Pat B (Moderator): Thanks for joining this conversation with Mark Hurst, the author. What's on your mind?

Mark Hurst: Hello, everyone - nice to be here!

Susan: Given the pace of change in the world of bits, what changes have occurred in the short time since you wrote the book that you would incorporate if you were to write a second edition?

Mark Hurst: One of the biggest changes I've seen is that a few companies are developing more bit-literate todo lists. For example, within weeks of the publication of "Bit Literacy," Microsoft released Outlook 2007, which allows the user to drag e-mails onto a future day on the calendar. Outlook still has an extremely complicated interface, but at least there's now some way for users to defer items into the future.

So... if I was to write a second edition, I'd happily mention that my own tool, Gootodo.com, is no longer the only bit-literate option for todo lists. Outlook 2007 and a few online todo-list services are coming along nicely.

Will: How do you handle spam for yourself and for your company? What is your message to developers re: spam?

Mark Hurst: Personally I use a Gmail account, which uses a surprisingly good spam filter - so spam isn't a huge problem. Some people at my company use a "white list" service called SpamArrest, too.

In general, though, spam is a far less serious problem than e-mail overload in general: people don't know what to do with all the LEGITIMATE e-mail they get. This is something I tried to address in "Bit Literacy."

Pat B (Moderator): Mark, Comment on Google's meteoric rise: Will we need anything else beyond a Google-drive Web 3.0 in the future, the "synchronicity" that will go beyond an interactive Web 2.0?

Mark Hurst: The Web 2.0 trend is one of the most overhyped buzzwords I've seen since the Web launched... while there are some important & meaningful developments in the trend, most of what people talk about today is a rehash of dotcom utopian illusions. Hearing about "Web 3.0"... I'd advise some very healthy skepticism.

I'd step back from the question a bit and ask, what is the most important technology issue for people to address today - in education, in business, in their personal lives? I'd say that most people don't understand the BASICS of digital technology, and that's where the future should lie - getting people up to speed on the very beginning essentials of how to thrive in a digital world.

By the way, I've written a good bit about Web 2.0 on my blog at goodexperience.com... for example, see http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/010125.php

Susan: Mark, you talk about managing information. One way is to empty your inbox. I've been using Gmail. What are your thoughts about "searching" rather than "sorting?"
Thanks

Mark Hurst: It can be OK to maintain a separate archive of e-mails, but the key question is how many e-mails are in the *inbox*, awaiting your attention.

When people have 5,000 e-mails in their inbox, there's no way to figure out which specific messages you need to work on today versus tomorrow, and what their priorities are. The best Google search in the world won't fix that. If you have an empty inbox, it's easy: just look at today's todo list.

Gabe: Do you see RSS as a more user-friendly and bit literate substitute for communications that might otherwise become email?

Mark Hurst: It doesn't matter whether people get their feeds from e-mail or RSS - that's just plumbing. The question is how many bitstreams people are saddled by.

I write about RSS in the "media diet" chapter of "Bit Literacy," and what I suggest is that people pare down their RSS (or e-mail!) feeds to the absolute smallest set of sources that will get them through the day.

Personally I don't use an RSS reader, because I read only a handful of sources regularly, and I can do that with just an e-mail program and a Web browser.

Pat B (Moderator): Many of us are always "on the fly" without constant access to email, yet feel obsessed about responding to all within at least a 24-hour time frame. What's the expectation for timeliness in the digital world we live in?

Mark Hurst: I don't think there's one universally accepted expectation of timeliness on e-mail... to the contrary, I think it really depends on the organization - the school, company, whatever.

This question gets to the larger issue of how an entire TEAM can become bit-literate and work efficiently together. This requires people to really talk to each other about how the team should operate - when is the phone appropriate to use? When should people walk across the hall to talk face-to-face? Or perhaps e-mail should be replaced, in some instances, by instant messaging? Every team works in its own way.

Of course, the primary issue is what YOU, the individual, do to manage your bits. If your inbox has 5,000 messages, you can hardly initiate a conversation about this with your team. "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Pat B (Moderator): What will your next book be on?

Mark Hurst: I've been interested for awhile in writing about my work in customer experience - what the components of a good experience are, how an organization can create a good experience for its customers/students/users... things I write about at goodexperience.com.

We'll see if that book comes first, or perhaps a 2nd edition of "Bit Literacy" :)

Paul: How can we best teach bit literacy to teachers? What guidelines should the institution set regarding file names and formats, types of tools/software used, platform considerations, etc?

