totally true. And that’s true, whether or not you contribute to the crew itself and make it possible for the crew is functioning and doing their fundamental duties. Or in case you are organizing a complete occasion, whether or not it’s on-line or offline or nevertheless that’s being achieved. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  24:07

Multimedia communication for this explicit crew is fixed for all of their work and one thing that everybody who works on there will get to observe on a regular basis. For digital literacy, this comes up lots if what you’re doing is working by means of any form of like programming plans, ensuring that what we’ve got in place for occasions is basically glorious. It’s a very glorious alternative for training the analysis of knowledge, studying extra about media use and creation, after which naturally, every thing to do with licenses copyright copyleft, not just for every thing that we produce however then additionally for everybody within the ecosystem. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  24:55

This crew helps so many plugins, authors and theme builders, and different teams who take part within the ecosystem perceive the nuances of the GPL and why it issues a lot to WordPress. After which within the life talent part, there’s the apparent life talent part, life expertise which have come up for all of them—so digital citizenship, cross-cultural and social communication. But in addition you have got the chance to faucet into that self-direction and time administration observe, which most likely also needs to be thought-about in all of those groups. However, you understand, issues change as we go. 

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  25:45

These are the more than likely digital literacy expertise that you’d find yourself training within the Neighborhood crew, relying on how you might be taking part within the Neighborhood crew at that second.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  25:59

So I mentioned that we’d speak slightly bit about the place that is all headed and what to do subsequent. And like I simply mentioned, once I received misplaced in my very own reverie, they’re like, hopefully, every thing that I’ve shared right here is old-fashioned by 2050. Like, if we will come again to this explicit podcast, or this presentation, or something I’ve ever mentioned, about digital literacy over my time with WordPress. And if we may come again to that in 2050, or, you understand, I used to be going to say, 20 years from now, 2041 feels actually shut. However, you understand, come again to it sooner or later, and say, that was all actually glorious data to know for the time being. And we did do these issues. And now, WordPress has confirmed that open supply contribution and collaboration can educate the entire mandatory Twenty first-century expertise that anybody would want to outlive on the planet. And we did do it, that might be actually cool. However I don’t suppose that that’s the place we’re headed. Not as a result of I don’t suppose folks imagine in what I’m saying or care about what I’m saying. However as a result of it’s very simple to type of let this stuff go in some unspecified time in the future.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  27:20

Even if you happen to in some unspecified time in the future, had been proficient in all of what’s thought-about Twenty first-century expertise, generally our expertise don’t get used very a lot. And so we lose observe of them. And we don’t know, or we don’t know learn how to educate them to different folks and numerous methods to do this. So I hope that after we revisit this within the time capsule of the web 20 years from now, we will say that was an amazing clarification. And we discovered a lot. And we made so many adjustments in such progress that now we want a brand new model of this. That’s actually all we will do, all the time striving to depart the world in a greater place than after we discovered it.

Josepha Haden Chomphosy  28:07

All proper, that brings us to our small record of massive issues. I don’t have a ton to share with you right now. However what I do must share with you is a very huge deal. So we’re a couple of week away from the Go/No-Go level of WordPress 5.9. That’s the remaining launch of the yr. And as quickly as we all know what’s a go or a no go from that assembly on October twelfth,  everybody goes simply to hit the bottom operating. And so, in case you are focused on contributing to that launch, both by being a participant within the launch squad or main some a part of the discharge squad. Completely. Drop by and let me know as a result of I’m to know who desires to study extra about doing that. And that is truly one thing that has passed by. I discussed on the prime that I spoke at WordCamp US.  That’s nonetheless true; I did do it. And so did a bunch of different actually glorious presenters. When you missed WordCamp US on Friday, for no matter motive, as a result of you understand, life is sophisticated. Fairly quickly, we may have the movies. We’ll have all of the movies up with captions rapidly and have these obtainable for everybody to observe and study extra from as their schedule permits and as their consideration permits. And that’s your small record of massive issues. Thanks for tuning in right now for the WordPress Briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphos, and I’ll see you once more in a few weeks.