With All This Time to Think

Lately, at my weekly Twitter chat #DataEveryone, I’ve been having the guests ask the questions. Last week’s prompt urged them to show up with the one question on their minds throughout the first week of “social distancing”, which has now been more accurately labeled as “physical distancing.” We received feedback on our own questions while simultaneously answering those of others. It was a true meeting of minds and a much needed solace at the onset of this dark time.

What Activity Has Changed the Most For You?

We started with a recap of the week, catching up on the challenges faced and adjustments made throughout the week.

@cmsadler said that she was “hunkered down but surviving. I’m grateful I can work remotely. My kid is a little bored, but he’s been encouraged to call friends to keep social ties.” @scottjdavies01 said that “the uncertainty of an upended routine” proved the hardest thing to accept, but is slowly developing a productive routine that works.

The sentiment all around centered around reassuring each other that vegetating during this time is normal when faced with so much anxiety and stress. Productivity can and will happen. But not before we healthily mourn the changes to our schedules and quickly they were forced upon us.

What Level of Educational Nourishment Should We Expect From Online Learning?

It’s my belief that online learning can function well enough to match and even outdo the capabilities of physical learning in many ways. The only thing preventing this transformation is our collective resistance to change. But now, we hardly have a choice. And reactions towards this situation range from defeatist to optimistic and everything in between.

“Honestly, as a parent whose child will migrate to online learning in a few weeks, I’m not expecting or concerned with stellar quality,” said @cmsadler. “They just need to get something in place for the students.”

@LittleMissData placed an emphasis on emotional support, saying that “the bare minimum is to be loved, cared for and receive some level of engagement, creativity and learning.”

It’s no surprise that the optimal online format of learning is going to be different than what has always worked in the physical classroom. We need to resist going on autopilot to replicate as many classroom features as possible and think about what really will engage students online. @cmsadler’s advice is incredibly sound: “I’m not sure we even need full live classes,” she suggested. “There could be recorded videos of instructions and then some live Q&A.”

How Do We Assess Credibility of Our News and Data?

Isn’t that always the question? We are always faced with competing information in every area of our lives and we choose the story that gels the most with our desires. But in the case of a global pandemic, can we really afford to live with the consequences of misinformation? The most retweeted article could lead us down a deadly path through which we are forced to accept that most popular doesn’t necessarily mean most accurate.

“I do worry about eager data scientists jumping into a field that they are not experts in to present an analysis,” said @cmsadler. added that even formally researched papers can be misleading “because some of these papers were not peer reviewed at the time of their first print.”

Being realistic means accepting that at many places down the line, we will be misinformed. “With all the moving parts of this happening in real time, inevitably mistakes are going to be made as it is an unprecedented situation,” said @scottjdavies01. Over time, we will naturally train ourselves to become more astute.

The silver lining is, even if we cannot assume ultimate accuracy from the news sources we consume, knowing their built-in shortcomings will free us up to use them for what they’re worth. As @ogustavo_com said, “I think that even if the articles aren’t 100% accurate, they still provide actionable intel.”

Each Weekly #DataEveryone Chat Tells a Story…

And you can be part of the next one. Set a reminder for Thursday, March 26th at 7pm ET at @DikayoData on Twitter. We’re delving further down the pipeline to ask, “What is the biggest question you have for your local government?”

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