“From the National Center for Eduction Statistics:
White and Hispanic adults make up the largest percentage of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy, according to the most recent results of a survey on adult skills.
The National Center for Education Statistics released a new Data Point report today July 2, 2019, entitled “Adult Literacy in the United States.”
This Data Point summarizes what data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) show about adult literacy in the United States.
The findings include the following:
Forty-three million U.S adults possess low English literacy skills.
U.S.-born adults make up 66 percent of adults with low levels of English literacy skills in the United States.
Non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34 percent of the population with low literacy skills.
White and Hispanic adults make 35 percent and 34 percent, respectively, of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy.
PIAAC is a large-scale international study of working-age adults (ages 16–65) that assesses adult skills in three domains (literacy, numeracy, and digital problem solving) and collects information on adults’ education, work experience, and other background characteristics. In the United States, when the study was conducted in 2011–12 and 2013–14, respondents were first asked questions about their background, with an option to be interviewed in English or Spanish, followed by a skills assessment in English. Because the skills assessment was conducted only in English, all U.S. PIAAC literacy results are for English literacy.
“Can reading make you happier? The New Yorker has an awesome article about bibliotherapy and the extent to which books can improve happiness. This isn’t an opinion, it’s science. Studies have shown that reading activates the same regions of the brain as if the reader were experiencing those activities, people who read fiction are better at empathizing with other people, and people who read literary fiction are better able to guess what other people might be thinking or feeling.
Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers.”
Posted on: July 21, 2019, 6:38 amCategory: Uncategorized
Video series: how to build an app (and why you probably shouldn’t)
“YouTuber Tom Scott created a 15-part series on how to create a smartphone app – not really the tech details, more like the foundations and basics you need to know. He spends a lot of time telling you why you probably shouldn’t make an app and why you will regret it if you do. Tech support, for instance, is a nightmare.
In the first episode, he interviews the Adrian Hon, creator of Zombies, Run!, which has been downloaded over 4 million times.”
Stephen
Posted on: July 20, 2019, 6:32 amCategory: Uncategorized
“A collection of video from the Associated Press archive.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Sony Walkman first portable cassette player. The TPS-L2 was a breakthrough in portable technology that changed the way people listen.
Stephen Abram is a librarian and principal with Lighthouse Consulting Inc., and executive director of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. He blogs on library strategies for direction, marketing, technology and user alignment.
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