Mark Hurst: Good question... I think the first step is to make sure that they at least have the basic knowledge described in "Bit Literacy" - know how to keep an empty inbox, how to manage todos, know the difference between the major file formats, know how to use a bit lever.

As for specific file-naming guidelines, and exactly which tools to standardize on, that's more of a school-by-school decision - and that's a very worthwhile question to engage.. BUT the first step is to make sure teachers have the very, very basic knowledge I describe above.

Pat B: (Moderator): I've just purchased XO laptops for my two grandkids. How young is too young for kids to start emailing, because they are already Iming.

Mark Hurst: If they're already instant messaging, they're ready for e-mail. Although these days I think the younger generation is more apt to want to use IM. We'll see if that changes once they reach the workforce, where e-mail (which is easier to archive and document) is still the dominant standard.

Dean: What are your thoughts on the proliferation of blogging?

Mark Hurst: Hi Dean, could you clarify the question?

Dean: Hi, what I mean is what effect do you think all these blogs is having on people already buried in bits? Maybe what you said about RSS applies here...?

Mark Hurst: I've talked to plenty of people who signed up for too many blogs' feeds, in their RSS reader, and then they constantly feel guilty for being behind in their reading.

One thing I suggest in "Bit Literacy" is not to operate by default - signing up for every blog you come across - but rather to be very intentional about what you sign up to read. Fewer feeds, if they're more focused, are better.

Pat B: (Moderator): Just read that the Google brand is so strong, people when told other search tool pages are Google give them higher marks than control groups do. Have to say I'm in love with all the Google gadgets and tools. Do we just rely on students and teachers discovering all this on their own? In other words, how do we get teachers to use these tools in instructive not just social ways?

Mark Hurst: I'd first survey the teachers to see what their "pain points" are around technology... certainly (talking as a customer experience consultant) I wouldn't make any decisions without talking to the users in question first about their needs.

This is a complete guess, but I suspect that teachers would be more interested in solving their general information overload than learning the practical applications of Google widgets... though, granted, that may become more important down the road.

Sherry: I was very interested in the section about taking pictures---many pictures. Cool idea and must get you great quality pictures. How much time do you spend after an event cleaning up those photos? With storage space becoming so much less expensive, could it also make sense to just keep all our pictures and let our great-great grandchildren go through the good, bad, and ugly?

Mark Hurst: I spend a few minutes a month filtering my raw photos from the month down to the few excellent shots. It's really a trivial investment, and my photos are well organized over the past seven years.

Though saving tens of thousands of photos for my grandkids to wade through sounds like a really fun idea! :)

Will: When you talk to educators in the field, what is their greatest concern that you feel can be addressed by the solutions proposed in your book?

Mark Hurst: Educators today are rightfully concerned that students won't be able to compete when they enter the workforce in a few years. The workplace of the future will be digital, and indeed will be *defined* by the vast amounts of information flowing in and out. As I write in the book, every profession will soon rely on the skills of bit literacy - knowing how to thrive in a bit-drenched environment. Anyone without these skills will be like so many businesspeople I see today, running around stressed and scared because they have 5,000 e-mails in their inbox and have no idea what to do next.

If we want to set our students up for success in their future careers, we should start teaching them these basic skills - and early. I'd recommend starting in grade school.

Pat B: (Moderator): What's your path been to bit literacy? Carrot or stick?

Mark Hurst: A carrot, for sure. I grew up during the era of 1980s video game and played hundreds and hundreds of games, which taught me a lot about user interfaces and efficient usage... that continued at MIT, where I studied customer science and efficiency and elegance were the goals of our programming. Even today I remain interested in finding ways to get better, quicker, more efficient in my engagement with bits - and I still play video games (see http://goodexperience.com/games ).

Pat B (Moderator): We getting ready to wrap up the discussion. If you any further questions, please submit them now.

Pat B (Moderator): What are five things parents should look for first when they are shopping for a school? Is technology on that list? Where? If not, what on the technology front should they look for first, wherever it might appear on a long list of school attributes?

Mark Hurst: I don't have enough experience in choosing schools to make an informed answer, but I can comment on making technology choices.

I'd advise parents to look for the truly useful choice, not necessarily the "hottest" - or even least expensive - device of the moment. I think Macs are better than PCs for students, and I also think that the iPhone is the best cell phone available today.

I have a free guide to technology choices here:
http://unclemark.org/unclemark2008.pdf

Pat B (Moderator): Thanks everyone, for joining us. Look for the transcript of this session posted at http://TeacherPlacesBookclubs.com .